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DH is graduating in a few months with a masters in education to start teaching. We are possibly looking at a job out-of-state for me where my wages will literally double (I'm in the healthcare field).
Can teachers leave in the middle of the year due to a spousal job change?
It's not an ideal situation, but we pretty much have to take the chance when these jobs come up because I'm in a very specialized field. There's no guarantee that the jobs will be posted and available in the summertime. It's also hard to say to wait for DH to get a job until we move because it could be 6+ months before the jobs are posted and it seems silly for DH not to be working all that time...especially to pay off those student loans!
However, we also don't want to leave a "black mark" on DH's employment record. Anyone else dealt with this sort of situation?
No, it isn't ideal but with a good administration they would understand. If not, you can always do the long distance thing for a few months until school is done.
Now, having said that, did he go right from undergrad into grad school and is now expecting to find a teaching job with zero experience and a master's degree? If so, there is a good chance you won't have to worry about that because VERY few schools will hire an unproven teacher with a masters degree--they are just too expensive.
Now, even if your salary doubles, what is the cost of living in that area and are there jobs for your husband??
He has a science (physics) undergrad degree, worked in IT for a few years, and then went for a masters. He'll also have qualifications for teaching math, so he'll have a better chance than most new grads, I would assume. In any case, the program he's in is the best school by far in the area and is considered the "cream of the crop" in hiring new teachers...or so the administration has said, heh.
Cost of living in the new place is a bit higher, but it certainly isn't doubled. We're leaving a huge metropolitan area going to a similarly sized one. The place we're looking at pays folks in my field the best in the US, hence the salary bump.
I suppose a lot of it will depend on the contract...
Can DH substitute? Get a non-teaching job?
If I were choosing from a zillion applicants, I would not pick the one who left his last (and first!) teaching job midyear.
If he wants to continue in the teaching profession in a new state then he best avoid welching on his first and only teaching contract. Even if he can legally get out of his first teaching contract when he goes to find the next job his work history will follow.
I agree with texasdiver. If it is his first teaching job, it's best not to leave in the middle of the year. Regardless of how valid the reason, teachers have become so disposable that any indiscrepancy on a resume will give a future administration a reason not to hire him, especially when he is up against candidates that have a Master's, experience, and have never left a job in the middle of the year. It would definitely be a "black mark" and not only will it possiblt prevent him from obtaining a future teaching position but, especially, a good teaching position.
If at all possible, I would advise your husband to stay through the year. Rent an inexpensive apartment or rent a room, and finish out his obligation while you go on to your next career move. We had to do this is early in our marriage (DH got job transfer, I was in my 10th year of teaching in a great district). He left in January, and I followed in June. I was honest and went to my administration and said I could take some days without pay to house hunt and possibly interview for positions in the new area or I could resign and go with my husband mid-year. They asked me to stay until the end of the year and asked me to use personal days and sick days (I know, I was very lucky and would probably not get away with that now) if I had to be away. I worked it around school vacations and took a couple of Friday/Monday weekends to house hunt and interview. Even his company HR person said that my chances of getting hired here would be better if I finished the school year.
It would be a black mark on his resume and all future job applications. In some states, the superintendent of the school he flakes out on can petition to get his teaching credentials revoked by the state for breaking a contract mid-year. Try getting a job after that. And you better believe they will pursue it if that's possible in your state. I have been asked on every single teaching application whether I've ever left a job in the middle of the year. There are some reasons that are excusable (and assume they will check), like getting cancer, or being in a terrible car accident where you were hospitalized for months. Leaving because your spouse wanted a job in another state? That will put him at the bottom of the list for sure. Now, if he's in a field where it's hard to find people, maybe he still gets hired, but you have to understand how much principals hate people who flake out in mid-year. It leaves them in a terrible lurch, creates huge PR issues with the community. I would only advise leaving mid-year if you are having a life-altering catastrophe (cancer or a lengthy hospitalization) or if you never planned to return to teaching.
Other ideas: he could just substitute and not get an official teaching job. Then you two would be free to leave at any time. Even better, he would take and keep the teaching job for the full year, and whenever you get hired, you move on ahead and he stays until the end of the school year, then moves to be with you.
People have done it, but it burns a bridge at that district. And I suspect it is easier for women to get away with it than a man. It looks really bad.
For a new teacher, who is male, I think that would pretty much be career suicide. It really is that bad to do, especially these days.
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