Teacher 7 months pregnant in the fall, how can I work?
February 6, 2016 1:35 AM Subscribe
I am a teacher who is currently stuck in the short-term contracts phase of my career. I will not be renewed in June. I will be 6-7 months pregnant in September. Outside the box suggestions for how I can work?
The longer details are as follows: I have been working a series of one-year contracts. I have good qualifications and a good reference from my current school. I am in my late 30s and have a husband with a medical condition which required us to do IVF. We are in the last stage of that process, were fortunate to get it funded through insurance, and so took advantage as soon as we were able. He has a good job. We have money saved.
The difficulty is with the timing. I will be 4-5 months pregnant in June, if all goes well. That seems like it would give me plenty of time to work in another job before the nine months of pregnancy is up. But because I am a teacher, the summer is pretty much wasted. When school starts again, I will be seven months pregnant. I don't see how I would get a job.
There may be some options for a bit of subbing in September and October. But due to the summer being pretty much a write-off, I am looking at four months of unemployment before my maternity leave even starts. I do some side gigs (tutoring, freelance work) which will net me a bit of money. And I think I will still have enough hours to qualify for proper maternity benefits from the government. But four months with no work seems like a lot to me, and I feel really guilty about not contributing financially to the family for that long. Is there something I am not considering here? What options might I have to mitigate the awkward timing of this whole thing?
The longer details are as follows: I have been working a series of one-year contracts. I have good qualifications and a good reference from my current school. I am in my late 30s and have a husband with a medical condition which required us to do IVF. We are in the last stage of that process, were fortunate to get it funded through insurance, and so took advantage as soon as we were able. He has a good job. We have money saved.
The difficulty is with the timing. I will be 4-5 months pregnant in June, if all goes well. That seems like it would give me plenty of time to work in another job before the nine months of pregnancy is up. But because I am a teacher, the summer is pretty much wasted. When school starts again, I will be seven months pregnant. I don't see how I would get a job.
There may be some options for a bit of subbing in September and October. But due to the summer being pretty much a write-off, I am looking at four months of unemployment before my maternity leave even starts. I do some side gigs (tutoring, freelance work) which will net me a bit of money. And I think I will still have enough hours to qualify for proper maternity benefits from the government. But four months with no work seems like a lot to me, and I feel really guilty about not contributing financially to the family for that long. Is there something I am not considering here? What options might I have to mitigate the awkward timing of this whole thing?
Is adult ed an option? That usually continues throughout the summer. I'm an ESL teacher (which I realize probably is more flexible than some other types of teaching and for the last year I've done short contract teaching for adults, work for nonprofits where the "semester" matches up with my pregnancy, and, yes, one totally unrelated job that happens to end around the time of my due date. There are also summer schools and camps that might be interested in hiring you, since summer is one of the main areas of concern for you.
posted by chaiminda at 2:14 AM on February 6, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by chaiminda at 2:14 AM on February 6, 2016 [1 favorite]
How about working for summer school?
posted by zia at 4:04 AM on February 6, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by zia at 4:04 AM on February 6, 2016 [3 favorites]
If you can't find other options, ramp up the tutoring, and spend the rest of your time focused on reducing expenses. Weatherstrip the house, procure all your baby supplies used, cook everything from scratch and freeze a bunch of meals for post-baby, increase the number of people you can call on for help later by helping out friends and family, etc.
posted by metasarah at 4:42 AM on February 6, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by metasarah at 4:42 AM on February 6, 2016 [2 favorites]
If you're in the US check to see if your state offers a free online school program.
posted by mareli at 6:28 AM on February 6, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by mareli at 6:28 AM on February 6, 2016 [1 favorite]
Do any school systems near you develop synchronous online education content? I know someone that worked through pregnancy in the summer doing that, then took maternity leave on the fall to have the baby. By getting months ahead with the content development, it worked out for both sides.
posted by Candleman at 7:25 AM on February 6, 2016
posted by Candleman at 7:25 AM on February 6, 2016
If you are planning on returning to work after a maternity leave, then a district not hiring you because of pregnancy is illegal. My current principal was hired five year ago at almost the same spot in her pregnancy as you will be during the job hunt to teach fifth grade. As you can tell it didn't cause any issues in her employment.
posted by OkTwigs at 2:29 PM on February 6, 2016
posted by OkTwigs at 2:29 PM on February 6, 2016
See if you can teach a continuing ed course at a nearby college or community college.
posted by bendy at 4:55 PM on February 6, 2016
posted by bendy at 4:55 PM on February 6, 2016
Rat Race Rebellion's Education & Teaching work-at-home list
posted by stormyteal at 6:02 PM on February 6, 2016
posted by stormyteal at 6:02 PM on February 6, 2016
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posted by kinddieserzeit at 1:54 AM on February 6, 2016 [3 favorites]