In Today’s Richmond Times-Dispatch: Students Can’t Afford the Learning Loss that Will Come from Paid Leave Bill

The Richmond Times-Dispatch ran my guest column this morning that warns of the significant learning loss that will likely occur from the Paid Family and Medical Leave bill (SB2) that is quickly winding its way to the Governror’s desk for her promised signature.

As I have written previously, the Virginia General Assembly is about to pass the most expansive and expensive paid leave bill in the country — one that will increase its utilization and cripple small businesses.

Today’s article exposes the likely impacts it will have on our already struggling schools, as teachers who already get summers off are covered in this bill. As I wrote in the Richmond Times-Dispatch:

Research has repeatedly shown that teacher absences reduce student learning. One national study found that each additional stretch of teacher absence lowered student achievement in measurable ways, particularly in math, because substitute instruction rarely matches the effectiveness, pacing and subject mastery of the regular classroom teacher.

It is no secret that Virginia’s students are already struggling, and Virginia is one of the few states that has yet to recover from the learning loss experienced during the pandemic.

I warned that the greatest impact would be in our already struggling high poverty schools, widening an already too wide learning gap:

Teacher absences would have a greater negative impact on higher-poverty schools and in hard-to-staff subject areas that already face substitute shortages and staffing churn. When a teacher in those environments takes extended leave, the replacement is more likely to be a rotating series of substitutes or coverage by already-overstretched staff. The result is disproportionate harm to academically vulnerable students — widening performance gaps rather than closing them.

Virginia public schools only have 180 instructional days. If SB2 passes, teachers would qualify for between 60 and 84 days of additional leave — stranding students with subsitutes for almost 50 percent of their critical instruction.

Our students only get one chance at each grade. Governor Spanberger should amend the paid leave bill to exclude teachers until adequate student protections can be guaranteed.

You can read my full commentary in the Richmond Times-Dispatch here.