Debate begins today on H.R. 30, a bill to tweak Obamacare so that large employers need not provide insurance for their staff unless they work forty hours per week, versus thirty hours under current law. The rationale is clear: The thirty-hour rule appears to be encouraging employers to cut workers’ hours, which is driving down income at a time when many part-timers are already struggling to make ends meet.
It got me thinking: How many school districts would be required to provide health insurance to their teachers under the proposed standard? Of course, virtually everywhere, such benefits are already baked into state law and/or local contracts for teachers, so this is just a thought exercise. And yes, most teachers work longer than is contractually required—both on site and at home. But so do professionals in other fields. The current debate made me curious about the mandatory workweek of the nation’s teachers.
To find out, I tapped the National Council on Teacher Quality’s fantastic Teacher Contract Database, which pulls information from collective-bargaining agreements (or their equivalents in non-union states) from more than one hundred districts nationwide. (Most of the data are current as of the 2013–14 school year.)
What did I learn? Most of the districts in the database don’t require a forty-hour workweek, and several don’t even come close. Let’s be honest, some of these workweeks are shockingly short. Sacramento’s barely hits the current Obamacare threshold!
Take a look for yourself at the range from the shortest to longest workweeks among large districts. And let the angry tweeting begin.
District | State | Work Week (hours) |
Sacramento City Unified School District | California | 30.5 |
Jefferson Parish Public Schools | Louisiana | 31.65 |
Providence Public School District – Elementary Teachers | Rhode Island | 31.65 |
Bridgeport Public Schools – Elementary Teachers | Connecticut | 32.5 |
Caddo Parish Public Schools | Louisiana | 32.5 |
Portland Public Schools | Maine | 32.5 |
Newark School District – Secondary Teachers | New Jersey | 33.3 |
Providence Public School District – Secondary Teachers | Rhode Island | 33.3 |
New Haven School District | Connecticut | 33.75 |
Newark School District - Elementary Teachers | New Jersey | 33.75 |
Toledo Public Schools – Elementary Teachers | Ohio | 33.75 |
Oakland Unified School District – Elementary Teachers | California | 33.75 |
Buffalo City School District | New York | 34.15 |
Bridgeport Public Schools – Secondary Teachers | Connecticut | 34.35 |
Fresno Unified School District | California | 35 |
Oakland Unified School District – Secondary Teachers | California | 35 |
Hawaii Department of Education | Hawaii | 35 |
Chicago Public Schools – Elementary/Middle School Teachers | Illinois | 35 |
Jefferson County Public Schools | Kentucky | 35 |
Baltimore County Public Schools | Maryland | 35 |
Albuquerque Public Schools | New Mexico | 35 |
Cincinnati City School District | Ohio | 35 |
Toledo Public Schools – Secondary Teachers | Ohio | 35 |
Oklahoma City Public Schools | Oklahoma | 35 |
Richmond City Public Schools | Virginia | 35 |
Spokane School District – Elementary Teachers | Washington | 35 |
San Diego Unified School District | California | 35.4 |
Miami-Dade County School District – Elementary Teachers | Florida | 35.4 |
Baltimore City Public School System | Maryland | 35.42 |
Wichita Public Schools | Kansas | 35.84 |
Clark County School District | Nevada | 35.84 |
Chicago Public Schools - High School Teachers | Illinois | 36.25 |
Dayton City School District | Ohio | 36.25 |
Pittsburgh Public Schools – Elementary Teachers | Pennsylvania | 36.25 |
Granite School District – Elementary Teachers | Utah | 36.25 |
Duval County School District | Florida | 36.65 |
Miami-Dade County School District – Secondary Teachers | Florida | 36.65 |
St. Louis Public School District | Missouri | 36.65 |
Cleveland Metropolitan School District | Ohio | 36.65 |
Virginia Beach City Public Schools | Virginia | 36.65 |
Little Rock Public Schools | Arkansas | 37.5 |
Douglas County School District | Colorado | 37.5 |
Hartford Public Schools | Connecticut | 37.5 |
Christina School District | Delaware | 37.5 |
District of Columbia Public Schools | D.C. | 37.5 |
Broward County School District | Florida | 37.5 |
Lee County School District | Florida | 37.5 |
Orange County School District | Florida | 37.5 |
Palm Beach County School District | Florida | 37.5 |
Pinellas County School District | Florida | 37.5 |
Prince George's County Public Schools | Maryland | 37.5 |
Omaha Public Schools – Elementary Teachers | Nebraska | 37.5 |
Guilford County Schools | North Carolina | 37.5 |
Fargo Public Schools | North Dakota | 37.5 |
Columbus Public Schools | Ohio | 37.5 |
Portland Public Schools | Oregon | 37.5 |
Pittsburgh Public Schools – Secondary Teachers | Pennsylvania | 37.5 |
Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools | Tennessee | 37.5 |
Brownsville ISD - Elementary & Middle School Teachers | Texas | 37.5 |
Alpine School District | Utah | 37.5 |
Granite School District – Secondary Teachers | Utah | 37.5 |
Fairfax County Public Schools | Virginia | 37.5 |
Prince William County Public Schools | Virginia | 37.5 |
Seattle Public Schools | Washington | 37.5 |
Spokane School District – Secondary Teachers | Washington | 37.5 |
Laramie School District One | Wyoming | 37.5 |
Anoka-Hennepin Independent School District | Minnesota | 38.3 |
New York City Public Schools | New York | 38.3 |
Polk County School District | Florida | 38.75 |
Des Moines Public Schools | Iowa | 38.75 |
Minneapolis Public Schools | Minnesota | 38.75 |
Springfield Public Schools - Elementary and Middle School Teachers | Missouri | 38.75 |
Aldine Independent School District – Elementary Teachers | Texas | 38.75 |
Brownsville ISD – Secondary Teachers | Texas | 38.75 |
Dallas Independent School District | Texas | 38.75 |
Burlington School District | Vermont | 38.75 |
Omaha Public Schools – Secondary Teachers | Nebraska | 39.15 |
Anne Arundel County Public Schools | Maryland | 39.59 |
Tulsa Public Schools | Oklahoma | 39.15 |
Mesa Public Schools | Arizona | 40 |
Long Beach Unified School District | California | 40 |
Los Angeles Unified School District | California | 40 |
San Francisco Unified School District | California | 40 |
Denver Public Schools | Colorado | 40 |
Harrison School District Two | Colorado | 40 |
Jefferson County Public Schools | Colorado | 40 |
Brevard County School District | Florida | 40 |
Hillsborough County School District | Florida | 40 |
Cobb County School District | Georgia | 40 |
DeKalb County School System | Georgia | 40 |
Fulton County Schools | Georgia | 40 |
Gwinnett County Public Schools | Georgia | 40 |
West Ada School District | Idaho | 40 |
Montgomery County Public Schools | Maryland | 40 |
Jackson Public Schools | Mississippi | 40 |
Kansas City, Missouri School District | Missouri | 40 |
Billings Public Schools | Montana | 40 |
Bismarck Public Schools | North Dakota | 40 |
Aldine Independent School District – Secondary Teachers | Texas | 40 |
Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District | Texas | 40 |
Atlanta Public Schools | Georgia | 40 |
Milwaukee Public Schools | Wisconsin | 40 |
Springfield Public Schools – Secondary Teachers | Missouri | 40.42 |
Springfield Public Schools | Massachusetts | 41.25 |
Sioux Falls School District | South Dakota | 42.5 |
