this is all great information - i really appreciate any feedback on this unique situation. i have been teaching for a studio for 2 recital years now and many of the parents, teachers, and myself have had enough... it's a one-woman show pretty much (our director/owner) - it's completly unorganized, there are no financial records for payments, parents feel cheated when they're asked to pay more for fees/costumes/etc because they usually have no idea what their money is going towards, we as instructors usually have to "bail out" our director in ordering costumes last minute and organizing and directing the recital ourselves (of which we aren't paid to be doing), we're often asked to inform parents of the extra fees which leads to very upset parents.... Other than that, there are SEVERAL other major issues that i have (and other people) with the way she seems to be running her own business into the ground - such as the fact that there is never anyone to answer questions, rehersal times are made up on the spot and passed by word of mouth in which some parents/teachers never know about and miss, ...etc... it's just bad business and it's getting worse each year. so, after the catastrophic recital this past week, two other instructors and myself (out of 5 instructors total) have decided to start planning our futures as teachers and studio owners. it's not because we want to undermine her business and "steal" her thunder, it's because we want to see the children we've begun to teach thrive and not be pulled out by their parents because someone can't keep up with due tuition & fees. the studio we've taught at is the only one in our small town, it's only got about 120 students tops. on top of that, last year after recital, she offered to sell her studio to who will now become my partner and flipped out when she wanted to discuss the contracts details. then, she offered it to me before christmas this year ('06), i did some reviewing myself and with some businessmen i know, so when contract day came around for us to sign, she backed out again. now that you have an idea of some of our dilema, at the beginning of last year (in august 2005) we all signed this "no compete clause" in our contracts that essentially stated that we were not to teach at any other studios or open another studio within a 30 mile radius of hers for at least 12 months after finishing our term... would that still hold up this year, even though the new instructors this year weren't made to sign it and since it was for the '05-'06 year? i believe that most of the students from this year are not going to return to her studio for next year and if myself and my partner do not open up our own studio within a certain distance they will all go somewhere else anyway. we have had several parents beg us to open for next year and they've even offered to help us; they trust that we will be fair, trustworthy, organized, respectful and worth thier time & money. i have faith that we will be able to cater to their needs better than their current situation, i just worry that the contracts we signed will make the situation stickier. and i still feel that out of respect, we may need to discuss our concerns with our previous director and try to come to an arrangement (if not an agreement.)