Migsy must have been unlucky to land such a public school/university job.

It's quite simple. If you sign a 1 year contract (school year is not a year of course, lets say Sept-end of june) with said public school/uni, and they decide not to renew your contract, you are essentially forced to leave before your RP expires on July 1st or the end of june...it's nothing to do with if they are prepared to allow you to stay in the apartment for a month or two upon completion of your contract. If your RP expires, you cannot stay in China legally, and as there are no 2 year RP's, an FT is forced to leave....and given the new rules now, I very much doubt an extension of an RP can be done in China, or even Hong Kong.