One of the beauties and challenges of working with PL is that each school year can be radically different- sometimes in a welcome way, and sometimes not. This challenge can come from the struggles of working for a company that in large part, exists to help support struggling school districts. Working with struggling districts can be a bumpy road with lots of ups and downs requiring a lot of problem solving, patience, and putting aside expectations of what/how a district "should" operate...they all "work" in their own unique way and you have to be open to that idea. I have had some great leaders that have made these years possible to get through, and successful. I have also seen some leaders that are so overworked and strapped, that there is no other way to be than to just "get by" that year. Being with PL for many years now, I have seen this company change and evolve A LOT. This can be exciting at times (yay for more sophisticated and faster platform and tech support), but also exhausting as a remote provider trying to constantly keep up with the changes in the management and structure of the company leadership and systems of operation, only to have them change yet again when you feel like you are just figuring out your new "go to" people and new systems. As a provider, watching this need by the company to constantly be changing, growing, and restructuring seems to happen too fast, without any time to really see and keep in place what does seem to be actually working, especially for clinicians. This leads to a lot of confusion and constantly asking yourself and your fellow providers, "So I can't remember, do we still do X, or is there something new in it's place now?" You really have to be self sufficient to seek out and find information. You'll be given help and resources along the way via email updates and occasionally Town Hall meetings, but overtime, things will change a lot and you have to constantly refresh yourself on what the "new" norm/expectation is, which can get confusing for both the new person and the veteran. Probably my biggest complaint is hourly rate. I feel like I have had to take a pay cut for the price of gaining flexibility and work/life balance. I also work per diem at a local hospital where my hourly rate is $7 higher than my PL rate...that is a HUGE difference. Both part time, both with the same basic level of CA part time benefits.
