There is submitted herewith a draft of bill which would permit the granting of such limited leaves of absence. This bill provides that the employee shall pay his own tuition and other academic expenses. The interest of the Government is protected by the provision requiring that the employee return to the NACA, or reimburse the Government for the leave granted.

As prescribed in the attached draft of bill, leaves of absence will be granted under this authority only in those cases where the special course of study to be undertaken by the employee would qualify him for more effective work with the NACA.

The NACA has been authorized by the Bureau of the Budget to submit this proposed legislation to the Congress. It is respectfully requested that it be introduced in the Eighty-first Congress.

Sincerely yours,

PROVIDING CUMULATIVE SICK AND EMERGENCY LEAVE WITH PAY FOR TEACHERS AND ATTENDANCE OFFICERS IN THE EMPLOY OF THE BOARD OF EDUCATION OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

JUNE 7, 1949.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed

Mr. ABERNETHY, from the Committee on the District of Columbia. submitted the following

REPORT

[To accompany H. R. 4381)

The Committee on the District of Columbia, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 4381) to provide cumulative sick and emergency leave with pay for teachers and attendance officers in the employ of the Board of Education of the District of Columbia, and for other purposes, having considered the same, report favorably thereon without amendment and recommend that the bill (H. R. 4381) do pass.

The purpose of this legislation is to give to teachers in the public schools the right to have leave with pay because of personal illness. presence of contagious disease or death in the home, or other pressing emergency. The bill provides that each teacher shall be granted such leave at the rate of 1 day for each month through the school year, namely from September through June, inclusive. Such leave may be accumulated up to a maximum of 60 days. Temporary teachers may accumulate not more than 10 days.

The Commissioners of the District of Columbia submitted the proposal under date of April 12, 1948. The transmittal letter and an analysis of the operation of this proposal as prepared by the Superintendent of Schools are made a part of this report.

GOVERNMENT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA,
Washington 4, D. C.

The SPEAKER. UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,

Washington, D. C.

MY DEAR MR. SPEAKER. The Commissioners of the District of Columbia have the honor to submit a draft of a proposed bill to provide cumulative sick and emergency leave with pay for teachers and attendance officers in the employ of the Board of Education of the District of Columbia, and for other purposes. which they request be enacted

The purpose of this legislation is to give to teachers in the public schools the right to have leave with pay because of personal illness, presence of contagious

disease or death in the home, or other pressing emergency. The bill provides that each teacher shall be granted such leave at the rate of 1 day for each month through the school year, namely, from September through June, inclusive. Such leave may be accumulated up to a maximum of 60 days. Temporary teachers may accumulate not more than 10 days.

Section 2 of the proposed bill provides that additional leave with pay shall be credited to each teacher on July 1, 1949, at the rate of 1 day for each complete year of service in the public schools of the District rendered prior to that time. Such additional leave shall not exceed 20 days and also would be usuable for personal illness, presence of contagious disease or death in the home, or other pressing emergency. The maximum accumulation of leave, currently earned and for service prior to July 1, 1949, is 60 days. All leave would be granted in accordance with such rules and regulations as the Board of Education may prescribe. The proposed bill provides in section 3 that when teachers are granted maternity leave they shall be entitled to use all leave which they may have to their credit. Section 4 provides that an advance of leave with pay not exceeding 20 days may be granted and section 5 provides for refund of amounts paid for unearned advanced leave in the event of separation from the service. Salary which may be due or amounts to the employee's credit in his retirement account may be used to satisfy this obligation, but the refund would not be required if a teacher should die, retire for disability, or fail to return to duty because of disability. The existing system whereby the pay of substitute teachers is deducted from the salary of teachers absent on account of illness or other emergency is abolished and in lieu thereof the bill provides that the cost of paying substitute teachers be borne by the District.

Under the proposed legislation attendance officers are given the same rights as teachers, except that instead of being credited on July 1, 1949, with 1 day of leave for each year of service in the District schools prior to that date up to 20, they would be credited with all cumulative leave with pay to which they are entitled on June 30, 1949, under the provisions of section 18 of the District of Columbia Teachers' Salary Act of 1947. This section which would be repealed by the proposed bill, provided cumulative leave to the same extent as the first section of the proposed bill.

It has been estimated by the schoo and financial authorities of the District that the annual cost to the District would be $150,000 for employing substitute teachers (at $10 per diem). There is a potential additional cost, the maximum approximation of which, if all teachers should require all of the leave credited to them on the basis of service prior to July 1, 1949, would be $380,000. There is no way to predict in advance how much of this credited leave might be used in any 1 year. Assuming that 10 per cent of such leave would be used each year the total approximate annual cost of the legislation is $188,000.

The Board of Education has been making urgent requests that this legislation be enacted as being vital to the welfare of the school teachers The Commissioners concur in their views and urge its enactment.

The proposed draft of bill was submitted to the Bureau of the Budget and returned to the Commissioners with the advice that there is no objection on the part of that office to the presentation of the bill to Congress.

Respectfully,

JOHN RUSSELL YOUNG, President, Board of Commissioners

ANALYSIS OF THE OPERATION OF THE PROPOSED SICK LEAVE LEGISLATION

GENERAL PROVISIONS

1. Each individual is granted 10 days' leave annually on full pay for personal illness, contagious disease or death in the home, or pressing emergency. 2. Unused leave is cumulative up to 60 days.

3. Initially each permanent teacher is given credit for previous service at the rate of 1 day of leave for each complete year of service in the public schools of the District of Columbia up to and including 20 years.

4. When all accrued and earned leave is exhausted, a teacher may borrow up to 20 days' leave with full pay.

5. If a teacher has borrowed leave and is retired for disability or cannot return to duty because of disability, she would not be required to repay the cost of the borrowed sick leave.

6. If a teacher goes on maternity leave she can draw pay for the period she is on maternity leave up to the amount of leave to her credit at the time she was granted maternity leave.

7. Temporary teachers earn leave at the rate of 10 days a year and have cumulative leave up to 10 days making it possible for a temporary teacher to be absent with full pay for 20 days in one school year if she has brought forward cumulative leave to the extent of 10 days on the first day of the school year.

HOW WILL THE SICK LEAVE OPERATE FOR THE FIRST YEAR AFTER ENACTMENT INTO LAW?

Calculations in the following tables are based upon 3.370 teachers, the number in service in June 1947.

All absences for the 1946-47 school year were recorded and tabulated.

Of the 3,370 teachers, 882 were not absent during the year. Had the proposed plan been in operation for that year, teachers in the numbers indicated below would have received full pay without borrowing or calling upon any granted or accumulated reserve.

Number of teachers

1,917.

2,529.

2.847.

TABLE 1

The basic provision of 10 days a year would in itself, therefore, have assured full pay for absences of 2,847 or 84.48 percent of all teachers.

Special features of the bill assure full pay for many absences which extend beyond 10 days a year. even for the first vear the plan is in effect.

provisions are:

These special

1. The granting of accumulated leave at the rate of 1 day a year, for each year of service up to 20 years, and

2. The provision that in cases of serious, continuing illness, an individual can borrow up to 20 days in anticipation of future service.

Under these provisions the teacher new in the service has to his credit 10 days by the end of the first year but may borrow 20 additional days at any time during the year. Teachers with 10 years of experience will earn 10 days during the current year, will have a grant of 10 days for previous service and the right to borrow 20 days, or may have leave for a total of 40 days. The teacher with 20 years of service in Washington will earn 10 days during the current year, will have a grant of 20 days for previous service and the right to borrow 20, making a total of 50 days. Obviously, additional leave will be available each year after the first year that the plan is in operation If prolonged illness occurs after an individual has accumulated 60 days, he would be paid in full for the 60 days. plus any leave earned during the current year, and could still borrow 20 days. Tables II, III, IV, V, VI, and VII which follow, using the absence figures recorded for the school year 1946-47, show how these special provisions will operate for the first year after the plan is enacted into law. It is to be noted that in the following tables individual adjustments will need to be made in the credit for the current year depending upon when during the year the illness occurs since all current leave is earned at the rate of 1 day for each month of service.

TABLE II

Special provisions assure full pay for absences indicated during the first year of service in the Washington schools:

Full pay is assured covering up to 30 days of absence for new employees by the end of the first year of service in the Washington schools and for the first year the plan operates.

TABLE III

Full pay is assured for absences indicated for teachers with 10 years' experience in Washington:

Even during the first year under "Paid sick leave," a teacher with 10 years of experience is assured of full pay for absence up to 40 days.

TABLE IV

Special provisions will assure pay as indicated for the first year to those who have had 20 years of experience:

The fifth year after the legislation is in effect those teachers with 10 years' experience in the public schools of the District of Columbia at the time of the passage of the bill who have accumulated 50 days of sick leave will receive the leave for the absences indicated according to the following table: