Laws Let Parents Attend Kids' School Events

April 14, 2005 — -- Working in retail, Adrianne Hamilton is accustomed to weekend shifts and other odd hours. But it still was difficult when her schedule would not allow her to attend her daughter's first-grade play, the child's first major school activity following the family's move to Atlanta a few months earlier.

"I apologized that I couldn't make it and [said] we would do something special when I got off and she was done from school," Hamilton recalled, adding that she has since cut back her hours to spend more time with both of her daughters, ages 7 and 3.

Hamilton is lobbying with Atlanta 9to5, a local chapter of the National Association of Working Women, for passage of a law in Georgia that would allow parents to take time off from work to attend their children's school functions without fear of losing their jobs.

Georgia is one of several states considering legislation to create or expand existing allotments of such parental leave, which covers everything from parent-teacher conferences to extracurricular activities. Ten states already have similar laws in place.

"The more children see adults involved in their education, the more we're going to have children finishing school," said Iris Martinez, a Democratic state senator from Chicago who has sponsored a bill in Illinois that would increase the current amount of leave. "It's important for kids to see that we're really involved in their schoolwork during the day."

While many family and work groups endorse such initiatives, there is resistance from some in the business community who fear the laws place unfair burdens on employers and affect productivity.

"It's one of those pieces of legislation that, if it becomes law, it will not in a big way but in a small way … eat away at our ability to be productive and have that edge that we've had in recent years," Jay Shattuck, executive director of the Illinois State Chamber of Commerce's Employment Law Council, said of the bill that has passed the Illinois Senate.