Staying home when you’re sick should be a no-brainer, but for teachers it’s not that simple.
Securing a substitute teacher (which some schools require), shifting more work to their colleagues, or losing out on attendance-based incentives all factor into a teacher’s decision whether it’s worth taking a day to rest and recover.
A November 2023 working paper suggested that teachers were more likely to show up for work even with a justified absence and less likely to ask for time off compared to people in similar professions.
In fact, even teachers with decades of experience in the classroom noted averaging only four days off during the school year, according to Education Week’s State of Teaching survey, part of our annual reporting project on the teaching profession.
To better understand whether teachers feel they can take advantage of sick leave, Education Week posed the question in an informal LinkedIn poll.
More than three-quarters—78 percent—of the 1,500 respondents said no, they don’t think they can take advantage of sick leave. More educators chimed in on Facebook, sharing common obstacles to calling in sick.
Here’s what they had to say.
Taking sick days creates more work
Many teachers discovered that, between prepping a substitute and catching up when they got back to school, it ended up being easier to stay in the classroom.
Some teachers worried about their students falling behind, and studies have found that student achievement can slip when teachers miss school for 10 days.
For teachers, it’s usually more work to plan to be off than it is just to go to work and teach sick. Most teachers only use their sick leave if they have to have surgery or if they have a baby.
Yes, but it is easier to be there. I call it “prepare and repair!” You spend hours preparing a lesson that a substitute can handle then when you return, you spend hours repairing whatever actually happened when you were gone.
I use sick leave as needed, but it's a burden to create sub plans when you're sick.
Being absent is more work than just going in sick most times. If I have to haul myself out of bed to put all the stuff on Canvas and field student questions anyway, why not just go into work?
I teach AP Calculus and with our schedule, I have 12 fewer days than the College Board suggests it should take. Missing a day or two is not an option.
Being absent puts pressure on colleagues
Some teachers lamented the burden their absence could have on colleagues who pinch hit for them, making it harder for them to take time off without feeling guilty.
No. Very challenging. Not enough subs and an overwhelming feeling of guilt.
I'm better at now than I used to be but it is SO HARD to be gone. It's a ton of work on both ends and I feel bad because often my coworkers have to pick up the kids while I'm out.
If you work secondary, the problem with taking days off during the school year is that it puts an undue burden on teachers who aren't taking those days off because they have to period sub.
I left the classroom 3 years ago but it got to where I felt guilty taking sick leave. Such a huge sub shortage so we often split classes among present teachers or took someone’s assistant away. One teacher being gone impacted multiple classes.
Teachers who are parents reserve leave for sick kids over themselves
Teachers who had to take time off to care for their sick children were left with limited time to use for themselves.
There’s no such thing. It’s not like those ten days are a lot. It’s too few. 90 percent of teachers are moms whose kids get sick and usually have to stay home with them. The whole system is unforgiving. And it should be no one’s business whether they are sick or not.
I usually use it for when one of my kids is sick. For myself, I have to be really sick. I’ve two absences this year so far, both of which I knew in advance. One was for a school thing off-site so that didn’t even count.
Incentives and penalties drive teachers’ apprehension to use sick time
Factors like attendence incentives, needing to bank sick leave for purposes like extending maternity leave, and district policies that penalize time off all contribute to some teachers showing up even when they’re not feeling well.
In my current district we are not penalized for using our days, and I can take advantage of the benefit. I don’t need to stress or worry if I need to take care of myself or my child. In my previous district (Philly) we received a disciplinary letter if we went over three (non-consecutive days) for the entire school year—which made staff fearful to use it, and [I] often dragged myself into work when I should have been home in bed.
Our sick day policy specifically prohibits using anywhere near the number of sick days that we have on paper.
They actually have a raffle at our faculty meeting, but you can only get in if you have perfect attendance. LOL
Only for maternity leave, so the more banked, the more maternity.
No. We bank ours and they roll over from year to year. You have to save them when you’re young for the older years when you’ll need to have “procedures.” One knee surgery and you are out for a month at least. By my 20th year I had almost a year saved up but my mom got sick and I had to take almost six months off to care for her. Save your sick days if you can. BTW … in our district, all time taken is added up and taken off your seniority toward retirement. Choose wisely.
Supportive administrators aren’t enough to relieve the pressure to come to work
Even those teachers who felt empowered to take time for themselves, noted that it wasn’t enough to cancel out the challenges being absent presented.
I am for sure allowed, my admin. is supportive ... but it is so hard to be gone. So much work to do to be gone, so much work to do because you were gone ... and my content is not common knowledge, so the sub most of the time has no idea. ... So yes I can, but I try not to.
Yes and no. I don’t feel pressured by my district to not take one, but as a family consumer science teacher that leads food lab it is difficult to take days. I would never leave a lab to a sub and it’s hard/impossible to rearrange them because I teach seven different classes
Some teachers do take advantage of the benefit
Sick time is a benefit, and some teachers shared they had no issue taking time off if they needed to.
I use it. It’s a benefit. Included mental health days.
Use it whenever I want or need to? Absolutely, without a second thought!
Of course! That’s why I’ve accrued over 600 hours worth. Like and subscribe for more of my sick leave tips.
