Policy-Induced School Calendar Changes and Teacher Moonlighting

Secondary employment (SE) continues to be an important income source for many workers and several influences have been identified that impact engagement. This research studies two of these influences, the hours constraint and job heterogeneity preferences, by analyzing a novel short-lived crisis when California public school switch between 9-month and year-round calendars in response to school capacity constraints caused by education policy reform. This crisis immediately shifted primary employment vacation schedules of full-time teachers for approximately 4-6 school years, potentially altering the composition of SE opportunities. The empirical analysis suggests teachers increase SE engagement by 13.8% during years their schools are on year-round calendars, and no spillover effects are identified on teachers in nearby schools. The increase is entirely attributable to increases in school-based SE engagement in schools using multi-track year-round calendars, and no change in non-school-based SE engagement is observed. Males and mid-to-late career teachers’ SE engagement appears most responsive. The conclusion discusses the relative importance of workers’ SE engagement motives and how policy may impact SE engagement.