Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/1518807
During the pandemic, Clara Hutar, San Carlos Teachers Association, brought her daughter to school when she was setting up her classroom and daycare centers were closed. Hutar, currently pregnant with twins, says "it is so frustrating to think that coming back from my leave, my whole paycheck won't be enough to cover daycare." officials to discuss the need for AB 2901, share their sto- ries and ask for legislators' support as the bill makes its way through the State Assembly and Senate over the next few months. "California is the fifth-largest economy in the world yet there are countries whose economies are less than California's and they 've figured it out," says CTA Secre- tary-Treasurer Erika Jones, who recently gave birth to her first child. "How can we can have this much money and power and we can't take care of women in this state?" Under current state law, educators do not earn any paid pregnancy leave, forcing them to make difficult decisions when considering growing their family. Teachers must exhaust all sick time to be able to access differential pay (less the cost of a substitute), leaving them with the deci- sion to either schedule pregnancies around the school calendar or try to get by with substantially less pay. e current practice discriminates against women as they are required to deplete their leave balances to bear children and are often forced to return to the classroom before they are physically and emotionally ready. This campaign to bring paid pregnancy leave to Cal- ifornia educators has sparked thousands of educators to share their personal story on a petition urging legis- lators to vote yes on the bill. As of April 4, the petition had 8,575 signatures. "When my second daughter was born, I went back to work eight weeks postpartum after a cesarean section," says teacher Amelia S. "I was still bleeding so heavily that I had to wear adult diapers to work." And since educators are forced to exhaust all sick time while recovering and bonding with their baby, there is Victoria Kim, Folsom Cordova Education Association "Having protected paid leave for pregnancy is crucial to keeping our teachers. We should not have to choose between doing what is best for our family and our careers that we love so much." —Bree Koontz, teacher, Irvine Teachers Association 21 A P R I L / M AY 2 0 24