Six months after Tennessee lawmakers approved paid parental leave for public school teachers and staff, confusion and misinformation has led to some teachers being wrongly denied leave and others unaware they are entitled to it, educators and advocates said.
The unanimous and bipartisan approval last May of six-week paid parental leave for educators caught even supporters by surprise. Just three years earlier, Gov. Bill Lee walked away from his own state employee family leave proposal after pushback from GOP lawmakers.
But after a pandemic that highlighted a frayed safety net for working parents and relentless advocacy by teachers and organizations promoting parental leave, the legislature easily passed the measure, along with a new law giving paid parental leave to state employees. Lawmakers put money behind it, too.
With a $15 million annual appropriation, the law guarantees six paid weeks off to any public school educator who requires a license — a broad definition that includes teachers, bus drivers and nurses — after a birth, stillbirth or adoption. The law applies to nonbirthing parents as well. Tennessee was only the second state in the South to extend paid parental leave to its public school employees, after Georgia.
(READ MORE: What does Tennessee’s $56.2 billion budget do?)