Longer school day, year on the horizon?
Superintendent Karl Springer has made no secret of the fact that he wants Oklahoma City school kids in class more hours and more days in the year.
The Oklahoman reported in May on his hopes for implementing a district wide calendar that would shorten the summer to just a few weeks but adds shorter breaks throughout the year .
“The long-term effect of that could be wonderful,” Springer told The Oklahoman. “If you think about our kids starting in kindergarten and going through 12th grade and getting an extra hour of school each day, they’d get a year’s more time in class than they would have otherwise.”
But even with seven schools in the district already using the calendar, the idea could have been considered nothing more than a pipe dream. Longer school days and longer school years require lots of money to pay teachers, and school districts across the state are strapped for cash.
Rumors are surfacing that the district might put one or both changes - longer school days and years - on the table for the union to consider may as early as the 2011 school year.
Ed Allen, representative of the Oklahoma City American Federation of Teachers, has said if such an offer was brought forward the union would be amicable.
So where would the money come from?
The Baltimore Sun reported that Baltimore schools unveiled a myriad of reforms; among them was the proposal to use the recent federal teacher jobs money to give teachers a $1,500 signing bonus. Could that pot of cash also coming to Oklahoma be used to pay teachers for working longer hours and longer years?
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Comments
I agree. Our current education schedule is outdated, and that goes for college too. The whole purpose of having the summer out of school was so that students could return to the farm and help with the harvest. Well, I don’t know how many of our students are still farming?
Very nice read I am in a class that I have to start creating blogs and using them I am all new to the idea
Stupid idea. We home school our son with half the time and twice the results. There is way too much time wasted during the school day as it is.
I’m going to have to agree with Jon. There is way too much time in the school day that goes to waste. Quality is what counts, not quantity. Besides if poor teaching occurs between 8 and 3 for 180 days a year, then it’s going to continue between 8 and 5 for 250 days per year, or whatever the school calendar will be. Then some students will be even further behind. Longer is not the answer.
unfortunately, we parents that spend the necessary time raising our kids the right way, teaching crucial skills and vocabulary at home must pay the price for the welfare addicted, mass child producing many who love will just love having more free daycare.
If the increased time is used wisely then it will work. During my 30 years of teaching, the constant interruption of the educational process for useless, unimportant announcements on the intercom shortened the effective learning time for my students.
Also if you ask a lawyer or doctor for more of their valuable time, you will find your bill is higher. The same is true for the professional who educates your child. Their time is valuable too.
So when you look at an increased classroom time schedule, you must also realize an increase in cost and more pressure on your child to perform even better. Now will the better performance from periodic measures or will it come from a more and rich currriculum. Knowing Oklahoma City schools it will come from more testing.
10 years ago at a teacher forum I suggested a 10 month school year, hours of 8 to 5, and uniforms – I think the idea of three months off in the summer simply causes educational loss – shorter breaks and longer hours are important – and treat school just like work – home work should be done in the class and sent home only when the student fails to complete it in class. School should be like work….. and Mr. Springer is on the right track