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My girlfriend is soon to become HS or secondary education public school math teacher in the USA. I was reading some HS contracts and I dont see any "vacation days".
At best I only saw 2 "personal" days in one contact.
Can you not take a vacation while school is in session?
I am a huge skier and was wondering if this is the end of our serious ski trip career limiting us to only when kids are off from school.
Schools in the US typically have summer breaks of about two months, a winter break of about two weeks, a spring break of one week, and often at least a few days for fall break. The dates for those vacations are usually known well in advance of the beginning of each school year. Therefore, schools generally expect you to plan your vacations for those times when school isn't in session, and they aren't usually sympathetic to requests for substantial time off for purely recreational activities. After all, they have to provide substitutes when you're gone, and in most districts, a substitute teacher who can do justice to secondary math instruction is a rare thing.
It is not unusual to have a small allotment of personal days that are intended for unexpected short term situations (my district gives three per year). However, regularly using the entire allotment without a pretty good reason--especially on consecutive days--would be considered less than professional by many administrators.
In the United States, you get a few personal days to use as you choose, some sick days, and some "professional days" to improve your teaching skills. Other than that, you basically get your holidays when the children do. In fact, you lose some of those days for in-services and a few other duties. The school does need to hire substitute teachers for days you are gone, and interruptions make it more difficult for the students to learn. So plan your ski days carefully, drop skiing, or don't take a teaching job.
