Re: Question for Lynne/Ca

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On 6/16/12, ELAR Teacher wrote:
> Thank you Lynne,
>
> Would it be legal that I wait until I actually sign the contract
> with the new district before resigning the one I already have? As
> you said, I don't want to resign prematurely, and although the
> new principal offered me a "letter of assurance"...it's not the
> same thing as a contract.
>

I can't give you 'legal advice' on that... and it depends upon the
rules of your state, the attitude of the district, the wording of
your actual contract, etc. I do know that in some states they
can suspend your certification for a year if you break a contract,
which would mean you couldn't teach in the new district if they
chose to do that, and you certainly wouldn't want that to happen.
Whether it applies to this situation or not, I don't know. In some
cases that only applies if your actual start date has passed, in
others it would be apply as soon as your signature is on the
contract, in still others it only applies if they have difficulty
finding a replacement.
The second district already knows you've signed a contract, so why
not let them know that you want to take the job, but that you need
to discuss terminating your contract with the first district first?
Others might give different advice; some teachers do break contracts
with no negative consequences. I'm telling you what I would consider
professional from an admin perspective (and letting you know of a
potential negative consequence of breaking a contract). As I
mentioned earlier, I assume at this point that they would have
plenty of time to find a replacement, and that your position won't
be too hard to fill, which makes it more likely that it will work
out fine regardless of your approach. But there is no guarantee.
Good luck!

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