NC teachers can now take paid parental leave

North Carolina public school teachers can take paid parental leave at the start of the school year. This is with the help of a new law that took effect on July 1st. The State Board of Education adopted the rules for the new leave policy on Thursday.

Teachers previously had to take sick days or unpaid leave if they wanted the time off.

Turquoise LeJune Parker is a Durham teacher and a mom said when she had her daughter two years ago, she took maternity leave using PTO.

"I was hesitant to go past that because I had to use my own time to pay for that leave," Parker said.

She tells WRAL News she was lucky she even had days to spare.

"Because of the amount of time and investment we need to make before we can earn leave," Parker said.

However, this changes as the State Board of Education sets rules for paid parental leave.

Public school employees who have been with their school division for at least one year can now take up to two months of paid leave after having a baby.

Tamika Walker Kelly, president of the North Carolina Association of Educators, says many states already offer this.

"Especially since our profession is largely women," Kelly said. "This means it's a great sign for many of our educators across the state."

Educators were previously excluded from a 2019 state executive order that gave paid parental leave to only some state employees.

"We are employees who do great work with our children across the state, so to be last to get does a disservice to the profession," Kelly said.

She thinks more can be done to keep good teachers around, like lifting pay.

"Our state continues to lag behind our southern counterparts as well as states across the nation in making sure we have highly compensated staff across the board," Kelly said.

Teachers like Parker are bringing forward that same message.

"It's not enough because if we're going to get two months of leave, let's raise some pay as well," Parker said." Two things can be true."

The rules approved by the State Board of Education are temporary. Permanent rules will be developed through a longer rule-making process and will take effect later.