Unpaid Leave

A deficit once dismissed as "routine" is now forcing Baltimore's public school officials to cut dozens of administrative and support positions and to consider furloughs of up to 10 days for all workers, including teachers, officials said yesterday.The city school system is also seeking a cut of $10 million, or about 25 percent, from Educational Alternatives Inc. in its contract to run nine "Tesseract" schools this year -- savings that would be applied to reduce a deficit that could balloon to $31 million, they said.

A Baltimore Circuit Court judge today delayed the arraignment of Comptroller Jacqueline F. McLean on theft and misconduct charges for six weeks.Judge Joseph P. McCurdy Jr. agreed to reschedule the date Mrs. McLean or her attorneys must enter a plea to May 2. And he arranged for the trial to begin June 8.Both Mrs. McLean's attorney, M. Cristina Gutierrez, and Maryland Special Prosecutor Stephen Montanarelli refused to say why they had agreed to the delay.Mrs....

After Jacqueline F. McLean's first victory in politics in 1983, reporters asked her about the propriety of using her own money -- lots of it -- to secure herself a seat on the Baltimore City Council.She smiled sweetly. "He who has the gold," she recited, "makes the rules."Mrs. McLean, 49, often dared to make the rules.She did not come from the political machines, so she bypassed them by spending her own money. She wanted her business to succeed, so she used unconventional strategies to win clients.

NOW that millions of working men and women are guaranteed 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave for the birth of a child under the Family and Medical Leave Act, which took effect Aug. 5, will America begin to see new fathers staying at home?Is Dad more likely to be around the house in the first few months, taking the newborn out in the baby carriage while Mom gets a chance to nap or read?It sounds nice. The image conforms to our collective notion that men are more sensitive to the needs of women and more interested in children than they used to be.But the answer, mostly, is no -- at least not any time soon.

Caught between job and family responsibilities? The squeeze may ease a bit as the long-awaited Family and Medical Leave Act goes into effect today.The new federal law gives some employees the right to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave from work to tend to family or medical needs while retaining their health insurance and their jobs, or comparable ones, when they return.The law is designed to give workers time off to recover from medical problems, or care for a newborn or adopted child, or an ailing relative.

A full family leave is too costly for manyThe family leave law that takes effect this summer is a great idea, many workers and managers say. But few are likely to take full advantage of the offer of a 12-week unpaid leave of absence for a family emergency.Cindy Spearman, employment recruiter for the Radisson Plaza Lord Baltimore hotel, likes the new law because it gives workers like her an opportunity to take some time off during crises. "Life is not all rosy," she said.But she probably won't take full advantage of the law because she can't afford to go three months without a paycheck.

Anne Arundel County police suspect there may be more victims of a Pasadena high school teacher and softball coach charged Thursday with sexually abusing a female student during an 18-month relationship."

WASHINGTON -- When the federal government regulates business, the message often seems to be: Do as we say, not as we do.But under the proposed Family and Medical Leave Act, the government would give its workers the same benefits that employers in the rest of the country would give theirs.The bill, as approved by House and Senate committees last week, would give each federal employee up to 12 weeks a year of unpaid leave to care for a newborn or newly adopted child. Federal workers also would be able to take time off to care for a sick child, spouse or parent, or to recuperate from an illness.

WASHINGTON -- Challenging President Bush to support family values on the eve of the Republican convention, the Senate yesterday approved a bill that would require employers to grant unpaid leave for childbirth and family emergencies.Mr. Bush vetoed an earlier version of the bill, insisting that government should not dictate to employers. But family-leave backers hope election-year pressures will force him to change his mind on a popular issue.Mr. Bush's "failure to support this is failure to reinforce what is a very important part of his platform," said Sen. Christopher S. Bond, R-Mo.

Once again, Congress is considering a family-leave proposal that would substitute government Diktat for good private business practice.The public policy question is not whether employee benefits packages with options for unpaid leave for the birth or adoption of a child or for the serious illness of an immediate family member are desirable. We think they are. The public policy question is whether such benefits should be required by government mandate. We think not.The Senate is voting this week on a leave measure that fails to measure up to the compassionate rhetoric of its sponsors.