Becka Wall, Program Assistant

I have a confession to make: I love McDonald’s French fries. When I was in college, during particularly stressful finals or mid-terms weeks, I would go to the campus McDonald’s and order myself a small fries. I’d time my visit around when I knew the fries were likely to be fresh and excitedly hop on my toes waiting for that crispy, salty goodness.

Nowadays, when I think back to my trips to those glowing golden arches, I can’t help but think about minimum wage and low-wage workers; and no matter how delicious those French fries tasted, I can’t help but leave with a bit of a sour taste in my mouth and feel as though those arches have lost their luster.

NWLC’s analyses show that two-thirds of minimum-wage and tipped-wage workers are women, 60% of women’s job gains in the recovery are in the ten largest low-wage jobs. NWLC analysis of the Census Bureau’s most recent numbers show that the overall poverty rate hasn’t budged much, with 18.4 percent of families with children in poverty, and 14.5 percent of women compared with 11.0 percent of men living in poverty.  More than one in seven women – 17.8 million – live in poverty. 

My senior year of college, two of my roommates and I watched Teen Mom CONSTANTLY. I liked to pretend I wasn’t watching it, but the conversation usually went something like this:

Becka (standing in doorway): “Oh jeez, guys. You’re watching this?”

Arielle: “Yes. Absolutely.”

[10 minutes later]

Rachel: “…Do you want to sit down?”

Becka (still standing in doorway): “…..Yes. FARRAH’S CRYING FACE IS CRAZY.”

When you watch the show, the difficulties of teen parents and pregnant students become painfully clear. Recently, I was re-watching Season 1 on Netflix Instant, and it clicked – wow. The Pregnant and Parenting Student Access to Education Act would REALLY help these girls.

Title IX already affords a number of protections to pregnant & parenting students. This law requires that schools receiving federal funds not discriminate against students on the basis of sex, which includes pregnancy and related conditions like childbirth, pregnancy termination, and recovery. This prohibition against discrimination comes in a number of forms – for example, students must not be forced to attend a different program or school than their peers, must be given the opportunity to make up missed work for pregnancy-related absences, must be treated the same as if they had a temporary disability, and may not be excluded from sports or extracurricular activities.

The Pregnant and Parenting Student Access to Education Act (PPSAE) is designed to go beyond nondiscrimination by giving students the tools they need to succeed. It would enable school districts to – among other things – create graduation plans for pregnant and parenting students; provide academic support, parenting and life skills classes, strategies to prevent future unplanned pregnancies, and legal aid services; help pregnant and parenting students gain access to affordable child care, and revise school policies and practices to remove discouraging barriers. Pretty great, huh?