Protections for Breast-Feeding Mothers Face Opposition

When Anna Johnson-Smith started her fifth year as a kindergarten teacher at Marlin Elementary School in 2012, she didn’t plan to resign just a few weeks into the school year.

With a 3-month-old babyat home, Johnson-Smith wanted to continue breastfeeding, and returning to the classroom meant she needed to pump breast milk while at work. At first, she said,her supervisors were helpful, providing her with a room to pump during 15-minute breaksand someone to superviseher students.

But two weeks into the school year,her supervisors told her they would be unable to continue providing her with afternoon breaks, she said.She resigned and is now a stay-at-home mother.

“I didn’t think I needed to pick between my career and breastfeeding my babies,” Johnson-Smith said. An aide to theMarlin Independent School District superintendent said Wednesday that the then-principal and -superintendent no longer work at the district, and that there was no one else who could comment on Johnson-Smith’s situation.

Almost three years later, Democratic state Sen. Sylvia Garcia of Houston is pushing a measure she hopes would prevent otherteachers from facing the same challenges, by requiring school districts to provide “reasonable” break times and facilities for female educators who need to pump breast milk while at work.

Federal law already requires employers to provide accommodationsfor hourly workersto pump breast milk, but it exempts salaried workers. Garcia’s Senate Bill 1479, which she calls a “common-sense bill,” would extend those protections to school district employees, like teachers, who are compensated on a salary basis.

The measure has been endorsed by several groups representing Texasteachers, but it’s been met with resistance from at least two Republican senators — state Sens. Lois Kolkhorst of Brenham and Donna Campbell of New Braunfels — who say it expands the role of government.

Kolkhorst and Campbell opposed the measure when it was considered in the Senate Education Committee, casting the only votes against the bill.

“I was shocked to see my women colleagues on the committee be the only no votes,” Garcia said.

But Kolkhorst and Campbell said their opposition to the measure is rooted in their small-government principles.

“Schools have the flexibility to provide this if and when they feel it’s appropriate,” Campbell said. “The government doesn’t need to be mandating it.”

In explaining her opposition, Kolkhorst echoed that aversion to mandates, saying she didn’t want to write the requirement for accommodations for teachers into law.

“I’m a female who actually was a working mom and had the same issues and was able to be able to continue to breastfeed for my children while I was working,” Kolkhorst said. “I know that there are situations that we hear about that don’t go so well, but I’m hoping that local school districts can come up with their own policies regarding this issue.”