During her campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination, Sen. Elizabeth Warren has said repeatedly that she was forced out of her teaching position because she was 鈥渧isibly pregnant.鈥�
Several media outlets have cast doubt on Warren鈥檚 story, arguing that there are with the school board documents and past interviews she has given. Warren has stood by her story, saying that it was an experience that 鈥渕illions of women will recognize.鈥�
Indeed, many women, including former teachers, have since come forward saying that they, too, were pushed out of their jobs for being pregnant in the 1960s and 1970s.
鈥淲hatever discrimination there was against women who were teaching was part of discrimination against women, period,鈥� said Joan O鈥橰eilly, who was pregnant as a teacher around the same time as Warren.
O鈥橰eilly taught high school biology in the late 1960s. After she got married, the principal called her into the office and asked what kind of birth control she was using.
鈥淚t never occurred to me to ever say no or [ask] why,鈥� she said.
She became pregnant in 1970. While she doesn鈥檛 remember there being an explicit rule saying that women could not teach when they鈥檙e pregnant, there was a 鈥渄istinct impression鈥� that a pregnant teacher would have to quit or be fired. O鈥橰eilly was already planning to quit at the end of the first semester鈥攂efore she started showing鈥攖o move for her husband鈥檚 job.
In 1983, Susan Mocarski was in her first job teaching choir part-time in Illinois. She and two other part-time music teachers in the district were pregnant. At the end of the year, when Mocarski was about four months along, the fine arts supervisor called the teachers into his office. He informed them they were all being fired because they were pregnant, Mocarski told 澳门跑狗论坛. But if they pursued legal action, he said, their principals would list 鈥渙ther reasons鈥� as a cause for termination.
鈥淗e told us that since it was a pilot program they couldn鈥檛 risk hurting the program in its beginning stages, so they wanted to hire teachers who would be more long-term鈥攂ut I fully intended to go back to work,鈥� said Mocarski, who recently retired from teaching after 35 years.
Mocarski did call an attorney to see what her options were, but was told that the most she could get out of a lawsuit was one year鈥檚 salary鈥攁nd that would only be about $3,600, since she was part-time. It would cost five times that to fight the firing in court, she said.
Many other women have similar stories. Here鈥檚 what you need to know about the practice of pushing pregnant teachers out of the classroom.
How Often Did Pregnant Teachers Get Pushed Out?
it was extremely common for pregnant teachers to be forced out of the classroom through the 1970s. In fact, up until the World War II era, it was common for teachers to be asked to leave or be fired when they got married.
Many people on social media shared their stories, too:
For skeptics of 鈥榮 claim she was from her teaching job in 1971 for being pregnant, the practice was actually widespread. How do I know? Because my mom was fired from HER teaching job in 1971...for being pregnant, with me. A brief thread-->
鈥� Joshua Green (@JoshuaGreen)
This practice would also be dependent on local culture and context, said Jennifer Binis, a writer for the site Nursing Clio who studies the history of education and gender.
鈥淚n New York City, you were more likely to find a pregnant teacher because of how vocal the unions would be,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t was highly unusual in suburban New Jersey to see a pregnant teacher.鈥�
Why Did School Officials Not Want Pregnant Teachers to Teach?
O鈥橰eilly said that in her Kentucky school, a pregnant teacher was considered to be a 鈥渂ad role model鈥� for high school students. Binis said school leaders were also concerned that a pregnancy 鈥渨ould be embarrassing for the children.鈥�
There was also the 鈥渕id-century version of concern trolling,鈥� Binis said鈥攚ith administrators saying that pregnant woman could not handle the physical or mental demands of teaching. Others worried that a teacher going on maternity leave would interrupt instruction for students.
And , a school board member said was 鈥渘ot good for the school system鈥� to have visibly pregnant teachers because some students might say things like 鈥渕y teacher swallowed a watermelon.鈥�
How Would Teachers Be Asked to Leave?
Teachers might not have been explicitly fired, but rather pushed out in sometimes subtle ways.
For instance, Warren said her principal 鈥渟howed [her] the door鈥� when she was visibly pregnant鈥攂ut the minutes of a school board meeting said her resignation was 鈥渁ccepted with regret.鈥�
Binis said it was common for teachers to be pressured or influenced into resigning. 鈥淚n 2019, there鈥檚 a semantic difference between fired and resigned that did not exist [then],鈥� she said.
A National Education Association survey in 1970 found that most school districts required teachers to take unpaid maternity leaves when they were four or five months pregnant, and their job often wasn鈥檛 guaranteed when the baby was born. For example, the Cleveland school district required every teacher to go on unpaid leave five months before giving birth, and teachers were not allowed to return until the baby was at least three months old and the next semester began.
How Did This Practice Officially End?
Several teachers filed lawsuits against school districts for their dismissal. One such case made it to the U.S. Supreme Court. The 1974 decision in Cleveland Board of Education v. LaFleur found it unconstitutional to require pregnant teachers to go on maternity leave in advance of their due date.
And in 1978, Congress passed the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, which prohibited workplace discrimination on the basis of 鈥減regnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions.鈥�
Are There Still Barriers for Female Teachers Today?
Even recently, some women have said they felt discriminated against or pushed out of their jobs due to pregnancy. As Ryan Balch, a senior lecturer in education policy at Vanderbilt University, told 澳门跑狗论坛, 鈥淧rincipals do have the ability to influence whether a teacher comes back or not in ways that are outside the formal system.鈥�
In addition, just a handful of states provide paid parental leave for teachers. For the most part, teachers have to cobble together sick days to have some paid time off, and then supplement that with unpaid leave. Many educators say they are forced to return to the classroom before they鈥檙e physically or emotionally ready鈥攁nd some might quit teaching instead. Among the teachers who leave the profession voluntarily, nearly a quarter say it鈥檚 because of personal life reasons, which include pregnancy and child care, according to the most recent federal data.
For those teachers who do return to work, pumping breast milk presents another challenge. Teachers told 澳门跑狗论坛 that it can be exceedingly difficult to find the time, space, and support to take 20-minute breaks every few hours to pump.
And it鈥檚 not just teachers. Binis noted that teachers鈥� aides and day-care workers鈥攎any of whom are women of color鈥攁re also likely to face discrimination for pregnancy.
She also pointed to the low rates of women in leadership positions in schools and districts. While women make up the vast majority of teachers and about half of principals, they account for less than a quarter of all superintendents.
鈥淭he people most likely to be moving up in the positions of leadership are the people least likely to be pregnant,鈥� Binis said. Indeed, some research has shown that the gender wage gap is .
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