Depends where you are and exactly what's happening.
If you're in a small number of countries that have excellent labor law protections, you should seek counsel through that system.
If you're not, then life gets very different quickly, but it depends on the specifics.
If the school is trying to fire you effective immediately or with little notice, you might be able to get some protection from the board or the government. That's assuming you haven't done anything that would merit termination for cause.
If the school is saying that they won't renew your contract after its current duration finishes, you probably have little recourse, assuming they have given reasonable notice. In the absence of strong labor laws or a union, renewal of contracts is often at the will of both parties - you could choose not to renew, and so can they.

In the worst case scenarios, anything goes and you will find no protection. In the better ones, there is limited protection depending on many factors.
Give us more details and we can give better advice.

It's an interesting theory that schools buy flights through some corporate mechanism that means they won't lose out if the teacher doesn't fly.

Interesting, possibly true for some, but definitely not true as a rule. I've never actually encountered it. In my current school, it's nowhere near true. While we can often, for reasonable fees, make itinerary changes and cancel flights with reasonable notice, no-shows are complete losses. And even in schools which have access to such arrangements, airlines often have small print that says the no-show ticket can only be re-booked as the exact same itinerary (Cleveland to Moscow, no change in starting or ending point) with a change in dates, and the new dates have to be within 12 months of the date of purchase of the first ticket, not the date of intended travel. And if Mr. Cleveland didn't turn up in the first place, what's the chance the school is going to need a Cleveland - Moscow ticket in the next 10 or so months?

I really don't agree that the reimbursement route is for lesser schools. I've seen both methods in a variety of schools from bad to great.

Some schools are so small that they would never qualify for a corporate account/rate with any real perks anyway. And the cost of a single no-show would be a big budget issue for them.

Other schools are so large that a single lost ticket would be a drop in the bucket, pretty much never even noticed. Those schools are the ones that might (MIGHT) qualify for corporate perks, but if they're big enough for that, they're also big enough for corporate-style policies that the school will not put out cash or its equivalent until after the teacher reports for duty. And I sympathize.

Check the latest TIE, page 23. Keith Boniface himself, international teacher extraordinaire, of much fame and highly respected, came close to using his first school-provided ticket as a free ride to a vacation in Europe. He didn't, and many good things resulted. But how tempting, for some...

One could use IB scores (for DP schools).[quote]

Lots of good thoughts on this subject, but I'm not sure that using DP scores, or A levels, or anything like that, would actually be a definitive measure, because you wouldn't be comparing apples to apples. Some schools run very selective DP programs, only letting the very best students in. They usually get great results, but those results reflect the value of the students, not of what the school added. Other schools are more welcoming of a variety of levels of students. Their results are generally lower, and in my mind their success reflects the value of the school and what the teachers add.

But really, there are so many different admissions scenarios, and levels of teaching, that it's hard to assign a definitive reason for why school A had higher results than school B, unless you really know the full backgrounds.

And as with all the other posters here, which scenario is the one you want to work in? Some will prefer teaching the very best and brightest, while others prefer the value-added approach. Which is Tier One? Up to the individual.[/quote]

Please don't rationalize.
You made an agreement. You had a chance, before you signed, to decide whether you liked the terms or not. That time has passed.
You mention a month has passed, plenty of time to get a reference check done. Well, who says they haven't done it? There are several other terms in the conditional offer, and are those all done? You can't blame the reference thing for your backing out, if in fact it's for other reasons that the contract isn't complete yet.

I hold no illusions. If you really want to get out of this first agreement, you will. But don't blame the school or claim it's naughty when in reality you were happy enough to accept the offer in the first place, and the offer hasn't changed. What's changed is you, or what you have on the table.

If you want out, tell the school now. Leave them the time they need to find someone else, now that the hiring season is dying down and recruiting is much harder. And protect your reputation by doing it politely and professionally.

We've all had second thoughts. There is always some 'reason' we can point to as to why we want to change our mind. You need to do some soul searching and decide what you really want.

As a recruiter I wouldn't be worried about it unless you appeared haggard already, had a note from a referee in the direction of 'she's stretched thin already', or you were going for a post that would require substantially more of you than your current post does. Extra point in your favor if the target country has easily accessible child care and home help, and a point against you if it doesn't.

Whether it's pestering or not, you need an answer or your first job offer may evaporate. Write them a polite note letting them know you are still interested, and that you need to have an interview scheduled before x of Feb as you have to honor commitments to other interested schools.

PG may be right that in some schools, EC is a local hire, but certainly not in all. The better schools have a deep respect for the importance of EC education, and will look for credentialled and experienced teachers. In my current school we require a BA in ECE for all teachers at that level, and prefer an MEd in ECE. Many of our teaching assistants have finished most of their BA or other credential in ECE.

That's a common policy in some schools or locations. Quite a few schools, in places where it is more common for people to be able to move without sponsorship, have the rule that if you interview in the country, you can only be local hire.
One school I worked for long ago, in Central America, even took the very shady approach of encouraging young innocents to 'come down for a visit and interview', knowing that once they did, they'd be local hire and too naive to know better. I'm glad I was not associated with choosing or implementing that strategy. I wouldn't be able to live with it.
On the other hand, in the same school, if you lived in country but went to a hiring fair, you could be hired on recruited status. Know the rules, work the rules.

It varies from country to country.
In Qatar, wives have always been able to sponsor husbands, but a new law in 2012 added the wrinkle that they can only so so if the husband does not work. If the husband takes a job, sponsorship must be transferred over, which is not easy nor is approval guaranteed. It's tricky and the new law is not being fully applied yet, but it's one to be aware of for new immigrants.
In some countries, even where it is legally possible, some schools do not want to deal with it, so they'll try to pretend that it is not legally possible. S you just have to find a school that doesn't cut corners.
And in other countries it may be impossible entirely, but I have no firm confirmation on that. I think even in Saudi it may be possible, under certain conditions. But I could well be wrong. Any Saudi experts ready to comment?

It's very individual to schools. More common in some locales, though I don't think it's common overall.
In many countries in the ME, though certainly not all, marrying into local culture would mean marrying into a whole set of social benefits that would go well and beyond the measly offerings of even the bestest school. Marry a Kuwaiti or Qatari male, and welcome to the world of a half-million US interest free house construction loan, social allowance (worth perhaps the same as annual airfare for one, but given each month), annual travel allowance of 1.5 times monthly salary. I'm not sure the benefits are as lovely if you marry a female, but they certainly aren't negligible.
But that's a few very wealthy countries.
In general, I support the idea that if a person has truly 'gone local', meaning that their life and long-term intentions are truly in the local country, then it doesn't really make sense to provide them the incentives that were meant to compensate them for leaving their home country. They now have a new home country and should be ok living on the local economy, same as they had to do when they lived back home before they were enticed overseas. However, when and how someone 'becomes local' is not as simple as marrying a local. Schools need to define it for themselves and decide whether it even matters to them. Transparency is key. Schools need to have clear policies, and teachers need to make decisions that they can live with.

For the pay scale and meeting the school's or country's hiring requirements, school experience counts first and foremost. Relevant experience is exactly that and does count in the hiring process. It rounds you out as a a person and educator, not to mention fills in otherwise suspicious gaps in your CV.

No, you'll be fine. Just make sure that somewhere in your file, CV or cover letter, you explain that your license will be active before you begin work.

You're getting some good advice there. It's not that easy to find a post, and with your limited experience (competitors have 10, 15, 20 years experience) and large family, you aren't the most competitive. Which doesn't mean you aren't good, just that you'll have to work harder to find a job and probably take one in a lower tier school.
On a side note, the Foundation schools may have the reputation mentioned, in general, but the flagship Qatar Academy has been stable with no house cleaning in a long time. They have an excellent reputation.

I am familiar with the programs and have worked with teachers who are certified.
It is useful, and should be helpful in getting hired in an IB school. You could probably use it as hiring leverage even when only halfway through the program.
However, you are taking a risk going down this path if you are not already familiar with and philosophically agreed with the IB. I am a big IB fan, make no mistake, but I have seen some teachers come into it with great hopes, only to discover that it really didn't match their expectations or beliefs. They generally went back to whatever system they were originally in, American or British or whatever. It's not an expensive lesson if you are gainfully employed and not actually paying anything out. But it could be quite expensive if you have to pay for a credential and then try to get hired in schools that don't use the IB.
It's only a small portion of teachers that this happens to, but do think carefully before you take the leap.

The previous teaching experience is helpful. You'll still need to help schools learn to love you, as 13 years is a long stretch to go without your own class. Schools will want to know what your wife has done to stay current, and a good explanation of why she has taken the sub route for so long.
Be prepared that when an offer comes, it may well only credit your wife with 8 years of experience, not 21. Which might not be such a big hit, since many schools cap all new entries at 10 or 15 years credit anyway.
Long-term subbing would be a step in the right direction. Schools want to know that a candidate is ready and able to produce sustained learning. The flexibility of a sub is valuable in a sub, but does not compare to the level of planning, differentiation, use of formative assessment, etc that a classroom teacher must deliver over the long haul. Make it easy for schools to see that your wife is prepared for this.