hello all,
i was just curious as to the legal aspects of out-of-wedlock pregnancy for a teacher (or student teacher) in the public schools. i am planning to go to grad school for my master’s in education and (due to bio clock restraints) am also planning to have my second child. marriage doesn’t seem to be in the cards for me and i am hoping to use donor sperm for artificial insemination.
however, i learned that public school teachers must conform to the “highest standard of conduct in the community” (which in my case is white bread middle america, no offense to other white bread middle america types, but there is probably no room for gray areas in my town), so i’m worried that a pregnancy might jeopardize my career in education, which i desperately need.
please note that i am of an age that i can’t really wait on either thing (career or second baby) any longer. also, i really don’t think getting the straight dope from the horse’s mouth (the administration of the school i will be student teaching at) would be a wise idea for obvious reasons.
any legal types out there, or any more info on the topic? i googled “unwed pregnant teachers” and it looked like the only ones who got fired were in religious or parochial schools, or in other countries.
I just have my opinion, not any hard info, but as with any other profession, there is going to be competition for the job. They can accept or reject you for a variety of criteria. It would not be legal (IANAL) for them to explicitly reject you for pregnancy or marital status. However, if you are concerned about it, would it be too late for you (biologically) to become pergnant AFTER you get the job? Or to have given birth BEFORE you get the job? Re: marital status, I don’t think they’re allowed to query you about it during an interview, but they may ask you anyway. You could always try to imply that you are divorced, if you think that would help.
**[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 29, Volume 4]
[Revised as of July 1, 2003]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 29CFR1604.10]
[Page 185-186]
TITLE 29--LABOR
COMMISSION
PART 1604–GUIDELINES ON DISCRIMINATION BECAUSE OF SEX–Table of Contents
Sec. 1604.10 Employment policies relating to pregnancy and childbirth.
(a) A written or unwritten employment policy or practice which
excludes from employment applicants or employees because of pregnancy,
childbirth or related medical conditions is in prima facie violation of
title VII.**
There are exceptions to this rule, but they generally fall to women who must, as a condition of their job, work with chemicals that will harm the baby. Blackboard chalk, presumably, doesn’t fit the bill here.
This is about as clear as federal law gets. Your school district can’t legally fire you on the basis of a pregnancy.
Why can a Catholic school fire teachers living out of wedlock (ex. engaged but not married yet)? One of my teachers is engaged to another teacher in the same Catholic school division, and he claims that both of them could be fired if they lived together right now before their marriage.
I understand the religious part of it, but doesn’t it go against their rights? Unless they signed a contract saying that if they go against some basic Catholic precept that wasn’t illegal, wouldn’t it be illegal to fire them? And how would such a contract work?
This is a public school division subsidized by the government, there are no private funds involved in the schools I’m discussing. Don’t they have to abide by the same labor laws as a public division then?
Your Board of Education probably has many alternatives to firing “on moral grounds.” Unwed pregnancy not unusual in this day and age, and unless you plan on teaching in an ultra-uber religious community or school, as long as you don’t go bragging about your pregnancy or its circumstances to your students, you should not anticipate problems.
At most, you may be removed from the classroom when you are in your third trimester and placed in a position outside of the classroom for the duration of the pregnancy “for your own protection” or because you are deemed “temporarily unable to meet the requirements of the job.”
Catholic schools in America are wholly owned by the church.
Church and state separation was written into the constitution to prevent the state from medding in the affairs of churches. Churches, thus, have broad latitude over how they run their internal affairs.
Therefore, if a parochial school teacher gets fired, he or she has far fewer legal options open to them.
I should have specified that I’m Canadian, and again, that this school division is a public one and subsidized by the government, and thus should be subject to the same laws as other public, non-Catholic divisions.
Maybe it’s just me, but if the Catholic school system is subject to the same laws and policies as the public non-Catholic schools, then what is the purpose of a separate Catholic school system? None that I can see. Which leads me to believe that there are laws and policies that apply to one system and not to the other.
Hi Kushiel,
Can I safely assume you’re looking at teaching in a Catholic school? It might be worth a query to the Labour Relations Board; I’m pretty sure though, that given their partially-funded status, the Catholic School Board is subject to the same Charter provisions as the Public School Board.
I can’t imagine that unwed pregnancy has any bearing on a job with the secular Public School Board, though. Does it make sense to find employment with them, first, until you’ve had your baby?
Good luck with all of it!
Ingrid