The traditional summer break could be history under one of a dozen proposals the state Board of Regents is considering to boost public-school graduation rates.
The measure, among the solutions to the nation's educational crisis touted by President Obama, would lengthen the school year by 20 days -- effectively cutting summer vacation in half -- and extend the school day to eight hours.
While added instructional time has been shown to improve student achievement, it also comes with a hefty price tag at a time when budgets are being slashed across the board.
The Post article goes on to say that parents are opposed to the extension of the school year.
Since the state doesn't actually have money to operate the schools and the school year that they have now, how do they plan to get the additional money needed to extend the school day to eight hours and the school year to 11 months?
And so what if the research on extended school days is inconclusive about efficacy.
This is about socializing children to expect to work longer and harder for less money in the future.
That's it.
I agree. But the problem is, how are they going to pay for it.
ReplyDeleteOnce again, I am posting the link from the lady from the former Soviet Union (via Huffington Post). They went to school for four hours a day with plenty of time for recess, music lessons, and other after school activities, and still managed to learn something:
http://underzodiacclock.com/2010/10/05/american-education-reform/
Clearly, they do not understand the concept that is 'LESS IS MORE'.
ReplyDeleteor the acronym, K.I.S.S which stands for = KEEP IT SIMPLE STUPID.
Quality of time is also better than quantity of time. Elongating the day would in my opinion, be institutionalized child abuse. In many schools the kids get no music, no art, no gym, and no recess. They're sitting in school all day being subjected to one absurdity after another - the "tutoring" scam introduced in the 2005 contract being one of them. The after-school programs have never helped children the way they are supposed to either, what with having a snack down in the cafeteria and going upstairs and taking off coats, you maybe have 20 - 25 minutes of instruction time before you have to head downstairs all over again for dismissal. Experienced teachers will know the impracticalities of trying to implement these programs. Oops - I said "experienced"!
ReplyDeleteMore is less and stupid.
ReplyDeleteAgree with all points. Teachers often say they'd be willing to work more days and more hours if they got paid for it - and besides, who the hell would want to work in a school in July or August that has no A/C? Other countries do appear to have longer school years, but their mid-year breaks tend also to be longer. I ran into one of my former students the other day, who is now in the 11th grade. He said he misses me and my classroom because we used to do a lot of brain teasers, and we would do things like look at a joke, then pick apart the ambiguous word to derive all the meanings, then tell the joke again. When the kids got it the second time, they would laugh and smile, and feel a lot smarter than they did 30 minutes before. You can't measure the value of that in a standardized test. Nor can you make children healthy and happy and whole by making them sit in school all day long doing nothing but test prep.
ReplyDeleteOprah-Bama is a disgrace. So is Merryl Tisch. And David Steiner. And Cathie Black. and Michael Bloomberg. Shall I go on?
I plan to be out on 5th Avenue on March 17th to boo Hizzoner loud and clear UNION . . BUSTER!!
What kind of parents would want their children in stay in an overcrowded school with no a/c, where bullying is common, and there are so many different levels in a class that it is impossible for one teacher to teach everyone? If I could afford it, I would home school my children all year round. Besides that, not everyone can learn well in a school environment. It is such a waste of time for the children.
ReplyDelete