School support staff gain job-protected leave rights under expanded FMLA

What it does

This bill expands the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) to cover paraprofessionals and education support staff (ESPs)—such as teaching assistants, custodians, food service workers, and administrative staff in schools. It lowers the eligibility bar for these workers by allowing them to qualify for FMLA protections if they work at least 60% of their job's expected monthly hours in the prior school year, rather than meeting the standard full-time threshold. Schools must document expected hours for each position.

Why we flagged it

The bill extends an existing worker-protection statute (FMLA) to a previously excluded class of low-wage education employees, with a tailored eligibility rule reflecting school-year employment patterns. It is a straightforward labor-rights measure, not a tax provision, subsidy, or deregulation.

What the text implies

• Schools will incur administrative costs to document and track expected monthly hours for each ESP position, and to manage leave calculations under the new 60% threshold—costs not explicitly addressed in the bill.
• The 60% threshold may create incentives for schools to classify positions as part-time or reduce scheduled hours to stay below the threshold, potentially harming workers' overall compensation and benefits eligibility.
• Interaction with state and local education budgets: if schools must cover absences or hire substitutes for ESPs on FMLA leave, this may increase operational costs, which could be passed to districts or taxpayers.

Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.

Who it affects

Education support staff—custodians, food service workers, teaching assistants, and administrative employees—typically earn low wages and have limited job security. Extending FMLA protections to them, with a lowered eligibility threshold suited to school-year employment patterns, provides job security during medical emergencies or family care needs without imposing new costs on workers (FMLA leave is unpaid). The 60% threshold acknowledges that school employment is often part-time or seasonal.

Named in the bill

Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, General Education Provisions Act, U.S. Department of Labor (Secretary), Educational agencies and institutions, Paraprofessionals, Education support staff (ESPs)

Where it stands

9 cosponsors: 9 Democrats.

• Sep 9, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
• Sep 9, 2025 — Referred to Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions”

Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.

Money around this bill

2 lobbying clients named this bill on 2 disclosure filings across 2 quarters, Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $860,426 in lobbying spend. A filing names 102 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.

More lobbying clients named this bill than 41% of bills with at least one filing.

Tammy Duckworth, the sponsor, reported $148,182 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.

• American Fed of Government Employees AFL-CIO — $450,426 on 1 filing
• American Federation of Teachers — $410,000 on 1 filing

Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 20, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.