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Tuesday, July 25, 2006
Pregnant Teachers
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I’ve noticed several mentions recently of parents hoping their child’s teacher doesn’t go and get pregnant during the school year. Given that the education field is populated with women of child-bearing years… Is this realistic? It seems the principal should have plenty of time to get a full-time sub lined up, right?
I once wrote or read about a Gwinnett school with some huge number of pregnant teachers - 25 or more. Parents, kids and other teachers were celebrating with baby showers and the like, while the principal I presume holed up in her office and tried to work out the logistics. This school was in a fast-growing area, quite affluent, and it was the type of school teachers wanted to work in, so I imagine she was able to place quality subs in those classrooms.
In another case, I once visited a humongous elementary school in south Florida, where the principal lamented how challenged she was to deal with all the pregnant teachers. Qualified long-term subs were not easy to come by given the challenges her school faced with its large Latino population.
Parents, what are your experiences with pregnant teachers? Did your child get a capable fill-in? Teachers, did you try to time your pregnancy over the summer? Did you try to get the sub up to speed? Were parents understanding?
