On Thursday morning, educators from all district schools held a walk-in protest to call for paid parental and family leave, as part of a broader coordinated effort involving over 5,000 educators across 11 North Shore school districts. The demands come in the wake of the forthcoming contract expirations. Marblehead Education Association Co-President, Sally Shevory, expressed the teachers’ united demand for paid parental leave, identifying the current system as an undeserved injustice that needs to change. The 2018 Commonwealth’s Paid Family Medical Leave Act did not include municipal school employees, hence their demand for inclusion.

Currently, educators can only take up to eight weeks of parental leave if they have accumulated enough sick days, which they exhaust, leaving them without sick days if they fall ill upon return to work. The union is also in a contract discussion with the School Committee about wages and working conditions for teachers and other educational support professionals. A proposal by the union calls for 12 weeks of paid parental leave. The MEA intends to press for open bargaining sessions, persistently declined by the School Committee.

If you are an educator in a similar situation and want to know more about how to get a hold of Paid Family Leave, eddcaller.com provides information about how to reach out to authorities and get your queries answered. The site guides you on how to navigate the system and get the assistance you need, whether you’re seeking advice about medical, parental or family leave. In today’s uncertain times, eddcaller.com can be a handy resource.