Revamped School Schedules

We can no longer afford an academic calendar designed when America was a nation of farmers who needed their children at home plowing the land at the end of each day. That calendar may have once made sense, but today, it puts us at a competitive disadvantage. Our children spend over a month less in school than children in South Korea. That is no way to prepare them for a 21st century economy. That is why I’m calling for us not only to expand effective after-school programs, but to rethink the school day to incorporate more time – whether during the summer or through expanded-day programs for children who need it.

-President Barack Obama's
Remarks on a Complete and Competitive American Education
at the US Hispanic Chamber of Commerce

Two weeks ago, I shared a brief commentary of President Obama's education policy speech at the US Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. The above quote is from that speech. I listed longer school day/year in the key topics that he addressed. That being said, I think it is interesting that many school districts are considering shortening the school week in order to save on money. School districts are expecting to face large cuts in their budgets.

What should districts do in the wake of budget cuts?

• Option 1: Fire teachers?
  Of course getting rid of teachers is not an option since it would just lead to overcrowding. Many districts are already dealing with overcrowding, so getting rid of more teachers would make the problem worse. Children in overcrowded classrooms will not get the necessary attention from their teacher and this will harm their educational achievement.


• Option 2: Decrease teacher pay?
  How many teachers do you know will allow a pay cut? As the child of a NYC public school teacher, I can recount the numerous times that teachers have threaten to strike in order to receive new contracts that included pay increases. Also, teachers are already underpaid, so a pay cut may cause many teachers to pursue other occupations that will pay them more.


• Option 3: Shorten the school week?
  One article in USA Today says that shortening the school week to Monday through Thursday, and adding an hour to each day, will allow districts to save on heating schools, maintenance, buses, substitutes, cafeteria and custodial staff.

I have so many problems with option three that it is hard to know where to start. But here goes:

• What are parents going to do with their children on Fridays? Hire nannies/babysitters? Enroll them in Friday programs? All of which costs money. This is a huge burden on low-income parents.


• A few of the ways that they are cutting costs require salary cuts to blue collared workers, like the bus drivers, cafeteria staff and custodial staff.


• What happens in the event of a snow day? What about national holidays that fall on a Monday, such as President's Day?  Three day week? How will schools make up for those lost hours now that there is even more pressure on each day a student comes in. Which will also be problematic is students miss a day or two of school for any reason.


• Also, there has been a lot of research done on students' academic abilities worsening over the summer. While the three day weekend is not two months off, it is something to think about, especially for the weakest students.


• The research shows that students in the United States are falling behind students in other nations and one of the reasons is the fact that students in the US spend less time in school. Why would it make sense to shorten the week? I worry about the effects on already low performing students who are traditionally low-income, minorities, and/or English language learners. Low performing students already need more time in school in order to get to grade level and if they are low-income, they will not be able to afford tutors or after school programs. And the unfortunate fact is, many parents are not helping their children when they are home; either because they don't know how, they don't have time or they are not interested in doing so. What happens to these students? Will this cause the gap in educational achievement to widen? I do realize that this change in schedule will be temporary, but we all know that the effects will be carried on to the next grades.


• Let's do the math: One extra hour a day over four days = four hours. Four hours does not equal the number of hours of teaching in one school day. Therefore, they would be losing teaching hours. Something that many students can not afford to lose. So are schools adding extra days? If so, doesn't this defeat the purpose?


• Many curricula require a certain amount of minutes a day. How will this be effected by the extended day/shortened week? Getting new curricula requires purchasing and then professional development for teachers, both cost money. Will this cost counteract the savings that they are attempting to receive through the new schedule?

I think a new option is needed to address school budget cuts. Can someone look at overspending in other areas of the system? I think an analysis of school spending would help to access what really can be done to save money, because the shortened school week will not allow our students to succeed.

Revamped School Schedules

The Link Between Teacher Pay and Teacher Quality

Does teacher pay have an effect on teacher quality? Are people foregoing the teaching profession because of the pay? Would incentive pay improve teacher quality? These questions have all be studied and analyzed ad nauseam. Many studies show that teachers will remain in the system longer if there are better financial incentives. There are currently programs that pay teachers more in order to attract better teachers. For instance, there is a new charter school in the Washington Heights section of New York City that promised to pay its teachers $125K. To read more about the school, check their website or this article.

As I mentioned in my last post, President Obama discussed merit pay as part of the education policy reform in his speech at the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. It will be interesting to see how that is carried out on the national level, if it is. In many cases, merit pay is done at charter schools. The structure of charter is often quite different than that of the rest of the public educational system, which may include the lack of unions and teacher contracts. Furthermore, many studies on teacher merit have been by state level. So, if there is a national reform on merit pay, it would provide data on the effectiveness of merit pay on the national level.

The Link Between Teacher Pay and Teacher Quality

President Obama's First Education Policy Speech

This past Tuesday, President Obama gave a speech at the US Hispanic Chamber of Commerce on education and discussed his vision for the education system. Of the points that he made, the ones that stood out for me were: 1) merit pay for teachers,  2) better data collection, 3) higher standards, 4) longer school day/year, 5) more support to early childhood education, and 6) better assessments. The President noted that America's student achievement has not been as successful as that of other countries and noted South Korea as an example. Because of the lag in educational achievement, America is at a disadvantage in the world's economy.



Transcript

The plan to invest in K-12 education will ensure that we have the workforce needed to ensure the future of the United States.  Obama stated that he wanted to raise standards in education because "by 2016, four out of every ten new jobs will require at least some advanced education or training." In order for the United States to be a competitor in the global marketplace, it is essential for our schools to do better, for our graduation rates to be increased, and for schools to have qualified teachers in all subjects.

Obama made an interesting point about the programs in which Hispanics are enrolled.

Some children are enrolled in mediocre programs. And some are wasting away their most formative years in bad programs. That includes the one-fourth of all children who are Hispanic, and who will drive America's workforce of tomorrow, but who are less likely to have been enrolled in an early childhood education program than anyone else.

I think that this was a very important point. Hispanics are the fastest growing population in the United States; however, the proportion of Hispanics in higher education does not equal that of college age Hispanics. Hispanic upward social mobility is not increasing as fast as it should. This is not just a problem that faces Hispanics. African Americans and Native Americans are not receiving the proportionate number of degrees in higher education. In order for the United States to succeed in the international market, education policies and programs need to target these populations.

President Obama's First Education Policy Speech