Bird - How is that legal? Surely if you present a doctor's note, you cannot be fired. Short-term disability would at the least cover that.
They get around it because: They do not fire you for using your sick day. You get a "Needs Improvement" on one of the 30 categories of our teacher evaluation. Then at the end of the year the county is out of money and they RIF (Reduction In Force) all employees who earned a single "Needs Improvement" in any category. The legal requirements to RIF someone is much less than what is needed to fire them. So congratulations you did not get fired, you got riffed. Please be out of the building in 30 minutes.
Then to add insult to injury................... You get a choice...........You can resign and collect NO unemployment benefits (even if you paid into the system for years)............OR you can be a RIF.
If you are a RIF then you are classified as a "Non-renewal of Contract."
Teachers who do a poor job are classified as "Non-renewal of Contract."
Teachers who sleep with students are classified as "Non-renewal of Contract."
Teachers who hit students are classified as "Non-renewal of Contract."
Teachers who get RIFed are classified as "Non-renewal of Contract."
If you are classified as "Non-renewal of Contract" you will never get another job in Georgia or any other state. So not only are you fired but you will never work as an educator again in America. But if you resign and do not give the county or state a black eye then you are eligible for rehire when the economy picks up.
The same state who pays unemployement benefits also makes the rules regarding teachers who are Riffed not getting benefits.
DO NOT GIVE UP TENURE WITHOUT A FIGHT