Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am married to a teacher and agree that it's a different situation than an employee with a 52-week work schedule and PTO bank. He just has a lot more time off than I do built into the calendar already. The tradeoff is that he can't take a random 2 weeks off in October...but he gets more than 2 weeks *without having to ask or arrange coverage* over winter break and summer; plus another week for spring break. I could use up my whole PTO bank, including time I've carried over from previous years, and I'd still have less time than he does in one year.

Yes, it's "unpaid" time off insofar as the contract is for X days, but when it's paid out over 12 months and the benefits continue, it's not actually like you're unemployed during breaks. And yes, it would be nice to have more flexibility to take off for appointments and other personal/family needs as they come up throughout the year. But I don't think it's reasonable for teachers to say they should be able to take 2 consecutive weeks off *any time* of year when the breaks are built in.

Teachers shouldn’t have to turn down once-in-a-lifetime opportunities. My colleague had the chance to go to Spain recently for a family reunion, one uniting her entire family from multiple countries for the first time ever. Should she have skipped it, or should she have put her life first? I missed a few days last year to drive my first born to college. Should I have skipped it, or should I have placed my family first?

Sometimes the big moments in life don’t happen during the convenient summer months. And at a time when we have a severe teacher shortage, perhaps we should consider what we can do to keep them. Seeing them as humans and not mere teachers would help.

DP, I agree with you, but I hope you extend the same understanding to students when they get pulled for family trips. Pretty tired of teachers acting like that's a sin.

So many teachers were absolute azzes about travel during school. My kids were top students and my dh's schedule meant we could never go anywhere during holidays or most of the summer.

Teachers don’t create attendance policies. We just take the heat for them.

I’m happy to support student absences. If I’m told ahead of time, I’ll create a streamlined independent unit covering everything missed for my class. I’ll even create it so it can easily be done in a car or on a plane so it doesn’t impact the trip itself. 2 of 3 times, however, all that work is wasted when the student doesn’t do it anyway.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Two work weeks off work for Europe. Is it inconsiderate of those who cover your job while you are ooo?

I feel guilty but I would love to travel and explore.

I am having a hard time staying in the workplace precisely because i don’t want to have to think about these situations for the rest of my life until I am too old and decrepit to even enjoy vacations. Every time I have to take even 1 week off it’s always having to plan around major deadlines. I also got tired having to plan in advance when project timelines constantly move making it rather moot and always having some drama around people taking vacations in the midst of deliverables deadlines no matter how you plan. It’s true even in the most laid back workplaces. In toxic places this work culture is just pure hell.

Anonymous wrote:Two work weeks off work for Europe. Is it inconsiderate of those who cover your job while you are ooo?

I feel guilty but I would love to travel and explore.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just took 2.5 weeks off. Yeah, I felt guilty, but I have the time. And I've already taken 2 other week long vacations this year. I figure if my boss doesn't want me to take the time off, she wouldn't approve it.

I bust my butt and pick up a lot of coverage when other people are out.

You're taking A LOT of vacation. You've taken off over a month, and we're only halfway through the year. That's a lot. Just FYI in case you're unaware, because you said your boss wouldn't approve it if it weren't ok. Don't be surprised if you get feedback at some point that you're taking too much leave.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am married to a teacher and agree that it's a different situation than an employee with a 52-week work schedule and PTO bank. He just has a lot more time off than I do built into the calendar already. The tradeoff is that he can't take a random 2 weeks off in October...but he gets more than 2 weeks *without having to ask or arrange coverage* over winter break and summer; plus another week for spring break. I could use up my whole PTO bank, including time I've carried over from previous years, and I'd still have less time than he does in one year.

Yes, it's "unpaid" time off insofar as the contract is for X days, but when it's paid out over 12 months and the benefits continue, it's not actually like you're unemployed during breaks. And yes, it would be nice to have more flexibility to take off for appointments and other personal/family needs as they come up throughout the year. But I don't think it's reasonable for teachers to say they should be able to take 2 consecutive weeks off *any time* of year when the breaks are built in.

Teachers shouldn’t have to turn down once-in-a-lifetime opportunities. My colleague had the chance to go to Spain recently for a family reunion, one uniting her entire family from multiple countries for the first time ever. Should she have skipped it, or should she have put her life first? I missed a few days last year to drive my first born to college. Should I have skipped it, or should I have placed my family first?

Sometimes the big moments in life don’t happen during the convenient summer months. And at a time when we have a severe teacher shortage, perhaps we should consider what we can do to keep them. Seeing them as humans and not mere teachers would help.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you rarely take vacation time like this, it's ok and do it.

My colleague took 3 weeks off in June. He is working 3 weeks this month in July, and then he is taking another 3 weeks off from end of July to August. This is during a time our department is already short-staffed. THAT is being inconsiderate and an a$$.

And whose fault is it you're inadequately staffed? Not his. Management's.

Having a life outside of work is not inconsiderate. Taking as much vacation as you can is not inconsiderate. And since it comes up often, quitting is not inconsiderate, even if that leaves your colleagues with more work. In every case, the answer is "management hire adequate staff."

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am married to a teacher and agree that it's a different situation than an employee with a 52-week work schedule and PTO bank. He just has a lot more time off than I do built into the calendar already. The tradeoff is that he can't take a random 2 weeks off in October...but he gets more than 2 weeks *without having to ask or arrange coverage* over winter break and summer; plus another week for spring break. I could use up my whole PTO bank, including time I've carried over from previous years, and I'd still have less time than he does in one year.

Yes, it's "unpaid" time off insofar as the contract is for X days, but when it's paid out over 12 months and the benefits continue, it's not actually like you're unemployed during breaks. And yes, it would be nice to have more flexibility to take off for appointments and other personal/family needs as they come up throughout the year. But I don't think it's reasonable for teachers to say they should be able to take 2 consecutive weeks off *any time* of year when the breaks are built in.

Teachers shouldn’t have to turn down once-in-a-lifetime opportunities. My colleague had the chance to go to Spain recently for a family reunion, one uniting her entire family from multiple countries for the first time ever. Should she have skipped it, or should she have put her life first? I missed a few days last year to drive my first born to college. Should I have skipped it, or should I have placed my family first?

Sometimes the big moments in life don’t happen during the convenient summer months. And at a time when we have a severe teacher shortage, perhaps we should consider what we can do to keep them. Seeing them as humans and not mere teachers would help.

DP, I agree with you, but I hope you extend the same understanding to students when they get pulled for family trips. Pretty tired of teachers acting like that's a sin.

So many teachers were absolute azzes about travel during school. My kids were top students and my dh's schedule meant we could never go anywhere during holidays or most of the summer.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am married to a teacher and agree that it's a different situation than an employee with a 52-week work schedule and PTO bank. He just has a lot more time off than I do built into the calendar already. The tradeoff is that he can't take a random 2 weeks off in October...but he gets more than 2 weeks *without having to ask or arrange coverage* over winter break and summer; plus another week for spring break. I could use up my whole PTO bank, including time I've carried over from previous years, and I'd still have less time than he does in one year.

Yes, it's "unpaid" time off insofar as the contract is for X days, but when it's paid out over 12 months and the benefits continue, it's not actually like you're unemployed during breaks. And yes, it would be nice to have more flexibility to take off for appointments and other personal/family needs as they come up throughout the year. But I don't think it's reasonable for teachers to say they should be able to take 2 consecutive weeks off *any time* of year when the breaks are built in.

Teachers shouldn’t have to turn down once-in-a-lifetime opportunities. My colleague had the chance to go to Spain recently for a family reunion, one uniting her entire family from multiple countries for the first time ever. Should she have skipped it, or should she have put her life first? I missed a few days last year to drive my first born to college. Should I have skipped it, or should I have placed my family first?

Sometimes the big moments in life don’t happen during the convenient summer months. And at a time when we have a severe teacher shortage, perhaps we should consider what we can do to keep them. Seeing them as humans and not mere teachers would help.

DP, I agree with you, but I hope you extend the same understanding to students when they get pulled for family trips. Pretty tired of teachers acting like that's a sin.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am married to a teacher and agree that it's a different situation than an employee with a 52-week work schedule and PTO bank. He just has a lot more time off than I do built into the calendar already. The tradeoff is that he can't take a random 2 weeks off in October...but he gets more than 2 weeks *without having to ask or arrange coverage* over winter break and summer; plus another week for spring break. I could use up my whole PTO bank, including time I've carried over from previous years, and I'd still have less time than he does in one year.

Yes, it's "unpaid" time off insofar as the contract is for X days, but when it's paid out over 12 months and the benefits continue, it's not actually like you're unemployed during breaks. And yes, it would be nice to have more flexibility to take off for appointments and other personal/family needs as they come up throughout the year. But I don't think it's reasonable for teachers to say they should be able to take 2 consecutive weeks off *any time* of year when the breaks are built in.

Teachers shouldn’t have to turn down once-in-a-lifetime opportunities. My colleague had the chance to go to Spain recently for a family reunion, one uniting her entire family from multiple countries for the first time ever. Should she have skipped it, or should she have put her life first? I missed a few days last year to drive my first born to college. Should I have skipped it, or should I have placed my family first?

Sometimes the big moments in life don’t happen during the convenient summer months. And at a time when we have a severe teacher shortage, perhaps we should consider what we can do to keep them. Seeing them as humans and not mere teachers would help.

Anonymous wrote:If you rarely take vacation time like this, it's ok and do it.

My colleague took 3 weeks off in June. He is working 3 weeks this month in July, and then he is taking another 3 weeks off from end of July to August. This is during a time our department is already short-staffed. THAT is being inconsiderate and an a$$.