Sick and Personal Leave

Jan 20, 2008 - Public school teachers in one area in Michigan took an average of eight days for sick and personal leave last school year — nearly twice the rate for workers in other professions nationally.

Figures obtained by the Citizen Patriot (Michigan) show local teachers had an absence rate of 4.3 percent of their required work days. The numbers also show the cost of the missed work to taxpayers, with area school districts spending $1.5 million on substitute teachers in 2006-07, according to data provided by the schools under the Michigan Freedom of Information Act.

Critics of teacher absenteeism said there is another cost: The impact on student learning that results from substitute teachers who aren't trained as well as full-time instructors.

The newspaper found:
Avg. number of days teachers took off for sick and personal leave = 8
Number of days contracts for most area school districts allow teachers to take = 12
Number of days last year that 1,867 teachers were out of the classroom = 14,850
Amount area schools spent on substitute teachers in 2006-07 = $1.5 million

These did not include additional days off teachers took for maternity leaves, long-term paid absence for major illnesses, funerals, union-related business days off, and district business days for training and meetings. The national average of teacher absences is nine to 10 days, according to an August report by researchers at the National Bureau of Economic Research in Cambridge, Mass

Teachers at most public schools can be absent from the classroom with no questions asked up to 14 days — 7.5 percent — of the 188-day school year, that includes 1,096 hours of instruction and five in-service days for professional development. The figure is negotiated in their contracts.

Veteran teachers in most districts who collect roll-over sick days from previous years can be absent for up to half or even three-quarters of a school year, based on the maximum number of accumulation days, which vary from 90 to 200 days locally.

Unused sick days can be rolled over each year and accumulated so teachers can use them in subsequent years. Some districts allow teachers to cash in unused sick days when they retire.

TT - Be sure to read the comments at the story.

We discovered teachers in Maine get 15-17 sick leave days a year. In Massachusetts, the Eagle Tribune had a series called "Marked Absent" in 2003. Entry You can read a lot of teacher contracts on line, but the best way to find out how many sick days are given a year is to visit the state Board of Education web sites or large school districts in the section where they recruit teachers and they list benefits that include sick leave.