Quitting an awful job

amother

OP ↓

Tue, Nov 29 2022, 6:11 pm

I’m quitting a job that has really mistreated me and other teachers in the past. Something happened that is the final straw, my boss is pressuring me to put my health at risk and I’m pregnant again. Basically, I’m wondering- can I quit at winter break ( our break roughly lines up with public schools Xmas break) or do I have to give them till February break (schools in my state have a Feb. vacation) I feel like they really will have trouble finding another teacher and I don’t want to go full scorched earth I just don’t want to put up with their mistreatment anymore. I will probably try to take in babysitting to help make ends news until my baby is born.

amother

Chocolate

Tue, Nov 29 2022, 6:15 pm

I don’t have a practical answer but I’m a former teacher and sending my hugs.
I find it so hard that in the business world you can usually give your two weeks resignation and when you sign up to teach it’s a whole year. Yeah I get why it’s like that we can’t have teachers consistently dropping out in middle of the year but it’s hard when someone needs to stop.
Hope it goes well.

amother

Black ↓

Tue, Nov 29 2022, 6:34 pm

1. I've known teachers who stayed in an awful job longer than they should have, and ended up having nervous breakdowns. Your mental health is never worth it (or physical health for that matter).

2. I've also known teachers who left with no notice or the barest minimum. Somehow the school figured it out, whether an admin stepped in or they used subs till they found a permanent hire. What you are talking about is hardly the same.

3. I actually think 3/4 weeks for a teaching job is quite a decent amount of time and fairly typical for someone leaving in the middle of the year. If you feel that this is the best decision for you, I think it's fine to say you'll teach up until the winter break, you don't need to wait until February and definitely not until the end of the year. That also gives a sense of closure and a natural break between you and the new teacher. But, I'd tell them ASAP so they can start looking. (BTW, if you share your pregnancy news as the reason, they will understand. And, in future, if you are looking for a new teaching job it will be easy to explain any gap on your resume.)

I say this as someone who has taught in a number of schools, both private and public, Jewish and not.

amother

Hotpink

Tue, Nov 29 2022, 7:38 pm

amother Black wrote:

2. I've also known teachers who left with no notice or the barest minimum. Somehow the school figured it out, whether an admin stepped in or they used subs till they found a permanent hire. What you are talking about is hardly the same.

This. I once witnessed a public school teacher straight up leave without any notice at all. Very irresponsible but your situation is very different. If your boss is pressuring you to endanger yourself then you have every right to leave. But I’d also urge you to submit a complaint with the overseeing agency (I’ve been away from the field for awhile so I couldn’t tell you exactly how to do that).

amother

↑ Black ↓

Tue, Nov 29 2022, 7:48 pm

amother Hotpink wrote:

It happens in frum schools, too, believe me. (Both quitting without notice as well as having a nervous breakdown.)

Anyway, it sounds like op is a teacher, not a therapist, so there's no agency to complain to. (At least in a public school, you'd have a union to back you up.)

BTW with the huge teacher shortage, op probably won't have a hard time getting a job elsewhere, even in midyear.

foreverforward

Tue, Nov 29 2022, 8:11 pm

amother OP wrote:

Protocal, non-protocal- IF THEY'RE PUTTING YOUR HEALTH AT RISK, YOU HAVE THE FULL GROUNDS TO LEAVE!!
Of course a few weeks is nice but more you for sure dont have to!
Being nice and accommodating is a two-way street! (and please, nobody ask me what I'm trying to say!! Can't Believe It

)

amother

Bellflower

Tue, Nov 29 2022, 8:22 pm

OP, your post is striking a very raw nerve!
I also taught under an abusive principal. It was in a Chassidish school in Boro Park. Several teachers left after teaching just 1 year. I was newly married and therefore I decided to finish the year even though the principal was after me and tortured me. She yelled at me in front of my students. She told, only to me, that I'm not giving enough homework even though she did not tell it to the teachers teaching the parallel classes and they gave the exact same amount of homework as I did. She approved the other teachers tests but not mine, even though it was exactly the same, word for word. She called up my husband to tell him that his wife is a teacher and it's a responsibility and he should be supportive etc. After he spoke to her he encouraged me to leave the job because he freaked out just by hearing her voice!
I LOVED to teach and my students. They were an adorable group of kids. I controlled pretty well, I'd say roughly 80% of the time I controlled perfectly well and 15% of the time I had discipline issues with a student and 5% of the time I had a hard time controlling the class.
I was very well prepared for class. I taught well and my students knew their work really well.
After the year was over I applied to many schools, but no one offered me a job. Not even an interview. Mrs Torturous principal clearly spoke negatively about me that no one even looked at my side.
I took a job in a different field. I'm very successful but I always miss the teaching job. I loved it in the classroom. And my students loved me too.
I want Mrs Principal to know, that all these years I wished so badly to go back to teaching. Mrs Principal you will have to give a din v'cheshbon for the torturous year I had teaching under you, you will have to give a din v'cheshbon for badmouthing me and taking away the opportunity from me of teaching again. And You will give a din v'cheshbon for all these years that I miss and did not do something I loved.

I always wondered why local principals even accepted her information about me. They know who she is. I also knew it when I accepted the job but I was so excited to get a teaching job that I unfortunately accepted it:(

amother

↑ OP

Tue, Nov 29 2022, 8:52 pm

I will most definitely want to go back to teaching but probably not immediately. I’ll have two children under two and that seems like a good reason to take a bit of a break. I’m not sure this will reflect poorly on me. I’m willing to make nice on the way out and just say that I have complicated pregnancies (true!) and can’t be teaching fourteen toddlers while throwing up constantly (also true) so that there are no hard feelings.I guess being blacklisted from teaching is my biggest concern but there has to be a way to leave, -especially since all those things about my health are true and I had a really hard time with the last pregnancy while I was working here because of how physical and non stop the job was- without it being a negative record for me forever
I mean there are definitely things my principal has done that are crazy and out of line but I’m not trying to get revenge or anything just to get myself out of a toxic workplace as fast as is professionally acceptable. I was going to hold out a year but being pregnant ( this wasnt planned) really makes me need to get out. Last pregnancy o had a horrible experience with I don’t even want to talk about it because it makes me too easily identifiable!

amother

↑ Black

Tue, Nov 29 2022, 9:18 pm

I've known several teachers who left midyear due to pregnancy or childcare issues (at least that's the official reason they gave). Nobody would blink an eye at future interviews. It's actually better than waiting till things get bad (bec then you get the question "did you ever resign in lieu of being fired"). In fact, since it's still early in the school year you can just leave this year off your resume and explain you chose to work from home this school year due to pregnancy/child care related issues.

amother

Kiwi

Tue, Nov 29 2022, 9:20 pm

amother Black wrote:

yes, yes and yes! perfectly legitimate reason!

↑ imasinger

Tue, Nov 29 2022, 9:56 pm

amother OP wrote:

You didn't mention earlier that you're teaching in preschool.

Forget what I said before. Preschool teachers are generally in much higher demand, perhaps because of lower pay, and you should be just fine to get hired elsewhere even if you leave midyear.