Rhonda Johnson, President of the Columbus Education Association, an Ohioans for Healthy Families coalition member, weighed in recently on the importance of paid sick days from an education perspective. Here's some of what she had to say:
“Our students are the children of families who don’t have sick leave,” said CEA President Rhonda Johnson. “Our students’ families should not be forced to make the economic decision of whether or not they go to work to pay the bills or stay home to care for their sick child.”“When our students come to school because their caregiver’s job doesn’t allow them to stay home with their child, it spreads their illness in our schools to other students,” continued Johnson. “That results in a higher absentee rate and an increase in missed learning opportunities for not only that student but their peers as well.”
Click here to read more from CEA's blog.
It is not fair that students' educations are compromised because their parents are unable to be at home with them when they are sick. If we value families, we ought to let parents take care of sick kids - and send them to school healthy to get an education to prepare them for life!
Aaron Cornell
Central Ohio Regional Director
aaron@sickdaysohio.org
Posted by SickDaysOhio.org on April 15, 2008