EDD won't let me select school employer in UI Online dropdown - how to report education work?

Schools are considered 'Public Administration' in the EDD system! I had the same panic moment when I filed after losing my job at a community college. It's weird that they don't have a specific education category, but Public Administration is the correct one to select for any government/public education job. Your claim won't be rejected for this - EDD knows that schools fall under this category.

just pick whatever seems closest, they look at ur employer info not the dropdown anyway

For charter schools specifically, it depends on how your employer was registered with the state. Some charter schools are classified under Public Administration while others might be under Professional Services if they're structured as a private entity. The key is what's on your W-2 form. If you have your W-2, look at Box 15 for the employer state ID number. If it starts with 899 or similar, it's likely Public Administration. Charter schools can be tricky because they operate differently than traditional public schools for tax purposes. If you make a mistake, it's not the end of the world. EDD will send you a form to verify employment if there's a mismatch, but it can delay your claim by 2-3 weeks.

SAME PROBLEM LAST YEAR!!! The EDD system is SO OUTDATED! I worked at a university and ended up picking Professional Services which was wrong and had to wait 5 WEEKS for them to sort it out!!! Called like 50 times before getting through!!

This confused me too! For my private school job, I eventually figured out that 'Educational Services' is actually buried in the 'Professional, Scientific and Technical Services' category. It's like a subcategory you have to select. The UI Online system is really not intuitive at all. If you're at a charter school, I'd recommend calling EDD directly to confirm before submitting your application. It's better to wait a day to get the right answer than to have your claim delayed for weeks because of a category mismatch.

To answer your follow-up question about charter schools - they're trickier. Some are under Public Administration, others under Professional Services. The 801 number on your W-2 suggests it's likely Public Administration, but charter schools can vary. Here's what I'd do: select Public Administration, then in the comments/additional information section of your application, note that you worked for a charter school. This creates a paper trail of your attempt to be accurate and can help if there's any confusion later.

One more important detail since you mentioned you were laid off from a teaching position: If you're a credentialed teacher who typically doesn't work during summer/holiday breaks but has reasonable assurance of returning for the next term, you might not qualify for benefits during those regular breaks. However, if you were actually laid off (meaning no reasonable assurance of work in the next term), that's different and you should qualify. Just be prepared to explain this distinction clearly in your application and any follow-up interviews. EDD can sometimes confuse seasonal school employment vs. actual layoffs.

anyone having issues with their money network card after they selected the wrong employment category? my funds were loaded but card is frozen 😡

UPDATE: I ended up selecting Public Administration based on all your advice, and added a note explaining it was a charter school position. Just got notification that my claim was approved without any issues! Processing time was normal (about 10 days). Thanks everyone for your help!

Congrats on getting approved! This is such a helpful thread for anyone in education dealing with the same confusion. The EDD system really needs better category labels - "Public Administration" for schools is so non-intuitive. Your tip about adding explanatory notes in the comments section is gold. I'm bookmarking this whole discussion in case I ever need to file again. Thanks for taking the time to update us with the outcome!