- Gibson Martucci
- 916-319-3104
- gibson.martucci@asm.ca.gov
SACRAMENTO, CA — The California State Assembly passed Assembly Bill 65 (AB 65) this week, authored by Majority Leader Cecilia Aguiar-Curry (D-Winters), a bill that will guarantee up to 14 weeks of fully paid pregnancy leave for California public school and community college educators. The bill advances to the State Senate for consideration.
“Right now, there’s no paid pregnancy leave for educators in California. If a teacher needs time to recover after pregnancy they’re forced to use up all of their sick leave, if they have any at all. After that, they receive differential pay on their already low salaries,” said Majority Leader Aguiar-Curry. “AB 65 will change that. It’ll make sure decisions about recovery time are between an educator and their doctor, not by outdated policy.
To cover the cost of a substitute while they recover from pregnancy and pregnancy-related health conditions, California educators currently must exhaust any accrued sick leave before receiving differential pay. AB 65 modernizes this policy by establishing guaranteed paid pregnancy leave, aligning California with international labor standards and states like Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Tennessee. With women constituting over 70 percent of the state's education workforce, the lack of paid leave contributes to a life-time pay and retirement gap. According to CalSTRS, women educators retire with $100,000 less in benefits than their male counterparts, largely due to unpaid pregnancy leave. AB 65 helps close this pay gap and improve teacher retention and recruitment amid a staffing crisis—to which there are over 10,000 vacancies reported in 2022—and ensures health care decisions are made between educators and their doctors, based on medical not financial necessity.
The bill is supported by the California Teachers Association, State Treasurer Fiona Ma, State Superintendent Tony Thurmond, and dozens of education and labor organizations across California that say this about AB 65:
“The California Teachers Association strongly urges the State Senate to support AB 65, because women giving birth tend to be younger and teachers having children are generally at an early stage in their careers so they will not have enough sick leave to carry them through a pregnancy-related absence,” said Secretary-Treasurer Erika Jones of the California Teachers Association. “Once sick leave is exhausted, mothers go on differential pay so women educators are forced to exhaust sick leave early in their careers due to pregnancy and are later penalized in retirement. I’ve had countless conversations with educators still recovering from childbirth who are forced back to work due to lack of leave. In schools across this state we have mothers who should be home due to sickness but are working because they have no leave.”
“As the child of a high school art teacher, I’ve witnessed the struggles educators go through firsthand. Many instructors are forced to make an impossible choice between starting a family and meeting their financial obligations,” said California State Treasurer Fiona Ma. “This legislation is not just necessary, it’s a matter of fairness. It addresses the retirement disparities disproportionately affecting female educators and ensures they receive the financial security they’ve earned. I am committed to advocating for this bill and will work tirelessly to see it through the State Senate.”
“Educators must be able to afford to stay in the profession and start a family. The Pregnancy Leave for Educators Act is an important step to address the gender wage gap for teachers and classified staff and the staffing crisis,” said Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond. “This is an issue of economic justice for educators and would help us to retain incredible school staff for our students.”
Underscoring the importance of AB 65 in helping to address the state’s education staffing crisis, Aguiar-Curry concludes, “Fixing this outdated, sexist policy is important to retaining and attracting the teachers our kids need. It’s time we care for the people who care for our kids. If states like Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Tennessee, can provide teachers paid pregnancy leave then the fourth largest economy in the world can too.”