As a new school year begins, lawmakers are again trying to give public school teachers paid family leave.

Supporters believe the benefit will help attract and retain high-quality teachers in the face of an increasing shortage. But critics worry that the bill—which has widespread support among the Democratic majority in the Legislature and is a priority for the Legislative Women’s Caucus—could come at the actual expense of students.

The union-backed bill, authored by the Democratic Majority Leader Cecilia Aguiar-Curry, would give teachers 14 weeks of fully paid leave after having a baby, paid for by school districts through existing state funding.

Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed a similar bill in 2019, but won’t say which way he’s leaning on this legislation, which goes even further than the bill he vetoed.

The reality is that hundreds of thousands of California teachers and public employees are still not entitled to paid leave after having a baby. In fact, teachers effectively have to pay for their own substitute teacher after giving birth.

Teachers excluded from receiving paid family leave 

In 2019, CBS News California Investigative Correspondent Julie Watts discussed the issue with Newsom, shortly before he vetoed a previous bill that would have provided paid family leave for teachers. 

At the time, the Governor had recently increased paid family leave for most other Californians. However, teachers and public employees were excluded under existing state law. 

WATCH 2019 STORY: Many California public employees ineligible for paid family leave

“So just to be clear, there’s nothing that you, as the Governor, can do to basically allow anybody who wants [to] to opt [in]?” CBS News California asked Newsom in 2019.

“Well, there’s a lot the Governor can do, and we’re pursuing that,” Newsom responded. “And every day, we’re pursuing more of that.”

He went on to criticize then-President Donald Trump.

“I remember on the campaign trail a guy by the name of Donald Trump talking about paid family leave,” Newsom recounted during the interview. “I’d love him to fulfill a promise. Maybe this is one he could consider.”

“Nothing has happened”

“So what have you done?” asked Pittsburg, California teacher Emily Price as she watched Newsom’s 2019 interview five years later. 

CBS News also interviewed Price in 2019. At the time, she was a Southern California public school teacher with a brand new baby. 

WATCH 2019 STORY: Many California public employees ineligible for paid family leave

“People are surprised,” Price said in 2019. “They think, ‘Oh, you’re out on maternity leave, getting paid to take care of your baby.’ … It’s like no, not really, ran out of pay a while ago.”

A lot has changed in Price’s life since we first interviewed her and Newsom.

Today, she teaches in the Bay Area – and her baby starts kindergarten this week.

But one thing hasn’t changed: public school teachers still aren’t eligible for paid family leave in California.

“It’s been five years. Like, nothing has happened. So, we need your help, Governor,” Price said.

Watch the full 2019 Paid Family Leave interview with Governor Gavin Newsom

Who gets paid family leave in California? 

Most Californians are entitled to up to 16 weeks of paid leave after having a baby. 

New moms are entitled to up to eight weeks of disability pay to recover after birth. Newsom signed legislation in 2022 that increases maternity disability pay for lower-wage workers to 90% of their salary beginning in 2025. 

California also offers another eight weeks of paid family leave — up to 70% of a person’s salary — for mothers, fathers and adoptive parents to bond with a new baby. Other Californians can use the eight weeks of paid family leave to care for a sick relative. 

Public school teachers aren’t entitled to any of it.

“It’s already hard enough to be a teacher,” Price said. “Like, we don’t go into teaching for the money.”

More than 70% of teachers are women. According to data from California State Teachers’ Retirement System, cited in the Assembly Appropriations analysis for its bill, women teachers average nearly $100,000 less in retirement than their male counterparts, in part because they’re forced to use up their accrued vacation and sick leave when they have babies.

“I know many teachers who try to time their pregnancies to align with summer,” Price said.

And those who can’t time their pregnancies to summer vacation often return to work without any sick leave to use when they, or their children, inevitably become ill.

Collective bargaining 

“There are hundreds of thousands of Californians who are not entitled to this leave right now. How is that possible?” CBS News California asked Newsom in 2019.

“It’s possible because they haven’t bargained for it,” Newsom said.

He explained that paid leave is something the unions must collectively bargain for. Members can’t individually opt-in.

Since that interview, the number of state employees without paid leave has decreased, according to data obtained by CBS News California Investigates from California’s Labor & Workforce Development Agency. 

In 2019, CBS News California identified 95,000 state employees who were not entitled to paid family leave, along with an unknown number of city, county, special district and federal employees, and the majority of the more than 300,000 California teachers.

Updated data now indicate an estimated 52,000 state employees belong to unions that still have not bargained for paid family leave, including California Highway Patrol, firefighters, corrections officers, and at least four other categories of state employees. 

Five years later, the California Teachers Association says the vast majority of its members still do not have paid family leave. However, the CTA could not provide a comprehensive list of local unions with or without the benefit, so it is unclear how many teachers still lack paid leave. 

CTA representatives cited anecdotal examples and explained that while some local teachers’ unions have successfully negotiated some paid leave with their school districts, they say other districts refuse to negotiate paid leave without state guidance or a mandate. 

Why can’t teachers opt-in to disability and paid family leave?

California’s paid family leave is paid for by a 1% disability tax on your paycheck. However, under state law, public employees don’t pay into State Disability Insurance (SDI). So they can’t collect.

“I don’t understand why that’s not an option,” Price said. “Yes, I’ll give a portion of my salary to be able to access this amazing benefit.”

Instead, public school teachers get 12 weeks of unpaid leave and must use up any vacation or sick leave before they effectively pay for their own substitute teacher – up to 50% of their salary.

“Why can’t the state allow individuals to opt into disability insurance,” CBS News California asked Gov. Newsom in 2019.

“Our task force … This is what we’re exploring,” Newsom said, referring to the Paid Family Leave Task Force he created in 2019. 

CBS News California asked the Governor to sit down with us again to discuss paid family leave for teachers, now five years later. His office denied our multiple requests, telling us that the Governor was too busy. 

In lieu of an interview, CBS News California asked for examples of what he and his Paid Family Leave Task Force had done since we last spoke – specifically to address paid family leave for California’s 300,000+ teachers. 

His office sent a list of accomplishments, including expanding paid family leave from 6 to 8 weeks in 2019, expanding it further in 2020 and increasing disability wage replacement rates to 90% pay in 2025.

However, the Governor’s office couldn’t point to any accomplishments that helped increase wage replacement or provided any paid family leave for teachers. 

California lawmakers rally behind new bill

Assembly Majority Leader and Vice Chair of the Woman’s Caucus Cecilia Aguiar-Curry wants to give teachers 14 weeks of fully paid leave, paid for by school districts through Prop 98 funding instead of California’s overburdened state budget.

“Paying for their own sub. Do you think that’s fair? Come on,” Aguiar-Curry told CBS News California in an interview on the assembly floor last week. 

Her union-backed bill has widespread support among the Democrat majority, but the Governor vetoed a similar bill shortly after our last interview. 

His veto message stated, in part, “[T]his bill will likely result in annual costs of tens of millions of dollars that should be considered as part of the annual budget process and as part of local collective bargaining.”

“What do you say to the critics who say you’re sacrificing funding for students to pay the teachers?” CBS News California asked Aguiar-Curry.

“I’m saying to them, a happy instructor is a happy classroom is a happy child,” she said. “I’m also saying to the Governor, you mentioned you wanted to make sure this was in the budget. You never did it.”

As a teacher, Emily said that she is concerned the bill could divert funding from programs for students.

“I see year after year different programs and services being cut,” Price said.

However, as a parent, she says she is just as concerned about the increasing teacher shortage. 

And as a parent who is also a teacher, she believes paid family leave will help attract and retain quality teachers.

What’s next?

The bill, “AB 2901: School and community college employees: paid disability and parental leave,” has 17 co-authors, which is a sign that it is popular among Democratic lawmakers. 

The Assembly already passed this bill, so it’s up to the Senate, which could vote as early as next week.

But anything can happen, especially if the Governor doesn’t want to sign it.

Julie Watts

Julie Watts is a national-award-winning investigative correspondent for CBS News, covering California. Her investigations, Capitol accountability reports, and solutions-oriented journalism air weekly on CBS stations across California.