Earlier today Dr. Diane Ravitch posted on her blog a post from Terri Michal, a member of the elected board of education in Birmingham, Alabama.

Ravitch reported what Michal had written.

I love public education employees. They are the most resourceful group of people you could ever meet. They have to be. These employees work in an atmosphere of politics and nepotism.

They suffer through Legislators and administrators that create policies for them even though many of these policy makers have never worked in a school a day in their lives. Because of this, school-based employees have had to learn to MacGyver their way through each and every day.

These employees do this because they know what’s at stake; The future of the 51 million students who attend our public schools as well as the future of our country that one day those students will run.

Recently being made aware of a new piece of federal legislation that could impact the lives of public education employees, I did a quick survey of all my friends that work in that sector. I found that a large portion of them are not aware of this new law.

That new piece of legislation is the Families First Coronavirus Response Act. A link to its contents is here.

Michal continues:

In that vein, public education employees, you need to know what your rights are so that you can decide what is right for you and your families.

If you are being asked to work in a building and you feel that you cannot or should not be doing it, if you cannot work (telework included) due to childcare issues, if you or a family member are sick with COVID-19, or you take care of anyone that is in a high risk category, there are now some federal job protections for you.

The Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) contains several provisions that will provide meaningful assistance to school district employees. It took effect April 2, 2020, and will end on December 31, 2020. The FFCRA provides two types of leave for employees impacted by COVID-19: Emergency Paid Sick Leave and Emergency Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) Leave.

Please read about this. It reminds me of what happened this past week at a charter school in Franklin County. Justin Parmenter wrote about it on his great blog, Notes from the Chalkboard this past week.