2019-2020 School Year...WTF?

[DGS49]

Many people have expressed anxiety about this school year, in light of the CV pandemic. Most of the country's schools were shut down around March 15 (the exact date is not important). Most schools and teachers have tried to paste together some sort of learning program for the period when the schools are not in session, but since a substantial portion of the student body does not have the hardware, software, and/or access to the Internet, the next time the kids are in class, it will be necessary to presume that essentially no learning has taken place since March 15th. Otherwise, the kids with no access will be hopelessly behind when classes resume.

Here we are in almost-mid-April and my Governor (Pennsylvania) declares the School Year to be OVER. After a few minutes of thought, it occurs to me that this is...I don't know...bullshit. It presumes something that is not true. Can you guess what that is?

It presumes that June, July, and August are sacrosanct and UNAVAILABLE for classroom instruction. Why?

From the middle of June to the end of August, there are TEN WEEKS when the kids will be doing essentially nothing of value. Most family vacations are, or will be, cancelled (and most Americans don't go on vacation anyway). If you presume that the U.S. will be "shut down" for, say, 10 weeks, from March 15 through June 1, there is no good reason why the kiddies couldn't go back to school on June 2 and be ready to start the next academic year on September 1...just like normal.

We are living in extraordinary times, are we not? Is it not reasonable to expect school employees (especially teachers) to Do the Right Thing and relinquish their annual ten-week vacation FOR THE BETTERMENT OF THEIR STUDENTS? And in fact, if the Governor had said, 'Take your Summer vacation NOW; school will be back in session on June 1,' wouldn't that be a reasonable compromise?

Why are June, July, and August off the table?

Of course, if we are still in lockdown for the next six months, this proposal is moot, but why presume the worst? It's only the democrats who want to maximize the disruption and harm.

 

[Gdjjr]

Indoctrination centers being closed are the least of our worries- gov't offices being open is a problem-

 

[Wyatt earp]

June July, August is off the table mostly to tradation and Union Teachers contracts.

 

[Admiral Rockwell Tory]

June July, August is off the table mostly to tradation and Union Teachers contracts.

I assume you meant tradition.

Schools that do not attend school in August usually do not get out until late June.

 

[Unkotare]

...TEN WEEKS when the kids will be doing essentially nothing of value. ....

Not that simple. A lot of kids work during those summer months at seasonal jobs, and many of them - and their families count on that. Your idea would result in a spike in dropout rates.

 

[ReinyDays]

It presumes that June, July, and August are sacrosanct and UNAVAILABLE for classroom instruction. Why?

Traditionally ... the kids are working on the family farm during the Summer season ... and school can't start until the harvest is in ... I remember waiting two weeks for school to start because the walnut harvest was late ... 1/3 of the kids wouldn't show up until the product was off the ground ...

But that was back when a high school diploma meant something ... today it's just another piece of paper no one asks to look at ...

 

[OnePercenter]

Many people have expressed anxiety about this school year, in light of the CV pandemic. Most of the country's schools were shut down around March 15 (the exact date is not important). Most schools and teachers have tried to paste together some sort of learning program for the period when the schools are not in session, but since a substantial portion of the student body does not have the hardware, software, and/or access to the Internet, the next time the kids are in class, it will be necessary to presume that essentially no learning has taken place since March 15th. Otherwise, the kids with no access will be hopelessly behind when classes resume.

Here we are in almost-mid-April and my Governor (Pennsylvania) declares the School Year to be OVER. After a few minutes of thought, it occurs to me that this is...I don't know...bullshit. It presumes something that is not true. Can you guess what that is?

It presumes that June, July, and August are sacrosanct and UNAVAILABLE for classroom instruction. Why?

From the middle of June to the end of August, there are TEN WEEKS when the kids will be doing essentially nothing of value. Most family vacations are, or will be, cancelled (and most Americans don't go on vacation anyway). If you presume that the U.S. will be "shut down" for, say, 10 weeks, from March 15 through June 1, there is no good reason why the kiddies couldn't go back to school on June 2 and be ready to start the next academic year on September 1...just like normal.

We are living in extraordinary times, are we not? Is it not reasonable to expect school employees (especially teachers) to Do the Right Thing and relinquish their annual ten-week vacation FOR THE BETTERMENT OF THEIR STUDENTS? And in fact, if the Governor had said, 'Take your Summer vacation NOW; school will be back in session on June 1,' wouldn't that be a reasonable compromise?

Why are June, July, and August off the table?

Of course, if we are still in lockdown for the next six months, this proposal is moot, but why presume the worst? It's only the democrats who want to maximize the disruption and harm.

Jealous?

 

[OnePercenter]

Indoctrination centers being closed are the least of our worries- gov't offices being open is a problem-

faux news is still broadcasting!

 

[Admiral Rockwell Tory]

Indoctrination centers being closed are the least of our worries- gov't offices being open is a problem-

faux news is still broadcasting!

Yep! You are still stupid so nothing has changed in that regard.

 

[Admiral Rockwell Tory]

It presumes that June, July, and August are sacrosanct and UNAVAILABLE for classroom instruction. Why?

Traditionally ... the kids are working on the family farm during the Summer season ... and school can't start until the harvest is in ... I remember waiting two weeks for school to start because the walnut harvest was late ... 1/3 of the kids wouldn't show up until the product was off the ground ...

But that was back when a high school diploma meant something ... today it's just another piece of paper no one asks to look at ...

In many parts of the country, they still do!

 

[DGS49]

There is no question that Summer classes would be a burden and an inconvenience. Many school buildings don't have air conditioning, among other factors. But this pandemic is causing pain of all sorts regardless of what happens with the schools.

What I'm suggesting would ELIMINATE the loss of a full semester of school, in exchange for a modicum of additional inconvenience - nowhere near as much inconvenience as working-class people are enduring right now.

The American Medical Profession and its related technical and humanitarian support personnel are RISKING THEIR LIVES DAILY in response to this unprecedented emergency, but it's too much to ask school employees to shift their summer vacation ahead by a few months? Where is the perspective here?

I have no dog in this fight. I'm retired and my grandchildren have a public school teacher for a mother, so they are in the best position possible to ride out this storm. But I see this as a relatively easy solution to a very costly tragedy - the needless loss of half a school-year's education for tens of millions of students. And make no mistake, the kids will learn little that is salvageable as we go through this.

 

[Marion Morrison]

Class of 2020 got hosed.

 

[Unkotare]

...

The American Medical Profession and its related technical and humanitarian support personnel are RISKING THEIR LIVES DAILY in response to this unprecedented emergency, but it's too much to ask school employees to shift their summer vacation ahead by a few months? ....

You're ignoring all of the points raised thus far.

 

[SweetSue92]

There is no question that Summer classes would be a burden and an inconvenience. Many school buildings don't have air conditioning, among other factors. But this pandemic is causing pain of all sorts regardless of what happens with the schools.

What I'm suggesting would ELIMINATE the loss of a full semester of school, in exchange for a modicum of additional inconvenience - nowhere near as much inconvenience as working-class people are enduring right now.

The American Medical Profession and its related technical and humanitarian support personnel are RISKING THEIR LIVES DAILY in response to this unprecedented emergency, but it's too much to ask school employees to shift their summer vacation ahead by a few months? Where is the perspective here?

I have no dog in this fight. I'm retired and my grandchildren have a public school teacher for a mother, so they are in the best position possible to ride out this storm. But I see this as a relatively easy solution to a very costly tragedy - the needless loss of half a school-year's education for tens of millions of students. And make no mistake, the kids will learn little that is salvageable as we go through this.

School districts operate on the thinnest of margins. You have accounted for the teachers, yes, who could donate their time in the summer--but you have not accounted for the MANY hourly employees who make the district run. In most districts, those employees have been paid for at least two weeks of this pandemic time, if not more. To pay them for operating three months in the summer would put districts way deep in the hole. We're talking bus drivers, custodians, school secretaries, aides, paraprofessionals, lunch helpers--all those people. Just those two weeks extra pay--districts cannot afford that.

So now you have to go to already strapped states and ask for money for every school district to operate in the summer to pay those hourly district workers. I'm telling you, it's not going to happen when states are already strapped.

 

[DGS49]

I'm not suggesting that teachers "donate" their time in the summer months. I'm suggesting that the summer months, in effect, be advanced by 60 days. The teachers would still be working their 180 days (or whatever it is). As for the cost of the non-professional staff, it is a pittance compared to (a) the loss of half a school year), and (b) the financial losses suffered by certain segments of the economy.

Again, extraordinary times require extraordinary measures.

The prospect of kids dropping out of school because their families depend on their earnings on seasonal jobs? Ridiculous. What percentage of families are in this situation? How many of those jobs will still be available, given the current CV situation?

Interesting. Nobody has mentioned the Elephant in the Room.

 

[ReinyDays]

The prospect of kids dropping out of school because their families depend on their earnings on seasonal jobs? Ridiculous. What percentage of families are in this situation? How many of those jobs will still be available, given the current CV situation?

This is a city-slicker point-of-view ... not that it's wrong for upper middle class or rich families ... but what about the rest of the children? ...

That's what's wrong with society today ... city-slickers think they're everybody ... no regard for the rural lifestyle and the work involved ... if the kids are in school during the summer, who follows papa's disk with the clod-buster? ... who does the hoeing? ... do you have any idea how much work there is on a farm during the growing season? ... school's close during harvest-time, how is it you don't know that? ...

Take away the summer earners for many children and they're not going to college ...

George, tell us about the elephants again ...

 

[SweetSue92]

I'm not suggesting that teachers "donate" their time in the summer months. I'm suggesting that the summer months, in effect, be advanced by 60 days. The teachers would still be working their 180 days (or whatever it is). As for the cost of the non-professional staff, it is a pittance compared to (a) the loss of half a school year), and (b) the financial losses suffered by certain segments of the economy.

Again, extraordinary times require extraordinary measures.

The prospect of kids dropping out of school because their families depend on their earnings on seasonal jobs? Ridiculous. What percentage of families are in this situation? How many of those jobs will still be available, given the current CV situation?

Interesting. Nobody has mentioned the Elephant in the Room.

People are not going to work for free, nor should they. Also, you're tripping all over yourself. First you said it's only 60 days, then it's "half the school year". Either way, you are not factoring in the cost of paying many, many hourly employees for time the district didn't budget. No district has that money. THE STATES don't have that money.

It doesn't matter what elephant you have in your head. There's no money for that. Full stop.

 

[Unkotare]

...The prospect of kids dropping out of school because their families depend on their earnings on seasonal jobs? Ridiculous. What percentage of families are in this situation? ...

Among The most vulnerable students and their families, a higher percentage than you seem to realize.

You Want to insist on a position, but are clearly ignorant of the circumstances. Why not listen to people who know what they are talking about?

 

[Unkotare]

Most teachers I know would donate their time if it came to that, if it were financially feasible for them, and if there weren’t a great number of circumstances that make it very impractical and unlikely. Every teacher I know volunteers a lot of time every single week to giving their students additional help in any number of ways.

 

[Disir]

The teachers here deliver packets of material to be covered and then pick them back up.