Extending the school day and ending Summer vacation

[koshergrl]

Ending Summer Vacation is Long Overdue Here s How to Pay for a Longer School Year Brookings Institution

Would you be in favor of extending the school day and ending Summer vacation?

I oppose this. I'd hate to take away awesome experiences away in the name of increasing test scores.

There are awesome after school activities. For example.

Cadets


Competitive cheerleading


Who would want to rob our youth of these amazing opportunities?

No!

And you will not find teachers backing an increase in teaching days without an increase in pay.

They like their summers, and they like the opportunity to work at other jobs in the summer, while receiving a full year's salary for teaching.

 

[squeeze berry]

just teach through a central system with the kids at home through an interactive monitor...

some of that is already being done on a limited basis

but how will parents get the free babysitting ?

 

[Moonglow]

just teach through a central system with the kids at home through an interactive monitor...

some of that is already being done on a limited basis

but how will parents get the free babysitting ?

I never liked baby sitters...I had the wives stay home with kids, and home schooled 2 out of 4 kids

 

[psikeyhackr]

So many suggestions seemed to be based on the assumption that children don't want to learn. Then they make learning a pain in the ass. A National Recommended Reading List would be so cheap. But then some people want others kept ignorant but just useful workers.

psik

 

[Unkotare]

So many suggestions seemed to be based on the assumption that children don't want to learn. Then they make learning a pain in the ass. A National Recommended Reading List would be so cheap. But then some people want others kept ignorant but just useful workers.

psik

 

[mgh80]

Being a teacher in this country is shit. Half the country (conservatives) hate you and think you're a bum. AND you don't get paid shit. Take away summer vacation and extend the work day, and you lose a ton of teachers.

More nonsense from the left..we hate teacher unions, not teachers.... Comprehend?

While I don't doubt that that's true about you, I've received "hate" over the years from many on the right (who ironically more than likely vote the same way I do).

 

[Anathema]

Being a teacher in this country is shit. Half the country (conservatives) hate you and think you're a bum. AND you don't get paid shit. Take away summer vacation and extend the work day, and you lose a ton of teachers.

Then matbe youll have more people choise the route my brother abd his,wife have with their five kids...... homeschooling. They teach year round, up to seven days a week, at all hours of the day. Yes they have a set school day Mon-Fri but the teaching never ends. That's probably why the 6 & 7 year olds already read at a grade level higher than normal and the almost 4 year old is a Kindergarten levels.

 

[mgh80]

Being a teacher in this country is shit. Half the country (conservatives) hate you and think you're a bum. AND you don't get paid shit. Take away summer vacation and extend the work day, and you lose a ton of teachers.

Then matbe youll have more people choise the route my brother abd his,wife have with their five kids...... homeschooling. They teach year round, up to seven days a week, at all hours of the day. Yes they have a set school day Mon-Fri but the teaching never ends. That's probably why the 6 & 7 year olds already read at a grade level higher than normal and the almost 4 year old is a Kindergarten levels.

I'm glad that they have parents who care--I assure you there are MANY who don't.

 

[Anathema]

I'm glad that they have parents who care--I assure you there are MANY who don't.

I agree. However it is neither my place to worry about that or to fix it. Nor is it the place of the Federal Government to fix that. State or Local Governments maybe but not the Feds.

I would prefer a PRIVATE school system where parents could choose what school to have their kids,in and pay for it with the monies not stolen from them theough taxes.

 

[mgh80]

I'm glad that they have parents who care--I assure you there are MANY who don't.

I agree. However it is neither my place to worry about that or to fix it. Nor is it the place of the Federal Government to fix that. State or Local Governments maybe but not the Feds.

I would prefer a PRIVATE school system where parents could choose what school to have their kids,in and pay for it with the monies not stolen from them theough taxes.

By doing that you're setting things up for an uneducated public. Many people would opt-out of schooling, and while we might sit back and say that that's their problem--it wont be when they start moving into your neighborhood.

I agree it's a state issue--not a federal issue. Believe me I know more than most about why the feds shouldn't be involved in education.

Also depending on your state/district there is school choice (at least there is in mine).

What would be your realistic solution to the problem? Private schools for all?

edit: Believe it or not public schools tend to have more qualified teachers...even though private schools tend to have better results. It's because of the parenting on the private school kids. As a public school teacher I have my license, make more money than private school teachers, have better benefits--why would I go to a private school? If they gave me more incentives I would-but they don't need to.

The problem isn't really with public school teachers as a whole (some of them are crap-I agree), but rather a cultural/societal issue as a whole. Which is why your friend's kids are doing just fine, regardless of being home-schooled.

Try walking into a classroom full of Bloods and Latin Kings sometime, your perspective would probably change (mine did).

 

[Anathema]

By doing that you're setting things up for an uneducated public. Many people would opt-out of schooling, and while we might sit back and say that that's their problem--it wont be when they start moving into your neighborhood.

I agree it's a state issue--not a federal issue. Believe me I know more than most about why the feds shouldn't be involved in education.

Also depending on your state/district there is school choice (at least there is in mine).

What would be your realistic solution to the problem? Private schools for all?

edit: Believe it or not public schools tend to have more qualified teachers...even though private schools tend to have better results. It's because of the parenting on the private school kids. As a public school teacher I have my license, make more money than private school teachers, have better benefits--why would I go to a private school? If they gave me more incentives I would-but they don't need to.

The problem isn't really with public school teachers as a whole (some of them are crap-I agree), but rather a cultural/societal issue as a whole. Which is why your friend's kids are doing just fine, regardless of being home-schooled.

Try walking into a classroom full of Bloods and Latin Kings sometime, your perspective would probably change (mine did).

1. I already believe we educate too many people and educate most of them too highly. The uneducated would not gave the money to live near me since I'm also fir removing all welfare programs.

2. Agreed on the State issue.

3. I don't know of any Northeastern State that has school choice.

4. My answer is a full slate of private schools. There would end up being a stratified educational system. So be it.

5. When there are no public schools your choices become private school or unemployment. By the way, both my parents were teachers.

6. Thise cultural issues go away in a private school system. Those who don't want to be there wont be or will be expelled. Discipline can ve reinstated.

7. Less of a problem when theyre behind bars, executed, or expelled for behavior issues or just fir being a banger.

Education is a privilege not a Right. Its time we reminded people of that and the consequences of not having it.

 

[mgh80]

By doing that you're setting things up for an uneducated public. Many people would opt-out of schooling, and while we might sit back and say that that's their problem--it wont be when they start moving into your neighborhood.

I agree it's a state issue--not a federal issue. Believe me I know more than most about why the feds shouldn't be involved in education.

Also depending on your state/district there is school choice (at least there is in mine).

What would be your realistic solution to the problem? Private schools for all?

edit: Believe it or not public schools tend to have more qualified teachers...even though private schools tend to have better results. It's because of the parenting on the private school kids. As a public school teacher I have my license, make more money than private school teachers, have better benefits--why would I go to a private school? If they gave me more incentives I would-but they don't need to.

The problem isn't really with public school teachers as a whole (some of them are crap-I agree), but rather a cultural/societal issue as a whole. Which is why your friend's kids are doing just fine, regardless of being home-schooled.

Try walking into a classroom full of Bloods and Latin Kings sometime, your perspective would probably change (mine did).

1. I already believe we educate too many people and educate most of them too highly. The uneducated would not gave the money to live near me since I'm also fir removing all welfare programs.

2. Agreed on the State issue.

3. I don't know of any Northeastern State that has school choice.

4. My answer is a full slate of private schools. There would end up being a stratified educational system. So be it.

5. When there are no public schools your choices become private school or unemployment. By the way, both my parents were teachers.

6. Thise cultural issues go away in a private school system. Those who don't want to be there wont be or will be expelled. Discipline can ve reinstated.

7. Less of a problem when theyre behind bars, executed, or expelled for behavior issues or just fir being a banger.

Education is a privilege not a Right. Its time we reminded people of that and the consequences of not having it.

1) You're talking about an ideal society--it doesn't and will never exist. We need to be realistic in our solutions-not idealistic.

2) Cool.

3) I teach and live in the Southeast--I can only speak for my district in my state, sorry to hear your district doesn't offer school choice.

4) Are you suggesting that education shouldn't be a right?

5) There will always be public schools. My personal choice wouldn't be private or unemployment, I'd just go back to running my business that I've set up before I started teaching. Many would go into other sectors--I assure you that the private schools wouldn't have as many qualified teachers are the public schools do now (assuming the pay/benefits for private school teachers remain stagnant).

6) I agree and that's true. I just disagree that all private is the answer. I'm all for getting more strict on who stays in the public education system--just not strict on who gets to attend (initially). My classes would be much more productive if we were allowed to get rid of the drug dealers, and "bad kids"--nobody wants to acknowledge that their kids are shit-heads, but some of them are. It's not a PC statement for me to state that as a teacher--but it's the truth.

7) Imprisoning/executing them cost money, and having more people committing crimes isn't productive for society either.

I'm far from being a bleeding heart liberal--I see far too many in the schools I've taught at--but I'm also a realist.

 

[DGS49]

Longer school day would be fantastic, if coupled with the elimination of homework. But it will never fly because today's kids LIVE for their extracurricular activities, and a longer school day would either eliminate these or make them dramatically less intense. Ain't happening.

The biggest problem with Summer vacation is the loss of knowledge by the students. It takes the teachers at least a month to get the students back where they were in the first half of May (rest of the school year is nonsense). The best solution, academically would be to have year-round school, but with three or four 2-week breaks for the kids to catch their breath. Trouble is, the nations vacation industry depends on summer vacations, and it would be devastated by this change. And are the schools air-conditioned? Maybe not. Also, like it or not Summer vacation is a MAJOR inducement to teachers, and to take it away would be unconscionable.

Unfortunately for America, our teachers' unions have adopted the same operating philosophy as LABOR unions - that is, they basically work mainly to benefit the WORST teachers - preventing meaningful performance evaluation, protecting teachers who have been subject to disciplinary actions, and so on. This is not intrinsic to unions. In fact, Europe has professional unions that work hand-in-hand with Management to improve productivity, and even remove incompetents. If there is a way to get America's teachers' unions to wake-the-fuck-up, I'm not aware of it. We are skrud.

 

[Disir]

Ending Summer Vacation is Long Overdue Here s How to Pay for a Longer School Year Brookings Institution

Would you be in favor of extending the school day and ending Summer vacation?

I oppose this. I'd hate to take away awesome experiences away in the name of increasing test scores.

There are awesome after school activities. For example.

Cadets


Competitive cheerleading


Who would want to rob our youth of these amazing opportunities?

Nope. Had you asked me a few years ago then I would have been for it but because people insist on using this group of kids like lab rats then definitely not. It's the 2015-2016 school year and in most school districts there are two foreign languages offered: Spanish and French. Still. If you're lucky then you might get German and in even fewer places.............Mandarin Chinese. Way to compete globally 'Merica. Can't manage to get anything else in there but think it is vital to extend the school year and the day. Screw that.

Extracurricular activities differ depending on the location.

Summer time is my time with my kid. That's the time that I get to take my kid to see the things that are discussed in school or to really explore types of careers.

 

[mgh80]

Longer school day would be fantastic, if coupled with the elimination of homework. But it will never fly because today's kids LIVE for their extracurricular activities, and a longer school day would either eliminate these or make them dramatically less intense. Ain't happening.

The biggest problem with Summer vacation is the loss of knowledge by the students. It takes the teachers at least a month to get the students back where they were in the first half of May (rest of the school year is nonsense). The best solution, academically would be to have year-round school, but with three or four 2-week breaks for the kids to catch their breath. Trouble is, the nations vacation industry depends on summer vacations, and it would be devastated by this change. And are the schools air-conditioned? Maybe not. Also, like it or not Summer vacation is a MAJOR inducement to teachers, and to take it away would be unconscionable.

Unfortunately for America, our teachers' unions have adopted the same operating philosophy as LABOR unions - that is, they basically work mainly to benefit the WORST teachers - preventing meaningful performance evaluation, protecting teachers who have been subject to disciplinary actions, and so on. This is not intrinsic to unions. In fact, Europe has professional unions that work hand-in-hand with Management to improve productivity, and even remove incompetents. If there is a way to get America's teachers' unions to wake-the-fuck-up, I'm not aware of it. We are skrud.

While teacher unions certainly do go too far many times, they do serve a legit purpose. For me if a kid's family sues me-they'll provide me with $1million in legal coverage. Considering how sue-happy our society is, that's a huge benefit. When I was in high school (as a student) my math teacher was accused of rape...turns out the lady was lying, and at the time she claimed he raped her--he was at a Halloween party and was caught on camera. He still lost his job. PS: He was an awesome teacher.

Also, while they do protect crappy teachers (I don't like that)--let's not kid ourselves about the evaluation system. It's terribly flawed and controlled by money. It's about the bottom line (in my district's case Microsoft). I could written 100 pages on it with details--but I'm sure people can use google and figure it out.

The evaluation is very flawed and very subjective...I think it's a good idea, but the implementation could be improved.

For the record I was rated as a 'highly effective" teacher--I'm not one of the crappy ones who sits at their desks all day collecting a paycheck while surfing facebook. They make a bad name for the hard working ones like myself and it's a shame that the unions do protect them.

Basically my point is that while the unions do go too far at times, they also help to make teaching a better option for teachers, thus the more benefits you get from teaching the better teachers you'll attract.

I find it humorous that some people want teachers to teach only for the "love of teaching/children". While that's certainly a ain reason why I teach--I have bills to pay like everybody else. I'm a hardworking American like everybody else. I make an honest living, and work my ass off. I've earned what I have, and if people want to take it away--that's just fine. But I promise you you'll see even more of the teachers sitting at their desks all day then teachers like myself who produce results.

 

[auditor0007]

Extending the school day, bad idea.

Modifying Summer vacation, good idea - students can take a two or three week break at the end of May, early June, return to school around the middle of June to the middle of August, then another two or three week break, and return to school after Labor Day.

I wouldn't mind seeing full year school with students going six weeks on, then two weeks off, with four weeks off during the summer. The biggest argument against this is that it interferes with sports, but it doesn't have to.

 

[Unkotare]

China is all about stuffing kids heads all day every day with information. Useless information. No skills involved other than being a robot.....

Ignorant BS.

 

[bodecea]

Being a teacher in this country is shit. Half the country (conservatives) hate you and think you're a bum. AND you don't get paid shit. Take away summer vacation and extend the work day, and you lose a ton of teachers.

I would hope they would get paid more.

What this country needs is more comprehensive vocational training for over 50% of our students, starting in middle school. To say they are all going to college is ridiculous.

 

[bodecea]

Extending the school day, bad idea.

Modifying Summer vacation, good idea - students can take a two or three week break at the end of May, early June, return to school around the middle of June to the middle of August, then another two or three week break, and return to school after Labor Day.

I wouldn't mind seeing full year school with students going six weeks on, then two weeks off, with four weeks off during the summer. The biggest argument against this is that it interferes with sports, but it doesn't have to.

Actually, the biggest argument was school physical plant maintenance.

 

[frigidweirdo]

The faction of people out there that despise teachers because they are overpaid and underworked and do a terrible job should step up and accept a huge drastic pay cut and step up and fix the problem. If the unions supported conservatives then these same hyprocritical simple minded low IQ folks wouldnt say a word. What they want is someone to do the job for twenty thousand dollars a year with no benefits. And those same crybabies would still complain that they are doing a bad job. Do we have problems yes. Do we want the best and brightest teaching? Yes. But to get those top notch math and science people you are going to have to be willing to step up as a taxpayer and quadruple their pay to match what they could make in the private sector. If you arent willing to pay a top level scientist 200 grand to teach, then you got nothing to say. What you want is someone to do the job without paying them. Low wages is a win for the taxpayers. Low IQ workers is a win for the corporations as the management can sit back and do squat while the poor heavy lifters create the wealth for minimum wage.

In places where teacher do a good job people still despise them.

In the UK where a lot of teachers do well, mainly because of the training you need and the training you keep doing while working, and the pro-active approach, but still people are like "they have too many holidays, get paid too much", yet these people don't go become teachers......