Will you be teaching over the summer?

A fairly significant majority of teachers, almost two thirds or those polled, will not be teaching over the summer. With many qualified teachers not being able to find permanent placement in their school districts, this response is not surprising. There are only so many jobs available during the regular school year and many teachers, especially those who have just recently acquired their teaching certificate, do not find regular employment and are placed on the substitute list. The number of available teaching positions dwindles considerably in the summer.

Some teachers will find work instructing at summer school, private tutoring or instructing at some other form of private educational facility, but for most that is not the case. Teachers often take completely unrelated summer time work, like painting or gardening. In single income families there is most often a need to continue to work during the summer and seasonal employment is the only option.

If teachers are fortunate enough to be part of a two income family where the partner's income will be sufficient for the summer months, perhaps they will opt to take a summer break just like their students. Teaching can be difficult and stressful work and taking a breather after ten months sounds like a good idea. If there are young children involved being able to stay home rather than pay for daycare makes financial sense.

While some of us would never dream of working in a field where we knew layoffs happened as part of the annual cycle of things, others chose teaching for this very same reason. Many woman, in particular, enjoy teaching because it allows them to have the same vacation breaks as their school age children. Spending more time with their children and not having to worry about caregivers is seen as a positive reason to enter the profession.

Of the majority of teachers who report that they will not be teaching over the summer, it would be interesting to know how many wanted to continue. May be a lot of them are glad to have the break from the students. As much as they may like kids, being surrounded by them ten months out of the year would be quite enough for anybody.