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Shortened school week a good idea?

phildozer9121

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The ful article can be found here

The idea is that cutting a day out of an American student's school week is a good stopgap measure for townships that are hemorrhaging money.

Just wanted to hear your opinions.
 
Children dont need to be at school everyday to get well educated. But, I think it will be hard on parents if the school week is shortened. Some of them work, and childcare can be expensive. Others simply need the break that the school hours allow them. Parenting is tiring.
 
Part of the problem with school performance is that the students don't spend enough time in the classroom. Shortened school weeks may save beleaguered districts money, but it will lead to further performance issues down the road. Maybe these schools should think about cutting some of their sports programs instead.
 

States determine how many instructional days per school year are required. It doesn't matter which days of the week that children attend school, so long as the full number of required attendance days are met.


 
I think sports are as important, as the other aspects of education.

I think sports are important, but they are not as important as classroom time. Our public schools have their priorities backwards.
 
Part of the problem with school performance is that the students don't spend enough time in the classroom. Shortened school weeks may save beleaguered districts money, but it will lead to further performance issues down the road. Maybe these schools should think about cutting some of their sports programs instead.

Students don't spend enough time in the classroom? I don't know about other states but in Maryland I believe the average school day is about seven hours a day. Because of that, students rarely have time to participate in extra curricular activities and keep up on homework. I disagree with the sports programs because (a) it brings in money (although it does depend) and (b) it gives students and opportunity to develope their schools, learn to be leaders, succeed outside the classroom, and let them have fun. I agree student's education should be their number one priority but they shouldn't have to hate their life all throughout the time they go to school.
 
Students don't spend enough time in the classroom? I don't know about other states but in Maryland I believe the average school day is about seven hours a day.

Same with the high school I went to in NY [public school too, BTW]
 
Education should be one of the last things to be cut in hard times, and giving students less class time is not a good thing.

I would be more in favor of reducing teachers unions and having salary determined by skill level than union seniority. They are a drain on the education system.
 
The ful article can be found here

The idea is that cutting a day out of an American student's school week is a good stopgap measure for townships that are hemorrhaging money.

Just wanted to hear your opinions.

Families are hurting right now too and paying an extra day of child care in a recession is not good.

What my county is doing is shortening the overall school year by 2 weeks and is adding time to each day to make it back up. Teacher salaries are the same, but it allows for cuts the budgets for support staff and other auxhiliary services. It seems to be enough for us, other counties may or may not be able to work with such a plan.
 
There should be more classroom time, not less, and extra-curricular activities should also not be affected. I agree with Orion, Education should be the absolute last place cuts should occur
 
There should be more classroom time, not less, and extra-curricular activities should also not be affected. I agree with Orion, Education should be the absolute last place cuts should occur

I agree with this, but if the school system is going to be targeted, it is better that extra-curricular activities are targeted first, before the education system's core functions.
 
I agree with this, but if the school system is going to be targeted, it is better that extra-curricular activities are targeted first, before the education system's core functions.

I can agree with that.
 
I completely agree. A fews years ago, a school near where I live was cutting teachers due to budget constraints but that same year they added junior high football. This year, the town where I live cut no sports programs but completely cut Parents as Teachers which is a wonderful program that helps parents of kids who are not in school yet.
 
Well, it's important to remember exactly why sports programs don't get cut - it's because it's a source of revenue for those schools. That's why other extracurricular activities get cut but sports doesn't.

However, I don't think other extracurricular activities are designed well to generate a profit. I mean schools could create student writer programs in which students writes stories on a blog that then generates ad revenues. Music programs could generate revenue by holding regular concerts. Those are just some types of programs that could generate revenue for schools that doesn't have anything to do with sports. It's not that difficult to do, really, and I don't know why it isn't done more often.
 
I was under the assumption that most of these plans to cut a day off classes also included an increase in the school day for the four remaining days. Is that not the case, I really havent kept up on it. But personally I think a 4 day week would be fine, give kids more time off the schedule while hopefully not losing too many hours.
 
I was under the assumption that most of these plans to cut a day off classes also included an increase in the school day for the four remaining days. Is that not the case, I really havent kept up on it. But personally I think a 4 day week would be fine, give kids more time off the schedule while hopefully not losing too many hours.

The question is, however, what will those kids do on that fifth day while their parents have to go to work? The parents are going to have to either pay babysitters to watch those kids, which will put a financial burden on those parents, or take them to more public programs, such as Boys and Girls Clubs, which will stretch the limits of those resources, and so they'll likely demand more public money.
 
The question is, however, what will those kids do on that fifth day while their parents have to go to work? The parents are going to have to either pay babysitters to watch those kids, which will put a financial burden on those parents, or take them to more public programs, such as Boys and Girls Clubs, which will stretch the limits of those resources, and so they'll likely demand more public money.

Ya true, changing the routine of the kids would impact everyone. And I honestly have no clue how one would address all those concerns, perhaps the routine is worth keeping just cause everyone is already so used to it. I dont know
 
Students don't spend enough time in the classroom? I don't know about other states but in Maryland I believe the average school day is about seven hours a day. Because of that, students rarely have time to participate in extra curricular activities and keep up on homework. I disagree with the sports programs because (a) it brings in money (although it does depend) and (b) it gives students and opportunity to develope their schools, learn to be leaders, succeed outside the classroom, and let them have fun. I agree student's education should be their number one priority but they shouldn't have to hate their life all throughout the time they go to school.

Do you actually know that the kids are at their desks learning in those 7 hours? From what I've seen, they're not.

First, there is the additional recess to combat "childhood obesity." :roll: I seriously think I've only seen 2-3 fat kids in my son's school of 900.

Then there are the half days so the teachers can have some sort of meeting in the afternoon. These happen once, sometimes twice a month.

Don't forget that the month of September is generally dedicated to reviewing the stuff learned the previous year and lost over the 2 and a half month summer holiday.

Field Trips are all day. I appreciated the field trip to the state capital, but the all day snow boarding was kind of a joke IMO. It's great for my kid who is ahead of the game academically, but I have no idea why that's important to the student body as a whole.

Don't forget for every crappy or not-so-crappy holiday, there has to be a classroom party complete with cupcakes, soda and all sorts of garbage I'd never feed my kid.

Before every week off (and there are 4 full ones during the school year), there's a Friday off and a Thursday half day. Because it's a shortened week before a vacation, the kids and teachers aren't into a full workload, so it's a puff week. There's usually no homework that week.

I liked the 2 week computer rotation where the big project was having the kids draw pictures with a mouse.

And then there was the half day dedicated to watching a dress rehearsal of the high school play.

IMO the public school systems (all of 'em) have problems with money because they mismanage funds. Threatening to cut the school week down to 4 days is just posturing IMO.
 
It should be pointed out that many elite private schools, with a high percentage of graduates who go on to Ivy League colleges, have shorter school days than the average public school.
Most of the upper-tier private schools, at least in my city, get out at noon on Fridays (I believe this is to allow for weekend travel), have many more days off/ holidays than public schools, and also let out for summer a couple of weeks earlier than public schools.
 
It should be pointed out that many elite private schools, with a high percentage of graduates who go on to Ivy League colleges, have shorter school days than the average public school.
Most of the upper-tier private schools, at least in my city, get out at noon on Fridays (I believe this is to allow for weekend travel), have many more days off/ holidays than public schools, and also let out for summer a couple of weeks earlier than public schools.

They also have parents that give a damn.
 
They also have parents that give a damn.

I attended one; there are many students in such schools who do not have ideal family lives.
I remember a talk my dad and I had when i was in second or third grade.
I was wondering why i didn't have as many toys- as much material stuff- as most of my classmates.
My dad explained to me that some parents work all the time and don't play with or spend time with their children, and so they buy them a bunch of stuff to try to make up for that, because they feel guilty about it.
That rang very true to me. I totally understood it, even at age seven, and from then on I felt sorry for these children who boasted constantly about their toys and expensive clothes, rather than envying them.
Many of the parents of the children at my school worked constantly. Many traveled for work. A lot of my classmates only saw their fathers sporadically, on weekends.

Even if it were true that every child who attends public school comes from an uncaring family, I fail to see how having a longer school day would compensate them for this fact, in any way.
 
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I attended one; there are many students in such schools who do not have ideal family lives.
I remember a talk my dad and I had when i was in second or third grade.
I was wondering why i didn't have as many toys- as much material stuff- as most of my classmates.
My dad explained to me that some parents work all the time and don't play with or spend time with their children, and so they buy them a bunch of stuff to try to make up for that, because they feel guilty about it.
That rang very true to me. I totally understood it, even at age seven, and from then on I felt sorry for these children who boasted constantly about their toys and expensive clothes, rather than envying them.
Many of the parents of the children at my school worked constantly. Many traveled for work. A lot of my classmates only saw their fathers sporadically, on weekends.

Even if it were true that every child who attends public school comes from an uncaring family, I fail to see how having a longer school day would compensate them for this fact, in any way.

Tthe parents may not be very nurturing, but good grades are expected and the parents will take action if that standard is not met. That's what I meant.

How your family views school seems to have more to do with success (on average) than pretty much anything the school itself does.
 
It should be pointed out that many elite private schools, with a high percentage of graduates who go on to Ivy League colleges, have shorter school days than the average public school.
Most of the upper-tier private schools, at least in my city, get out at noon on Fridays (I believe this is to allow for weekend travel), have many more days off/ holidays than public schools, and also let out for summer a couple of weeks earlier than public schools.

They also have more opportunities for access to different types of learning. For example, while I went to a private school, and did well, it was a parochial school that focused on a religious curriculum, and was pretty poor since it's funding came mostly from tuition with few outside sources. Also, the major industry locally is the agricultural industry, so I had to learn the basics of mechanics and equipment operation rather than more lofty trades and skills, such as geology for energy companies or nuclear sciences.

Likewise, those students in elite private schools likely had access to other educational opportunities, such as books, manuals, and other things to help them "get ahead." There's also social networking so they had good opportunities to get those higher paying jobs - during those free days, they were learning other skills or meeting with important people that would help their advancement. So I doubt that the 4-day school week was the only factor, or even the major factor in the success of those who attended.
 
Do you actually know that the kids are at their desks learning in those 7 hours? From what I've seen, they're not.

No, it's not like I'm currently in school (sarcasm).

First, there is the additional recess to combat "childhood obesity." :roll: I seriously think I've only seen 2-3 fat kids in my son's school of 900.

Then you're son goes to a very, very unique school, I hope you aren't seriously doubting how big of a problem childhood obesity is.

Then there are the half days so the teachers can have some sort of meeting in the afternoon. These happen once, sometimes twice a month.

I don't understand the point you are trying to make, are you saying that's negative or positive?

Don't forget that the month of September is generally dedicated to reviewing the stuff learned the previous year and lost over the 2 and a half month summer holiday.

Maybe in elementary school, but that problem can easily be solved with summer work.

Field Trips are all day. I appreciated the field trip to the state capital, but the all day snow boarding was kind of a joke IMO. It's great for my kid who is ahead of the game academically, but I have no idea why that's important to the student body as a whole.

I don't know of any school (well in Maryland) that has more than 1 field trip a year (that is always educational) that is a middle or high school. Sure some elementary schools have a lot of field trips but the ones that i know of are almost always academic related (unless it's like an end-of-the-year celebration or something).

Don't forget for every crappy or not-so-crappy holiday, there has to be a classroom party complete with cupcakes, soda and all sorts of garbage I'd never feed my kid.

Again, it seems like you're talking mostly about elenmentary schools. but I guarentee your kid isn't forced to eat that stuff.

Before every week off (and there are 4 full ones during the school year), there's a Friday off and a Thursday half day. Because it's a shortened week before a vacation, the kids and teachers aren't into a full workload, so it's a puff week. There's usually no homework that week.

That's a very valid point when it comes to all levels of schooling.

I liked the 2 week computer rotation where the big project was having the kids draw pictures with a mouse.

Again, I don't see your point.

And then there was the half day dedicated to watching a dress rehearsal of the high school play.

See my point above.

IMO the public school systems (all of 'em) have problems with money because they mismanage funds. Threatening to cut the school week down to 4 days is just posturing IMO.

A lot of schools mismanage funds but the economy really is hurting all school systems.
 
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