Oh, baby! $51M parental leave for teachers

The city is going to provide six weeks of paid parental leave to all public-school teachers, Mayor de Blasio announced Wednesday.

The deal with the city’s teachers union not only applies to birth parents, but also foster and adoptive parents. Combined with paid sick time, teachers and other union em- ployees will be able to take off 12 to 14 weeks starting in September.

Teachers accumulate one sick day a month — but they’re allowed to carry them over from year to year.

The agreement covers about 120,000 members of the United Federation of Teachers, and the city estimates about 4,000 will take advantage of the new benefit each year.

The union’s membership includes about 79,000 teachers, as well as secretaries, guidance counselors and other school personnel.

“This is a great day for the Department of Education,” said de Blasio during a City Hall press conference.

The mayor acted follow- ing a concerted campaign by the UFT, one of his political allies.

In 2016, de Blasio signed a law providing parental leave for 20,000 management employees.

UFT President Michael Mulgrew praised de Blasio for the move, saying “this is now your legacy.”

“It has been a long fight, but today I get to stand here and say that wrong has finally been righted,” he said.

The new policy is expected to cost the city $51 million a year, which officials said would be offset by extending the UFT contract by a couple of months past its November expiration date.