This is a warning to all teachers: Do NOT work for The English Academy in Izmir, Turkey. I have just finished a one-year contract with them during which time I and other teachers were subjected to inordinate amounts of unethical, illegal, and highly unprofessional treatment. I was the only teacher from a group of 7 recruits who managed to last out the year, and most of the replacement teachers also resigned within just a few weeks. Even the Asst. DOS, a highly qualified teacher who had been with the school for several years, found it necessary to resign due to the corrupt behavior and mismanagement of both the new owner and his school manager.

The list of negatives is long. First and foremost, we were NEVER paid on time. Payments were routinely late, often by many days and sometimes even weeks, and some of the former teachers are STILL waiting for full payments months later. The school manager would dole out money only in small batches, making it impossible for teachers to pay their full rents and other bills on time, and if a teacher ever voiced frustration or anger at this she would respond with vindictive and insensitive comments such as "You can take what I am offering or you can take nothing", which she said to me. And, despite having contracts which assured us of payments twice a month, the owner will only provide payments ONCE a month, if you are lucky enough to get paid at all.

In the hiring interviews we were each assured a 5-day work week with two consecutive days off. But shortly after we arrived the owner told us that he expected all of us to work a 6-day week or we would be fired. And the weekday hours are usually from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.

No work permits were ever acquired for any teacher even though we were assured they would be and we provided all the necessary documents. Because of this we were continually hidden, locked in classrooms or sneaked out of the building when education officials would unexpectedly arrive. Also, not having a work permit in Turkey leaves the teacher personally liable to a monetary fine, and potential deportation, if they are caught.

Even though we all had negotiated and signed contracts prior to arrival, after we arrived (and things started to go bad) we were informed that NO CONTRACT IS LEGAL IN TURKEY UNLESS IT IS IN TURKISH. Though management continually assured us that our contracts would be translated verbatim into Turkish to ensure our protection, they never were. Hence, we ultimately had no legal right to contest the breaches.

The Director of Studies at this school is a Welsh man who has been in Turkey for some 24 years. Though a wonderful teacher, he is USELESS as a DOS as he will not challenge the owner for fear of losing his own job. He did not help us secure our rightful payments, he did not stand up for us when we were forced to work a 6-day week, he never pushed to have our contracts translated into Turkish, and he consistently avoided the work permit issue altogether. In short, he won't have your back.

Lastly, the owner is a confessed drug addict who was caught by staff using illegal drugs on school premises. Staff members were forced to hold an intervention with him, but it clearly didn't succeed. His behavior is consistently erratic, irrational and illogical, and though he lives in Istanbul he often appears at the school displaying slurred speech and unstable mannerisms.

I could go on with further negative examples but I think this provides a sufficient enough warning. On a positive note, the students at this school were wonderful.