Although the main domestic focus of the Obama Administration has been on the economy and health care, there's still plenty of discussion surrounding the state of American education. Obama has advocated a longer school year and a longer school day, while Paul Krugman recently pointed out that many of the jobs lost during the recession have been lost in the education sector, putting an already strained system under greater strain. How can we possibly expand what public education does, without the staff to do it? And should we?
As an educator and a parent with kids in the public school system, I'm a big advocate of public education. I'm intrigued, though not convinced, by Obama's call for a longer school year and school day. As a working parent, my biggest issues with the education system have been the scheduling conflicts and the misguided though well-intentioned attempts the school has made to get parents involved. Here are just a few of my thoughts about how to get work schedules and school schedules to mesh better and how to get parents more involved.
Shift and extend the school day.
On this, I am in agreement with Obama. The work day begins at 8:30/9:00 and ends at 5:00/6:00 while school begins at 7:30/8:30 and ends at 2:30/3:30. While some workplaces offer flexible schedules that allow parents to leave in time to pick up kids or meet the school bus, many do not. Some schools or districts provide after-school programs, but many of these are first-come, first-served and many parents are left having to scramble to find child care after school. And after elementary school, these programs are non-existent. Shifting the school day to begin closer to the beginning of the work day and end at 5:00 or later would alleviate much of the scrambling parents must now do, and extend the amount of instruction possible, bringing me to my second point.
Article comments
1 - Christine
Although I agree with some of your ideas, I really don't think a longer school day and extended school year are the answers. I am a single parent with a child in middle school and am already on overload with homework, teachers, the school schedule, etc. When would they fit time in for sports and other activities that enrich their lives? 10 pm at night? If parents would just take a more active role in their children's education, it would make a huge difference. But no, they are too selfish and distracted, then they blame everyone else when their child fails!
2 - Laura
Christine, my idea would be that sports and other activities, including homework, would all be folded into an extended school day, which would end around 5 p.m. Obviously, kids would be able to do other things after that time and many of the activities my kids are in that aren't school related start later in the day or are on weekends. I agree with you that parents should take a more active role in their kids' education, but they need to be given the information and the time to do so. The parents I know who aren't involved as much as I am aren't selfish, though they are distracted. They work full time, sometimes at more than one job, have long commutes and often other obligations such as caring for an elderly parent. Many of them are doing the best they can.
3 - Christine
OK, Laura, I stand corrected...selfish OR distracted. Thanks for your response, but many of my child's activities are not after 5PM.
4 - Laura
Yes, I think it would be a huge adjustment, as many activities *are* scheduled after school, taking advantage of that free time between the end of school and end of work. Presumably that would change. Given the domino effect of changing the school schedule, I think it's unlikely to happen, or happen only gradually.
5 - Christine
Well, Laura, thank goodness. Hopefully by the time it changes my daughter will be in college like my other daughter is now!
6 - Dave Nalle
I think this article could be improved by changing the first word of the title to "Ending" and then rewriting it on that basis.
Dave
7 - Laura
LOL, Dave. I don't necessarily disagree. :)
8 - diana hartman
I personally like Laura's ideas. Perhaps the opposition is less about the change itself and more about change at all.
There's nothing written in stone that says organized sports has to be part of a public school's lineup o' activities when there is already a phys-ed class just as there are very few theater programs to supplement a drama class or art programs to operate alongside an art class.
If these kind of change did take place, one can only imagine the increase in quality time afforded more families. Or is that the opposition?