Our reimbursement grants are currently available for educators in Friendswood ISD. The two-step application includes submitting an estimate of anticipated need, followed by Docked Pay Verification within 2 weeks of return to work.
When we, Parents for Public Education, started talking about where our focus should be within the first weeks of our origin, we immediately agreed on reimbursing teachers who have been docked pay due to caring for themselves or their loved ones. Maternity leave, which is completely unpaid for teachers, seemed like a good place to start. However, we did not realize how drastic of a need this is. We all had our own personal stories, starting with my own. I, Kelly Browning, was docked pay for the births of two of my three children. One of them, by luck alone, was born in the summer, so I did not lose pay for his birth. One of them we adopted out of foster care. While she was in foster care, we had two NICU/PICU stays as well as several medical emergencies and court visits that all led to me being docked pay throughout my last year teaching.
It felt like I was being punished for being a foster parent who was also a teacher, but shouldn’t we, as a society, be rewarding such individuals?
Educators are being docked tens of thousands of dollars due to having a baby during the school year. While many attempt to plan pregnancies, the lack of any paid parental leave means even the best planners must save their PTO or have their pay deducted when they add a child to their family. This isn’t the only cause of teachers being docked pay, either. Additional reasons educators are docked pay include caring for terminally ill children, emergency surgery, unexpected deaths or illnesses of immediate family members. These are a few of the many heart-rending stories fellow Texas educators have shared with us. And we can't help but think all of these life events should come without a loss of salary for working professionals.
Reimbursing Teachers to Bridge the Gap in Difficult Times
Nearly all teachers in Texas receive 10 days per year for PTO. This amount doesn’t go up with years of service like practically every other industry. The reasoning given for this is “Well, they have summers off.” How many of you have such great power to control when you or your kids get the flu? Ear infections? Strep Throat? How many of you were actually blessed to plan and time when you or your spouse got pregnant? In fact, kids are more frequently sick during the school year, not the summer.
The realities of having a family while having a career as a teacher are being ignored, and teachers are paying the price. All working professionals should be afforded paid time off with their newborn babies.
So, while “teachers have summers off” may seem like a valid argument to limit teachers’ paid time off, it is not. Additionally, summer equates to about a month to a month and a half. And during that time, many teachers are writing lesson plans, creating their classroom webpages, and building curriculum for the upcoming year. Yes, they aren’t physically in the school building, but they are working from home and are not being paid for that work.
Teachers, We're Here for You.
If you lost pay due to needing to care for yourself or your family, please fill out an application to be awarded a reimbursement grant. Our goal is to fully fund maternity leave for teachers in our school district, and eventually, the state of Texas. We intend to continue reimbursing teachers who lose pay for less joyful occasions, as well. When you apply for a grant, you will need a letter from the HR office estimating the amount your pay will be deducted, followed by a letter from HR confirming the amount you were docked and whether or not you had short-term disability during that time. In addition, those with short-term disability insurance will need a letter from their benefits providers detailing the total in payments covered by their policies to help us calculate how much you were docked after short-term disability benefits were applied. Please reach out to us with any questions you have about reimbursing teachers. We will be visiting local schools so we can be available to answer any questions about the reimbursement grant process.
Real Stories of Reimbursing Teachers
