A teacher going on maternity leave is never something I gave deep thought to until recently when I found out teachers in the Olentangy district were not given direct maternity leave. Instead they must use their paid sick leave to account for the absences.
At surface level this may work. However, not all teachers have enough paid sick leave to cover a full six to nine weeks of time off, meaning they will need to take the time unpaid. This problematic situation mainly pertains to teachers who are new to teaching or new to the district.
While the majority of teachers do not have issues with the policy as they have enough sick leave saved by the time they have children, for those who do it can have devastating financial repercussions. So I believe some adjustments need to be made to the policy.
A teacher has a contract for 185 days, divided across 24 payments, twice a month. When a teacher must take unpaid time off, such as for having a baby, they can only take five days unpaid per paycheck, as they still must pay for things such as health insurance. This adds up to 10 days per month.
Moreover, a teacher works 20 days a month, so if they take six weeks of unpaid leave, it will total to 30 days. However, it will take three months for the paychecks to accumulate.
In other words, after the unpaid leave had ended a teacher who returned to work would be without a paycheck for a month and a half. This is a substantial amount of time to go without a paycheck, especially with newborn expenses.
However, there is an easy immediate solution to this: open the sick leave bank to teachers who need it for maternity leave. The sick leave bank is where teachers can donate their paid days off into a “bank” that other teachers may pull from if they need, but it is currently not allowed to be used for pregnancy purposes.
Although I understand the apprehension to open it in fear of this being abused, it is unethical to put teachers, especially those with a newborn, under such financial stress. Again, I’d like to reiterate, not all teachers would need to use it as many have enough paid time off saved for when they do go on leave.
I would also like to add on the subject of paternity leave. Although all teachers get the same amount of time off, male teachers are only allowed to take one week for paternity leave, which is unfair. In the short term, male teachers should also have the opportunity to pull from the sick leave bank for such purposes if needed. In the long run plans for paternity leave should be put into place.
It’s an argument that teachers have a lot of time off already, but as I spend more time with my teachers it has become evident how much time and effort many put into their classes. From grading for hours after school to have quick turnaround times, to putting hours of work into extracurricular activities such as clubs or sports, teachers do a lot more than many give them credit for.
This lack of maternity and paternity leave is something of an epidemic around America as a whole. Although this is a very plausible reason for why the Olentangy policy is the way it is, I don’t think it’s an excuse. Just because it is done does not mean it is right or ethical and while maternity and paternity leave in America should be adjusted as a whole I see no reason for the Olentangy district not to be one of the first. In the short term, I propose opening the sick leave bank to maternity and paternity leave purposes. However overall a plan to give adequate time off that doesn’t require teachers to pull from paid time off or take unpaid time off needs to be put in place.
