BEVERLY — When Kellie Moulton gave birth two years ago, she used eight weeks of sick time to stay home with her newborn son. When that ran out, the McKeown Preschool special education teacher took another month off without pay.
Moulton wanted to stay home longer, but the lack of a paycheck made that option unrealistic.
“I definitely felt I had to come back sooner than I was ready,” she said, “because I wasn’t getting paid.”
The lack of paid parental leave has become a point of contention for teachers across the region. On Wednesday morning, Beverly was the latest public school district on the North Shore to hold a demonstration demanding paid parental leave as part of their contract negotiations.
More than 600 teachers and paraprofessionals stood outside all eight of the city’s public schools before they began the school day, holding signs, playing music and waving to people driving by.
“This is a huge issue for us,” McKeown School paraprofessional Judy Martin said during the rally in front of the school on Balch Street. “Everybody should have this as a benefit.”
The “walk in” event, as the teachers called it, was part of a coordinated series of demonstrations by more than 5,000 teachers and staff in 11 North Shore school districts this week, according to the Massachusetts Teachers Association.
The union says although teacher unions were among the strongest advocates for the state’s Paid Family and Medical Leave Act that was approved in 2018, the law excluded municipal workers, including public school employees, leaving unions to negotiate for the benefit independently.
Beverly Teachers Association President Julia Brotherton said the lack of paid parental leave forces teachers to use sick time, if they have it. The union has asked the Beverly School Committee for several years for paid parental benefits in contract negotiations, and is asking for 12 weeks paid leave in its current negotiations.
“As more and more education unions win paid parental leave benefits in their contracts, Beverly cannot be left behind. I hope the School Committee sees our commitment, does the right thing, and agrees to fair and just paid parental leave for our members at the bargaining table,” she said in a news release issued by the Massachusetts Teachers Association.
In an interview outside Beverly Middle School during Wednesday morning’s demonstration, Brotherton, who is a history teacher at Beverly High School, said she was “confident the School Committee will do the right thing about paid parental leave.
“We all care about kids, and this issue is obviously all about kids and giving kids the right start.”
Beverly School Committee President Rachael Abell said she could not comment directly, out of respect for the negotiating process.
“But we look forward to our continued work with the BTA on a fair, equitable, and affordable solution that benefits all Beverly students,” she said in a prepared statement.
At Beverly Middle School, where about 100 teachers took part in the rally, several teachers spoke about how the lack of paid leave has affected them.
Casey Fiore said he took two months of unpaid leave when his daughter was born last August.
“I would not trade a moment of it for the world,” he said. “But it would have been great if I would have been able to be with my daughter without being worried about bills.”
Taylor Cross, who is due to have her first baby in May, said she has not taken time off during a difficult pregnancy — even to the point of fainting in class one day — because she is saving up sick days for after the birth.
“I’m not giving my 100% because I’m not feeling well,” Cross said. “I’m a special education teacher and it’s a demanding job. It’s physically taxing. It’s mentally taxing.”
Allison Nichols, who is pregnant with her second child, said being pregnant or post-partum “should not be considered the same as being sick.
“I think it’s really insulting that in a profession where we go above and beyond to care for other children that we’re not afforded the same right to care for our own during the most vulnerable time of a child’s life.”
Other districts participating in the demonstrations this week include Salem, Danvers, Marblehead, Ipswich, Hamilton-Wenham, Masconomet Regional, Gloucester, Revere, Georgetown and Chelsea, according to the Massachusetts Teachers Association.
Ann Berman, president of the Salem Teachers’ Union, echoed these sentiments, noting that if both parents of a newborn child are teachers in the same district that causes further complications.
“This all means that the child is going into daycare much earlier than is really healthy and beneficial. A lot of moms experience postpartum depression — there’s scientific evidence about that, and they’re being forced to come back to work too soon. They’re not ready, their bodies and minds are not healed,” she said.
“Pregnancy is really, really tough. and then you have this little bundle of joy and you’re handing them over to somebody to care for your child, while you come into work to care for other people’s children. There’s something wrong in the whole dichotomy.”
“I’m proud of the way that we, in the North Shore, have come together to work towards this goal as a coordinated effort,” Danvers Teachers’ Association President Kathleen Murphy said.
“It’s something that we all recognize needs to change. I think that the bottom line is that when teachers feel valued, their needs are met, and they can take the time they need, then they will be better employees and teachers.”
Staff Writer Michael McHugh contributed to this report.
Staff Writer Paul Leighton can be reached at 978-338-2535, by email at pleighton@northofboston.com, or on Twitter at @heardinbeverly.