Thursday, May 23, 2019 | 2 a.m.
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Every morning, as my fellow teachers and I walk down the hallways at our school, we’re greeted with watery eyes, runny noses and uncovered coughs and sneezes.
We are facing a huge problem. Hundreds of Nevada’s students go to school sick because their parents or guardians cannot afford to miss a day’s work.
No one should have to choose between putting food on the table and caring for a sick child. But for parents who make only minimum wage, three unpaid days can mean the loss of a family’s entire grocery budget for the month.
Having to send a sick kid to school so you don’t get docked at work can be an agonizing decision for working parents — including the more than half a million Nevadans who cannot earn a single paid sick day to recover from an illness or care for a sick family member. Families who earn the least in our state are getting hit the hardest: 67% of the lowest-income workers — those making less than $15,000 a year — do not have earned paid sick time, compared with just 16% of those making more than $65,000 a year. And half of the people of color working in our state do not have access to earned paid sick days, compared with 36% of white people.
As an educator in the Clark County School District for the past nine years, I am lucky enough to have 15 earned paid sick days — and frankly, I don’t know what I would do without them. Just a few weeks ago, I took the day off to stay home with my daughter because she had a stomach flu. I did not have to worry about losing my job or sacrificing basic necessities like food and rent to take care of my child when she needed me.
Don’t all working families deserve the same opportunity?
The truth is, we all benefit when sick students or employees have time to get better. In both school and the workplace, productivity is improved. Businesses face fewer turnover costs and lower health care costs. And our communities are healthier and stronger: Staying home to recover helps prevent the spread of contagious illnesses, which is especially important during flu season.
Thankfully, Senate Bill 312 is moving through the Nevada Legislature. It would guarantee a week of earned paid sick time, enabling Nevadans to take time off to see a doctor, rest when they are sick and care for a family member without losing their salary or risking termination. The bill passed unanimously out of the Senate Commerce and Labor Committee, which moves us one step closer to making a real difference for Nevadans across the state.
The bill is a great start, but I hope the Legislature will amend it to include more people. So many of my students’ parents work in businesses with fewer than 50 employees, which would be exempt from offering earned paid sick time in the current bill.
We all pay when working families can’t take time off to get better. I see it in my classroom every day.
It’s time for the Legislature to do the right thing for our families and communities.
Adam Berger is a special education teacher in English and language arts at Desert Oasis High School.
