Here's the link: More School: Obama would curtail summer vacation
This makes me furious. I can see a little bit how it would make sense. But when applied the cost of it. . . There are so many other things the money can go to. I.E. Smaller classes. I can't believe that his reasoning for wanting more school time is because it's putting them at a disadvantage with other kids around the globe. Since when are we worried about our disadvantage compared to other countries (what happen to NCLB?)? I can understand a little bit because of the Cold War, and the race to space, but I thought that we were over that.
But the cost!? Does Obama not realize the number one way to improve schools is smaller class sizes? Teachers have been demanding this over and over. Like a broken record. It proven that smaller classes produce more learning. But class sizes have been stretched and stretched. One of my classmates is pre-student teaching in a class of 45! What good is extending students time in school if they are still not getting the help and attention they need?
Now the reason we do have our summers off is because of agricultural reasons. And that doesn't really make sense. But there are such bigger issues than extending classroom time that I think Obama needs to be focusing on. Fixing No Child Left Behind should be one of them. Also, a pay increase that he promised teachers during his campaign.
But the most important issue to remind Obama is: Education is a STATE issue, not a national issue. Obama, sorry, but you don't have any power to change the state guidelines for number of hours a student is to spend in a classroom.
Obama is too full of hope. Sure, it would be nice to have some extra time just thrown into schools, but it's just so completely impractical. I feel like Obama saw that other countries education systems are better than ours, so what is the number one difference? --> no summers! So obviously we must rid our system of summer break. Pardon me while I go gag in the corner.
Long story short, it's an okay idea. . . Until you think of the costs. If the money is going to go to the schools than it should someplace else.
Also, I wrote this 20 minutes before class because I was too furious to study for my quiz, so I apologize for missed words and misspellings.
2 comments:
1) They are cutting back on staff numbers like crazy in schools all over the nation because they can't afford to pay all of their teachers. Fortunately, (I can't believe i'm thankful for a union, but i am now) most unions won't allow teachers to teach more than 5 hours of class time a day without getting a rather substantial pay increase, (i.e. if you teach 5 hours and get 1 prep, but instead, choose to drop that prep for a 6th class, you get a pay raise). Not to mention that we're only paid for 10 months of work a year, so even if the day wasn't increased, but instead, he just got rid of summer vacation, we would all get a 20% raise to compensate us working 12 months instead of 10.
2) How does he expect students to pay for college? The whole idea of summer vacation through all of high school, for me, at least, was to work 30 to 40 hours a week so you could afford that ridiculously expensive thing that comes after high school, called college!
3) Tourist industries and summer parks will be in short supply of workers. Oh, and not to mention they'll be in short supply of visitors because everyone is in school!
-Andrew
I guess we really shouldn't worry about it because it won't go through. It's too much of an issue. But yea, you even mentioned it, one of the best possible solutions to a better education is smaller class sizes. Unfortunately, schools are hurting so bad for money right now, they cannot afford to hire the needed teachers to produce smaller class sizes.
Troy School District shut down their middle school pools because they cannot afford to do the maintenance on them anymore. Ann Arbor, Tappan Middle laid off something like 5 or 6 people last year, and that's just 1 school of many in Ann Arbor.
Basically, I'm just trying to say, even the people who agree with it will quickly realize it's not even affordable, unless Obama is crapping bricks of solid gold and we just don't know about it yet.
-Andrew
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