How are unwed pregnant teachers treated?

Question

i am a middle school teacher 2nd yr and i am 6 wks pregnant but i am unmarried how are unwed teachers seen. I am scared on losing my job which i love but i am keeping my baby. How do the students and parents react. I will try to keep it quite but all it takes me telling one person or someone finding out for all h**l to break loose. I am 27.

Answer 1

You know what?

Not even in religious schools are they allowed to fire you.

No school is allowed to have discrimination for their students OR their teachers. Its against the law and if they do threaten to fire you, you can tell them that if thats the case your heading to court.

They WILL lose, your private life has NOTHING to do with your job and their being ill favored towards you because your pregnant.

You dont need to tell students or their parents that your pregnant and are single. Its none of their business.

Trust me, you shouldnt have a problem ( not even with religious schools!!) and if they give you one you can go to a paralegal/lawyer in order to sue the school/district for your job.

Teaching postions,remember, are rare but nobody is hiring. Most schools are firing teachers to meet budgets so its very important you keep and fight for your job.

Answer 2

You might start by reading your employee manual to see if the school district has any policies on this.  Then, you need to seek guidance from your human resources department.  This should be confidential.  I would expect that you will be treated with respect by most intelligent people, but you will also be judged by the ignorant colleagues and parents.  The students will be curious, so be prepared for people to talk about you and ready for your polite response.  You do not need to divulge anything about your personal life.  It's personal.  In this day and age, an unwed pregnant teacher is no longer the end of the world.  I was once an unwed pregnant teenager in a small, midwestern town.  "OMG!"  Times have changed.  If I hadn't kept my baby, I would never have had children.  For me, it was meant to be.

Answer 3

1.  Join your teacher's union if you have not done so already.

2.  Review the ethical obligations of teachers in your state.

3.  Have a discussion with your principal.  Make sure your union representative is present.

4.  Let the parents of your students know.  If you are on the offensive about this, it will be easier.

Answer 4

You don't have to make any excuses because you haven't commited any crime or anything! Just go into school and don't talk about it. It will come up when you start showing but just act normal. If it comes to it make up a lie that you're engaged or something!

Answer 5

If you are not yet a member of a union, join one tomorrow.  

I live in the UK, but can't imagine that this works very differently in the US - others will correct me if so.  If you wait until a problem has arisen to join a union, they cannot help you with that particular problem.  A definition of the moment a problem arises would be, for example, a conversation in which it is intimated that you will be sacked/suffer unfavourably or a letter saying as much.  Get to this stage, and it's too late.  Pre-existing problems are not covered, as otherwise no-one would ever join a union unless a problem arose.

I know someone who suffered very badly because of this.

Answer 6

On a really interesting note, my old roommate was a kindergarten teacher in a Catholic elementary school.  The third grade teacher got pregnant and wasn't married!  She and her boyfriend got engaged and rushed a wedding, and the school's priest actually married the couple, apparently even the strictest rules are occasionally broken.

AlsoI had a teacher in high school who wasn't married and she had a child and everything was fine.  I suppose you would need to look at your contract and see if there are any clauses in it that might cause a problem.  As long as there is nothing in your contract I can't see them being able to do something, because it would be discrimination.  Not to mention some women don't want to wait to get married to have a child.

Answer 7

It really depends on how your parent population is and the community of teachers you work with.

Your biggest worry shouldn't be your peers - they understand since they are teachers too.

I'm guessing that parents will have a hard time with this but this is a time where you will need to have firm boundaries on what you talk about with your parents. Some may ask if you are married and my suggestion would be to firmly state that it is a personal question or just frankly say, "no" and if they probe... say I insist on keeping my private life,private.

You will have to be prepared because you will have a group of parents that will not respond well. Teachers are often viewed as super human and raised on a pedastal therefore expectations of us are not always realistic. Parents expect you to be a role model and some narrow minded people out there will judge. You can't control that. Just know that there will be some parents that will totally support you and if anything be even more supportive than they initially were.  

Answer 8

This is all dependent on where you teach. If you teach in a religious or other Private school you can anticipate some drama. Although, kudos to you for being brave enough to keep your child.

If you teach in a conservative community you can expect some loose lips and funny looks. However, things will mostly subside once you share your miracle with your coworkers in another 34 weeks.

If you teach in a public school, in a moderate community, most likely there will be few, if any, negative repercussions.

I know of a woman in your shoes who taught in a Catholic school who was fired, but sued and was reinstated. I have taught in a school where this happened and no one was even the slightest bit negative. They were mostly concerned for Mom and baby's health, and were proud of her for being gutsy enough to take on the challenge.

Know that the law is on your side, as is your union. While it is always possible that people will be judgmental at this stage in the game, they are ALWAYS better once they have met the reason for your amazing choice. I wish you the best. Take care of yourself and your baby, Juli

Answer 9

I don't know why anyone should care.

What has your private life got to do with how you do your job?

It's not the fifties for goodness sake.

Answer 10

You need to go to your supervisor ASAP and have a talk with them about this.  I'm not being judgemental, but depending on the laws, etc. for hiring and firing, you could be fired.  They wouldn't really need a reason.   In my area, they have a reason called "behavior unbecoming a teacher".... that can mean a lot of things and a lot of behaviors fall into it.  If you discuss it with someone now, instead of someone finding out and telling your supervisor for you, you might stand a better chance of working something out.  Plus you won't stress over it as long.  Good luck.

Answer 11

Schools are not allowed to fire you because you're pregnant.  If they even hint at anything like that, you contact your union rep right away.  In fact, that may be something worth doing, speaking to a union rep just to become familiar with your rights in regards to this would be a good thing I think.  Otherwise, the only other thing that could happen would be snide comments, but if these fellow teachers are your friends, they should support you.  So don't worry about it.

Answer 12

I would have thought that you would be fine, unless you work in a religious orthodox school, and even then I think the parents and staff would prefer you kept the baby rather than the other option.