Why maternity leave for teachers is overdue

In August 2023, I gave birth to my first child, Josephine. Bringing her into the world was one of the greatest moments of my life. And she continues to be a joy, but she’s also a struggle to care for beyond just sleepless nights. 

I, like other teachers and school employees across the state, receive zero paid pregnancy or maternity leave. Schools in Los Angeles and throughout California treat pregnancy as an illness. An educator who takes leave because of a pregnancy or to recover after giving birth is forced to use accumulated sick leave.

Once their sick leave is exhausted, teachers then go on differential pay. That means they are paid their salary minus the cost of a substitute teacher, resulting in a 50% or greater pay cut.

In California, 73% of the teaching workforce is composed of women. Because women giving birth tend to be younger and teachers having children are generally at an earlier stage in their careers, most, like me, will not have banked enough sick leave to carry them through a pregnancy-related absence. They’ll have to go on differential pay.

This loss of sick leave to pregnancy-related disability is a double-dose of gender discrimination. Not only are most women forced to exhaust their sick leave early in their careers, they also are less likely than their male colleagues to have banked an adequate amount of leave if they later have a serious illness or medical need. 

I can’t tell you how many conversations I’ve had in the teachers’ lounge with female teachers still recovering from childbirth — or a miscarriage — who are forced back to work. Or, mothers who are sick and should be home but are working because they don’t have enough leave to fall back on. 

In the 1970s, it was common to be pushed out of teaching or fired once you became pregnant. It wasn’t until 1978 that Congress passed a law making that illegal. And yet, nearly 50 years later, pregnant educators are still being pushed out of the classroom because they don’t have enough paid leave.

California is facing a severe teacher shortage. Among the factors driving this: a high rate of retirements, educators choosing to leave due to stress, political attacks on the profession, low pay compared to other fields, high levels of student debt, and a lack of support systems.

The absence of paid maternity leave is certainly also a contributing factor — one that can be addressed. There is Assembly Bill 65, the Pregnancy Leave for Educators Act, which would grant public school employees up to 14 weeks of leave with full pay when an employee is pregnant or experiences pregnancy-related health issues.

It’s important legislation that is long overdue. The bill would bring California into alignment with a worldwide, fundamental standard for reproductive rights. Most advanced democracies are far ahead of us in treating maternity leave as a human right. According to the World Economic Forum, the United States is the only wealthy country that does not have a national parental leave policy for parents.

At a time when federal funding for our schools is under attack, California can commit to investing in our schools with measures that will recruit and retain highly skilled educators for our students. Don’t penalize teachers for having and taking care of their children.

Erika Jones is a kindergarten teacher in Los Angeles and secretary-treasurer of the California Teachers Association.