Mayor Brandon Johnson joined Chicago Public Schools (CPS) CEO Pedro Martinez and Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) President Stacy Davis Gates to announce that CPS employees will be eligible for up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave beginning in the 2023-24 school year. Details will be finalized over the summer, but the policy will be similar to paid parental leave policies previously adopted by the City of Chicago. Under the Board’s proposed policy, eligible employees, regardless of gender or gender identity, may receive up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave for the birth of the employee’s child or for the adoption or fostering of a child. Currently, CPS policy entitles birthing parents to six to eight weeks of short-term disability leave, while non-birth parents, who are FMLA eligible, receive two weeks of paid leave. However, the new parental leave policy will run concurrently with FMLA, allowing both birth and non-birth parents to take time off to bond with their newborn or newly adopted/fostered child within the first 12 months of birth or placement. Additionally, gestational surrogates will be eligible for up to eight weeks of paid leave for recovery purposes under this benefit. Staff members who do not meet the hours requirement for FMLA will continue to be able to utilize the current short-term disability plan.  Once finalized by the Working Group, the CPS Board of Education will review and adopt the parental leave for the 2023-24 school year.