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How to Break a Teaching Contract in Texas

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Teachers can resign their contract 45 days before the first day of instruction if they have signed a contract for the next school year. If you need to break your teaching contract in Texas during the school year or after the official resignation date due to good circumstances, the district can voluntarily allow you to break your contract. The district is not required to release you. Remember, leaving for a better job offer or more money can cause the district you work for to be disgruntled with you. According to a human resource specialist, your school district may not take legal action, but they may not rehire you in the future. In the state of Texas a teacher who abandons his or her contract without good cause can have his or her teaching certificate suspended.

Speak with your principal and notify him of your intention to break your contract. According to the Texas Education Code a teacher may resign with the consent of the board of trustees or the board's designee once the school year for which the teacher is under contract has begun.

Write a letter explaining your reason for resigning to the person in Human Resources who has to approve your contract break. Districts understand if you break your contract because your spouse received a better job and you are relocating, personal health reasons, or you have to stay home to take care of an ill parent, spouse or child. If you are breaking your contract in order to take a better position, you may want to ask the administrator offering you the job if she will allow you to finish out your contract and take an available position the following year or when your contract is over.

Wait for the administration's final decision. The district usually will not fight your resignation.

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Felicia Thomas started writing in 1995. She enjoys covering topics related to education and crafts. Thomas holds a Bachelor of Journalism from the University of Texas at Austin and a master’s degree from Dallas Theological Seminary.

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