This is my second year teaching, I am teaching elementary at the moment. I'm REALLY burnt out and want to take some time off. I was planning on leaving elementary anyway after 2 years and getting a cset for a middle school/HS single subject also living abroad. Problem is I don't know If i can collect any unemployment if I quit. I never received a formal contract, but I was "elected for re-election." Basically my principal gave the district the thumbs up that im good for next year. I recently received a letter asking me to state if I wish to return, basically check a box. Are there tricks to getting some form of unemployment or anything if i take 6+ months off? Summer is drawing near and I have no real safety net besides some money I saved.
There are no special tricks to getting unemployment if you are re-elected and chose to resign. If you were non-re-elected, then you could file for unemployment, but you cannot since you were offered a job. You are just choosing to not take it, so there is no recourse for you. I, too, elected to have a 10-month contract instead of a 12-month contract. This means I get 20 paychecks instead of 24. (I’d rather have more each pay period so I get my full year’s salary sooner.) As such, this means that I get my last check on June 15th and I don’t get paid again until August 31st. However, I saved up money in the last couple of months to cover my summer expenses because I know I won’t have any income besides my tutoring money. I’m curious, didn’t you do this knowing you won’t get paid over the summer? In my case, I saved up $5,000 to cover my summer expenses and I will be adding $3,000 between now and June 15th so I have a healthy cushion, even though my summer expenses will total roughly $4,000.
I appreciate the response, you more or less answered my question. I did save about 15k (in 2yrs), although I plan to possibly teach abroad next year for a year which might impact my savings. I guess my followup question would be, whats the classiest way to quit? Should I simply check (i dont plan to return)? I hope I get paid for the 10 months I worked there. It's just a weird scary transition going from working fulltime to basically quitting and being unemployed, but I am not letting fear keep me in a job that I dont want.
If you are planning on not returning, the professional thing to do is to let your administration know as soon as you decide so they can begin looking for your replacement. Telling them that you plan to teach overseas is a great idea. You will also need a reference, so letting them know early will encourage them to give you a nice reference.
I would submit the letter of intent indicating that you plan to not return next year and then write a formal letter to your principal and/or speak with them in person about your planning to teach abroad and your needing a reference. Be tactful and mention that this is a great opportunity for you.
Your besr bet is to find a part time job. Then when they have cut backs, you will be officially unemployed. Or if that takes too long, quit after you saved a little money. Unemployment looks at 3 things: Your LAST job Your last earnings in previous quarter Were you fired or did you quit? Now, if you worked in school Friday, and at Bed Bath and Beyond on Saturday, and your BBB supervisor said sorry - no hours today’s your last day...they are the last employer and the claim goes against them. Doesn’t matter what you did at school. But if you didn’t work enough last fall, you wouldn’t make enough to get a good check. You want to get the highest amount. If you can produce a letter saying you are terminated, reduction in staff, laid off - you get a check. If you quit without good cause - (and there really is no excuse according to UI unless your life is in danger), you will be denied until you can go back to any job and earn 3 times what you would get weekly —and then get fired again. Not quit.
You have to prove beyond the shadow of doubt that you can’t return. If your school had AM/PM Kdg., with two teachers and decided to go with full day, and only kept one teacher, one session only - your job was eliminated. If your P doesn’t offer you anything, not even bus duty or lunch aide position - you are unemployed. That’s my story.
