To be a parent is to agree to being pulled in a million directions basically all the time and never is that truer than at the end of the school year. You work? Well, that doesn’t stop the end of year concerts, plays, celebrations, graduations, school meetings, and other requirements of “Maycember.” And it seems as though politicians in New Jersey recognize that and have proposed a bill that would incentivize businesses that give parents time off to attend school events with a tax credit.
Senate bill 172, proposed by Republican Vince Polistina Democrat Teresa Ruiz would augment the state’s current law, which allows parents to earn up to 40 hours of paid sick leave a year, which they are allowed to use for school events. But if you’ve had children — and especially multiple children — you know actual sick time will eat up that time really quickly. So this would add time explicitly for things like parent-teacher conferences, assemblies, and other events. Too often, parents either have to lose income to be involved in this part of their children’s lives or they have to skip it because they can’t afford that loss of income.
The benefits of parental involvement in their children’s schools isn’t just a matter of getting warm-fuzzy feelings seeing your child play a turkey in the Thanksgiving pageant. Home Public Interest Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity Programs and Projects Safe and Supportive Schools
Parent engagement in schools is defined as parents and school staff working together to support and improve the learning, development and health of children and adolescents. Numerous studies have shown that when parents get involved in their kids’ schools and education there’s a positive effect on student outcomes, from attendance to grades and test scores. There’s even research to suggest that this engagement can help shield kids from engaging in risky behaviors as adolescents and young adults. As such, promoting parents to be more involved in schools is not just a net good for families, but for society as a whole.
The bill must be approved by both the state Senate and Assembly (which has already heard an identical version of this bill) in order to pass into law. We’ll keep our fingers crossed for you, New Jersey!
