It is CRITICAL that you talk to an attorney before you resign in lieu of being nonrelected. School districts often encourage teachers to resign rather than be nonreelected. THIS IS A MISTAKE. You can lose valuable benefits by resigning (like unemployment benefits) rather than being nonreelected.

The Stimulus bill makes this more true than ever. Under the Stimulus bill, teachers that nonreelect, rather than resign, will be eligible for continued medical benefits coverage, paying only 35% of the elective COBRA-continuation premium, in addition to their certain eligibility for UE benefits.

The COBRA continuation benefits' provision of the Stimulus Bill just passed applies eligibility for 65% premium assistance to any qualified beneficiary who is an "assistance eligible individual," i.e., whose qualifying event for purposes of elective COBRA continuation coverage was "involuntary termination of the covered employee's employment" during the period of September 1, 2008 through December 31, 2009.

This means that this year non-reelected probationary employees, as well as laid-off employees, who elect to continue benefits coverage under COBRA will be eligible to pay just 35% of their premium for the period of their continuation coverage. The Stimulus Bill provision requires employers to notify assistance-eligible individuals accordingly.

In addition to these benefits, teachers who resign forever waive their right to dispute the nonreelection through a legal challenge. (which is one reason the school districts like resignations so much).

Lastly, resigning does not benefit the employee. Teachers mistakenly think that if they resign, it will look better to potential employers. This is simply not true. Any potential employer is going to know that the resignation was in lieu of a nonreelection (given the timing) anyway. In addition, the school districts realize that the teacher may have been nonreelected for any number of reasons, and that the person may still be a good hire.

It is critical that you contact a CTA representative if you recieve a Notice of Nonreelection this year. Isaac