The School Day Is Two Hours Shorter Than the Work Day. Kamala Harris Wants to Change That.

[mcar]

The School Day Is Two Hours Shorter Than the Work Day. Kamala Harris Wants to Change That.
The 2020 candidate is introducing a bill to modernize the school day.

The mismatch between the school day and work day presents a real burden to working Americans with families. And Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) has a new bill that seeks to correct it.

The majority of schools days end around 3 p.m., two hours before the end of 70 percent of parents’ workdays. And most schools don’t have a way to make up the difference. Fewer than half of all elementary schools—and fewer than a third of low-income schools—offer after-school care. Beyond that misalignment, schools shut down, on average, for 29 days during the school year, the majority of which are reserved for professional development, parent-teacher conferences, and myriad vacations and minor holidays the federal government doesn’t recognize. That’s a full two weeks’ worth of days more than what the average American has in holidays, vacation, and paid leave combined. And then, of course, there’s summer vacation, a two- to three-month break that leaves working parents scrambling for day-long care....

That burden typically falls to women, a million of whom work less than full-time in order to keep up with caregiving responsibilities for elementary school-aged children. This hardship is particularly pronounced for low-income mothers and mothers of color, who are the most likely to have unpredictable or inflexible work schedules. Experts estimate the United States loses $55 billion in productivity each year thanks to the public school calendar. “Seventy-five percent of mothers of school-age children are working, and we need to come to terms with this reality,” says Catherine Brown, a researcher at the liberal Center for American Progress whose findings informed much of Harris’ bill. “How could we reimagine school so it’s better for kids and better for families?”

Harris frames her proposal through that lens, with a promise that “aligning school and work schedules is an economic growth and child development strategy.” Her plan: A pilot program that gives money to 500 schools that serve a high proportion of low-income families to develop a school schedule that better matches the work schedule. Each recipient school would receive up to $5 million dollars over five years to keep their doors open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., with no closures except for weekends, federal holidays, and emergencies. Professional development, parent-teacher conferences, and the like would have to happen, at minimum, alongside a full day of enrichment activities. At the end of the five years, the Education Department would publish a report documenting the best practices, as well as changes in parental employment, student performance, and teacher retention rates to be used to inform a future broader program....

Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, one of the country’s largest teachers unions, supports the measure. “This bill would enable school districts and communities to find solutions that work for them,” she said in a statement, while ensuring “teachers and paraprofessionals aren’t filling in the gaps without respect and fair compensation.”

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2019/11/the-school-day-is-two-hours-shorter-than-the-work-day-kamala-harris-wants-to-change-that/

[pattyloutwo]

1. Yikes

School day is too long already. Young kids expected to sit quietly all day, not express selves, taught to become sheep. Other solutions?

[regnaD kciN]

5. Dumbest. Proposal. Ever.

[mcar]

7. Did you read the proposal?

[thesquanderer]

9. It doesn't say anything about having the kids sit quietly all day.

It says schools would offer, "academic, athletic, or enrichment opportunities for students.” Lots of option fall into that scope including ones for self expression as you're talking about.

The kids are already doing SOMETHING between 3 and 6. The problem is that, today, this is often time where they either have inadequate supervision, or parents have to deal with costly day care.

[mcar]

19. Yes.

Inadequate supervision is a real problem. This proposal addresses a big need.

I wish people would have at least read the article before they commented.

[JustAnotherGen]

53. me too

I like this idea. It's something every candidate should take a look at.

[Blue_true]

83. I totally disagree with you.

The school day is too short. I would like to see longer days with PE reintroduced to schools, 1.5 hours added for PE and a shower. Another 1 to 1.5 hours should be added for students to do proctored homework assignments while at school. Our kids have some of the softest education requirements in the world, and we are falling behind in many ways because of that.

[dsc]

2. So teachers would be working on site 52.5 hours each week?

I will say she does want to increase wages but not sure the increase is equal to these extra hours. Assuming a report time 15 minutes before school and a leave time 15 minutes after.

[mcar]

8. Did you read the proposal?

[ehrnst]

59. Apparently not. (nt)

[MineralMan]

3. What about the children in those schools?

What's best for them?

In some places, schools have after-school programs in place, but those are expensive to operate.

Just tacking on two more hours of time at school is not a solution that will help children, really. In fact, it might cause more problems for them than people realize.

This entire proposal is about what works best for parents, not children. Also not teachers and other school staffers. Are they going to be paid more for the extra time? What will the children be doing for those two hours?

The problem of timing exists. No question about it. But, keeping children locked up in schools might well not be the best solution.

[mcar]

10. Good heavens, people, read the proposal!

Children do all kinds of activities after school - the proposal includes them. Many children already stay in after school care programs - this proposal would work with community organizations to offer more than just sitting in the cafeteria doing homework (which is what my kids did after school).

It's not "Just tacking on two more hours of time."

Do you think that it's better for young children to be home alone for several hours each afternoon? Or for parents to have to pay thousands of $$ every summer to keep their kids supervised? Or for parents (usually mothers) to be forced to only work part-time because child care options don't exist or are too expensive in their communities?

This proposal doesn't say teachers would be working those extra hours. It would give them the option to, with pay, if they so chose.

[MineralMan]

23. I did read it. It had some sort of open-ended, vague description of

activities those children would be doing. It's not easy for me to think back to being a schoolkid, but I can do it. After school, and before my mother came home (my father worked until 6 PM), I had things to do, once I was old enough to come home to an empty house. Homework, chores, etc. Before I was old enough to be at home on my own, my mother worked at a job that let her leave at 3 PM when school got out. In fact, she worked at one of the schools in town. Her duties ended with the school day.

Often, I spent that two hours (not "several hours" ) at the town library, especially once I was 12 years old. There, I explored my own interests, learning all the while. The librarian managed to supervise me and the other children, which wasn't a real challenge, since the kids who chose to be at the library were there because they were interested in topics not taught at school. We were quiet and found our own paths to learning about things that interested us.

Once I was in high school, those two hours were spent doing all sorts of things. Music, hanging out with friends, volunteering at my church, etc. I was lucky enough, at age 16 to have a job delivering milk for the local dairy. That started at 5 AM and ended at 8 AM, when the milk delivery truck dropped me off at school to begin the school day. By high school, I was perfectly capable of handling a couple of hours of free time in the afternoon.

See, that's why I asked about the children. It sounds to me like there will be activities, but ones chosen for the children by adults. That might be OK for the younger kids, but not necessarily OK for older students, who might well have their own preferences for how to spend that two hours each day.

All of this sounds good, if the offerings are good ones, and if enough people volunteer or are hired to fill that time period to supervise whatever activities are offered. That's not such an easy thing to arrange, though. Because of that, most kids will end up sitting at school, just being monitored by some adult and being told to do their homework, or some such thing. Adult activity leaders are harder to come by, and need training and payment to give up their two hours a day monitoring other people's children.

Sadly, our school systems are often little more than custodial care already. Some effort is expended in teaching kids to pass tests, but teachers are in overcrowded classrooms and strictly controlled in terms of what and how they teach. Schools are regimented to best deal with the average student.

Children don't need more custodial care time. The trouble is that trained people who have small groups to assist are expensive and few want to limit their time to a couple of hours a day. Teachers already have too much to do in the 6 classroom hours and the work they must do outside of those hours. So, who provides that extra 2 hours? Who are those adults and what are their skills?

It's a vague, poorly defined proposal that has as its primary goal to keep children busy for 2 hours so their parents can work.

[mcar]

44. I honestly don't think your, or my, school experience is relevant here, MM

I spent loads of time at my local library too. I also spent lots of free time running wild around my neighborhood with my friends.

Different times.

That doesn't happen much now, unfortunately. What does happen is poor parents paying lots of money for their kids to be in after-school and summer programs because they don't want them sitting home alone.

I thought that we, as Democrats, were supposed to think about what is best for everyone, not "that's not the way we did it in my day," or "my kids or grandkids come home right after school" (the implication being "so why should I care about someone else's kids&quot .

The entire structure of our educational system is, and has been, messed up for decades. Kids in Europe go to school year round and have a longer school day. I don't think all those countries see it as harmful.

Times have changed. Mom isn't home to greet kids off the school bus with a snack. Moms are usually running ragged at work and rushing to get kids home so they (moms) can make dinner, supervise homework, etc. Or, they are rushing home hoping their middle schooler has actually done his or her homework and chores and didn't spend their afternoon alone playing video games.

[MineralMan]

99. If you spent some time in my neighborhood in St. Paul, MN,

you'd know that things haven't changed as much as you'd think. I live in a very diverse neighborhood in the northeastern corner of the city. Most of the homes near me are occupied by younger parents with school age children. It reminds me very much of the small town 1950s neighborhood I grew up in.

Kids are out any time the weather is decent. There's a library about three blocks away. If you go into it on a weekend afternoon, you'll see a couple dozen kids in there every time, doing just what I used to do in my library.

It's an urban neighborhood in a city. St. Paul has problems with crime, gangs, and other issues. However, the children play in each other's yards and visit each other's homes all the time. Kids ride bicycles everywhere, sometimes with fishing poles to fish in the small lake a few blocks away. Their parents let them do those things because they are not afraid to do so.

On the other hand, if you go to a "safe" suburban neighborhood with cul-de-sacs and two-car attached garages in the Twin Cities metro area, you won't see many kids outdoors playing with their neighbors. The library is too far away for walking. Parents in those suburban areas are afraid to let their children do anything on their own. Why? Because they wrongly believe that the moment a kid goes outside, someone will kidnap the child.

Kids in my neighborhood are pretty much all latch-key kids, since their parents work. The older children watch the younger children, and old geezers like me, who are home all the time, keep an eye on all of them. Like I said, it reminds me of my 1950s neighborhood in a small town in California. My wife works at home, too, just like I do.

We are a neighborhood safe house. Kids know from their parents that if there's a problem, they can ring our doorbell and we'll respond to help. I'm the neighborhood old man bike fixer and problem solver, too. We can apply Bandaids to scraped knees, as well. It's an urban neighborhood, made up of houses built in the 1950s. We have sidewalks, big trees to climb, and friendly pets to greet all comers. Our neighborhood is quiet, safe, and friendly. I know the names of everyone on the block and they know mine. We help each other with snow clearing, and everyone watches out for their neighbors.

It's not a suburban neighborhood, where people are frightened of everything.

[jberryhill]

102. "you'll see a couple dozen kids in there every time, doing just what I used to do in my library"

I always had to hide from creepy old men when I went to the library as a kid.

Hmmm.....

[MineralMan]

105. Boys had to do that, too, sometimes.

We knew who they were, and avoided them. On the other hand, the people working in the library kept an eye on us all, so it was a pretty safe place to be.

Or, were you implying something else? If so, shame on you.

[thesquanderer]

97. Couple of things...

In many areas, libraries have been reducing hours and closing, and neighborhoods may not be conducive to just having the kids play outside in the streets unattended. Yeah, things may be different from when and where you grew up.

AFAIK, nobody is saying this is mandatory. If kids already have a place to go, great! If not, I think the crux of the plan is this sentence:

Each recipient school would receive up to $5 million dollars over five years to keep their doors open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.,

What exactly goes on in the extended hours is flexible. If kids want to go to the library as you suggest, their only library option may be the one in the school... and now at least they'd be able to use it after 3 pm.

Many (not all) kids need a safe place to be. Many kids can benefit from increased availability of programs, be they academic, creative, or athletic. The facilities are already there. The desire for more available paid work (for some) is also already there. What's needed are cost-effective pilot plans and the funds to try them. I am really surprised at the amount of pushback there is over this.

Affluent areas tend to already have a plethora of after school programs available for kids. Shouldn't we aim for all kids to have them? Though with the additional focus on, not just the activity itself, but the need for kids to have safe places to be while parents are at work, we may actually need a wider range of options for poorer areas than in affluent areas. The affluent can afford many alternatives. If someone doesn't make the team or get into some other qualifying activity, there's always more options available. Without that luxury, there needs to be places anyone can go, things anyone can do, without meeting particular qualifications.

As usual, the people who need the most options are the people who have the fewest. The way I see it, the battle against that is why we are Dems.

[thesquanderer]

12. Kids (at least below a certain age" need to be "locked up"--i.e. supervised--one way or another.

It sounds like you may have commented without reading the article. Please see my post #9.

I think it's good to be talking about this, and I like Harris' proposal as presented in the article, pilot programs and such... we need to start somewhere, it is indeed an issue worth addressing, and this smartly doesn't assume what the solution will be (or that everyone needs the same solution), but rather provides a flexible framework for finding one.

Though these are typically more state issues than federal ones, which is a different issue.

[TreasonousBastard]

82. You got it. It's a proposal, not a rule, or "plan" and a great...

starting point for a necessary discussion.

This is not the 50's any more.

[Kaleva]

27. Many kids go to a day care after school or have to fend for themselves.

Some kids go home where there is no parent, guardian or responsible adult there to care for them until one parent returns home from work.

The state of Michigan only pays up to $4.00 an hour per child for eligible parents to cover licensed day care, in home babysitters or immediate family members who watch the child or children in their home. Day cares in my area charge over twice that so the single mom making minimum wage is strapped trying to come up with the difference. I charge $4 an hour but no parent can get state aid for that as I'm not a licensed day car nor do I watch the child in his or her home. I watch them in my home. I do not charge family members.

I'm a 60 year old guy and the go-to babysitter for many. I think the proposal for a pilot program to study this is a good idea.

[Autumn]

4. The school day is too long as it is for children, not to mention the hours teachers work

when they get home after school. Why should either be in school two hours longer? I think the solution should be found by parents and their employers, not the schools.

[Efilroft Sul]

6. Anybody think this isn't a good idea?

These are kids we're talking about, not adults. Little people, not office drudges. How much more work is going to be given to these kids? Because I can guarantee you that the taskmasters among us won't tolerate "enrichment activities" when standardized test scores are miserably low. These kids will be worked to death with more classes, more assignments, for 10 hours, and they'll probably face more homework after they get home from school late in the evening. At some point, educators — or politicians "contributing to" the education process — need to realize what they're doing to kids.

[Autumn]

14. I don't think it's a good idea at all. My grandson gets off the bus at 4 and he's worn out.

if he had to sit there another two hours he would be exhausted. Kids need downtime, time for, playing, homework and relaxation, family time. This is a problem that parents and their employers need to work out. Not schools depending on grants and volunteers that are compensated fairly

high-quality, culturally relevant, linguistically accessible, developmentally appropriate academic, athletic, or enrichment opportunities for students.” The directive is purposefully vague:

[Efilroft Sul]

17. My kids are wiped out, too.

When my oldest son, who is now in tenth grade, entered fifth grade, everybody lost their freaking minds over Common Core. He'd get home from school at three and frequently put in another full day of school just doing homework until about ten at night. Ever since then, his graduating class of 2022 has been pounded in the ass with homework and ridiculous assignments that keep kids working until midnight or one in the morning. He gets up at six.

The schools already don't know when to let up; a ten-hour day will be worse.

[Autumn]

29. The homework my 13 year old grand daughter gets is ridiculous. That is somerthing that

should be addressed.

[Efilroft Sul]

35. Anybody who believes the schoolwork and homework load will be lessened under this plan is naive.

And those enrichment programs that got everybody so excited will be the first programs to be cut. The arts are always the first to go under the knife. They'll be replaced with more classes, and more work, because the so-called education experts can't take away our kids' childhoods fast enough.

The road to hell, intentions, and all that.

[mcar]

45. Again, read the proposal!

It's a pilot program that would not be funded by local school districts. Local businesses and groups could develop, and get paid to provide, programs for the kids.

Why wouldn't they include homework time?

[Efilroft Sul]

55. I read it. And I think kids have enough structured time after 6 or 7 hours in school.

I also don't want private businesses getting their hands on the public schools and gaining undue influence, because they will. Seriously, nobody wants to see Chick-fil-A coming around saying, "Yeah, we can sponsor a fully loaded after-school basketball league, but you, uh, first gotta get rid of the LGBTQ Club."

Eventually, when these 10-hour schools bomb their standardized tests, the arts and athletics programs will be replaced with more drudgery because the children aren't learning!, and the beatings will continue until morale improves. The law of diminishing returns will practically write itself.

I don't know if you have school-age kids, but I do. More time at school, which will translate to more homework, is not an answer. Homework is the great destroyer of our family time; I suspect it wrecks the home lives of millions of American families. It lays waste to every evening here but Friday, and it ruins every Sunday for us nine months out of the year. If my kids had a 10-hour school day and came home to doing even more work, it would be disastrous for us. We're all burned out by 6:00, and the last thing we all need is to be up past midnight trying to get additional busy work done for the sake of doing busy work just because it's a formal grade.

You might think this program is a better idea than, say, video games, but I would rather have my boys play three hours of video games after school, run the neighborhood with their friends, or sleep (happens a lot here) than spend one more minute missing out on being kids because they're stuck doing extra time in a structured school environment.

[mcar]

21. Who said he'd have to "sit there" another 2 hours?

It sounds like your grandson is lucky and has an adult at home when he gets out of school. I don't think Sen. Harris' proposal would mandate that he stay in school.

For many other students, there isn't an adult at home when they get off the bus. They are home alone, without supervision.

This proposal would allow for those kids to be playing, doing homework, perhaps learning a sport, music, etc, with peers - under supervision.

Way better than playing video games for 3 hours.

[Autumn]

25. He has an adult at home because his mother gets off work early enough to be at home. As for

The

high-quality, culturally relevant, linguistically accessible, developmentally appropriate academic, athletic, or enrichment opportunities for students.” The directive is purposefully vague:

from your link it sounds like to me they will be doing sports or sitting in a classroom learning. Perhaps employers should pay their employees more so they can hire daycare or offer flexible hours instead of depending on a

private or non-federal public funding source, such as state grants or philanthropy organizations to match 10 percent of the federal grant money

As for federal funding to pay for after school programs I don't see that happening.

The school day and calendar is a bad deal for the parents and employers, not the children. Perhaps that's where the changes need to be done.

[mcar]

41. "Perhaps employers should pay their employees more"

Yes, they should. Should we just wait until the time (maybe) comes that they do - and that they offer more flexible work schedules? I won't hold my breath.

In the meantime, there are single mothers working 2 and 3 jobs to support their kids. Perhaps with this plan, a single mother could cut back on the hours of her second job because she wouldn't need to pay for after-school care. And, with that extra time, she could, possibly, take online classes to advance her own education.

As for federal funding to pay for after school programs I don't see that happening.

But you do see federal funding to pay for college for all happening? For Medicare for All?

[Autumn]

70. You are right, in the meantime, there are single mothers working 2 and 3 jobs to support their kids.

In the meantime, there are also people doing without health care or paying for health insurance they can't afford to use. There are people working 2 and 3 jobs to keep a roof over their heads and pay their student loans. Something needs to change. Maybe we should say enough is enough and no longer tolerate doing without childcare, health care, and education. Harris would do better to push for subsidized childcare.

[Blue_true]

84. The extra time at school can be spent in Physical Ed and proctored homework.

So, when they leave school, their time would be free for any activity their parents allow them to do.

[Efilroft Sul]

108. I think you greatly underestimate just how much homework kids are given these days.

I sometimes have my middle school son up until 11 at night finishing his assignments and my high school son often has to stay up until midnight or 1 a.m. to finish his busy work. Both boys get up at six in the morning. The last thing kids need is more structured time in schools and homework. The demands our sons face are the biggest pox on our home life, because we have no home life.

[Blue_true]

121. Then we reform the meaning of homework and when it is done.

One approach would be to break kids into teams in class and have the teams perform the homework and grade each result in class the next day. That way kids never take home homework, it all gets done in each class. Teachers would need to monitor each team to insure that each kid is pulling his or her load and teams need to be constantly reformatted so that strong kids don't always end up on the same team. We really need to rethink how we manage schools because things today are not working well.

What I have concluded from many years as an engineer is that having kids understand how to perform in a team setting is more valuable to them than having them work alone. Teachers must work to insure that each kid understand the basics of the instruction, but applying that instruction, ,aka homework, should be done in a team setting.

I stand by longer school days, doing so can give kids valuable life skills and leave them with free time once they are done with their school day.

[Efilroft Sul]

122. I get where you're coming from with the team approach.

And it probably works well with the scientific types. I think teachers in all subjects, however, need to be very careful about making every assignment a group project. You provided good points about monitoring teams because strong oversight will need to be required. Plus, some kids just aren't cut out for working with others, no matter many times teachers insist on jamming square pegs into round holes.

Also, it's been the experience of my parents, my wife's parents, my wife and I, and our kids that responsibility of group projects often falls on the shoulders of the smartest kid in the group. Meanwhile, everybody else in the group chit-chats and has a good time — and the teachers do nothing about it.

Your mileage may vary, but we really hate our kids' grades riding on the participation and input of other students. My kids' grades have already suffered this year from group projects, which required a meeting with the high school teachers last month. It was cordial enough, but still useless.

I don't mean to thwart you at every turn, Blue, but we're having a really lousy experience over here. I loved school as a kid. I hate it as a parent.

[Blue_true]

123. We need to both pay our teachers more and expect more from them.

Is a square peg kid showing early signs of being anti-social? That is a problem better confronted early. In real life people work in teams, not just in technical teams, but sales teams, marketing teams, production teams, shipping teams, teamwork is a part of the work world that kids will be in one day.

Teachers need to be retrained to coordinate teams of kids so that each is pulling his or her own weight. The grading of a team should be individualized, if one kid is working his or her ass off and others are not, the hardworking kid should get a grade that reflects his or her work, that is how things are done in the work world performance review system when it is well organized and works right.

I am really passionate about two things about education. First, kids need to be taught how to work and problem solve in a team format. Second, whether it is in PreK-12 or in college lecture rooms, people that are lousy at teaching should not be teaching. If we get those right, we are going to have a stronger country.

[Demsrule86]

107. It is a bad idea. More time for kids to get into trouble too...we already have a school to

jail pipeline for kids especially minority kids.

[mcar]

11. So many negative comments by people I suspect did not read the proposal

and are not aware of the reality of life for many students.

This is calling for a public/private partnership that would offer a range of activities for students. They wouldn't just be plopped in school cafeterias (as my kids were), they'd be doing sports, enrichment, and other activities. It would be a pilot program to determine best practices.

Do you really think 10 YO kids are better off at home, alone, every day after school? What about 6 YO kids whose parents work till 5? What happens to them if there is no viable after-school care options?

Businesses aren't going to change their policies to solve this problem.

The problem exists. This is an attempt to solve it in a proactive way. I give Sen. Harris credit for tackling the issue.

[LanternWaste]

56. Not reading the actual proposal gives license to throw ignorance at the wall...

Which is (I'd bet) for far too many hacks, an actual goal rather than an undesired side-effect.

[redqueen]

13. Looks like people are reacting before reading

It's not extending the school day it's offering other activities. I think it's a great idea as long as it's not mandatory. Extracurricular activities help kids stay in school longer (i.e. more likely to graduate) and helps keep them focused on their education, which is a good thing.

The issue that jumps out right away with this is how narrowly focused it is. I think Bernie has a similar plan and so does Warren but they're not as detailed so I'm not sure that they're aimed at these same issues exactly.

Since the head of a teacher's Union is behind it I'm fairly sure teachers are on board so as long as they're compensated well and behind this idea then I can see no reason not to support it.

[mcar]

16. Thank you, redqueen

That's exactly what it is - offering other activities.

When my kids were young, I would have loved to have them in a program that offered them sports, music, learning another language, etc.

So many kids are at home, alone, playing video games. I'm stunned that some here think that's better.

[redqueen]

24. Exactly - this will give kids from lower income families

more opportunities to participate in extracurriculars.

[Kaleva]

28. I agree. It appears people are reacting without reading the proposal and thinking about it.

[comradebillyboy]

71. When I was a member oof the teachers union I really didn't care much

what the union leaders had to say. Aside from contract negotiations they were irrelevant to me.

[delisen]

15. If starting fresh what kind of school system would we build

It would not be one that reflected 19th century work force and a farming society.

Tis is a great experiment being proposed.

Schools could be much more productive and families less stressed, and society better offif we changed school hours and schedules, and brought over professionals into our systems, and recognized the entire developmental needs of our children.

I think every cild should have and individualized learning/service plan and a team to foster the development of the whole person.

[mcar]

18. I wouldn't be one based on an agrarian calendar, that's for sure

I live in Florida. Having 2 months off in the summer is ludicrous. It's too hot to do anything outside, unless a parent can take the summer off and take the kids to the pool or beach every day.

My husband is a public school teacher, but had to work most summers to earn extra income. Then, when school starts up again, the first month is taken up with review of what the kids learned last year. So much time wasted.

[Blue_true]

85. I think that it is insane that our teachers have to look for summer jobs, often

at minimum wage. I have met people that I am sure were teachers running the checkout at Publix during the summer, when fall comes they are no longer there.

I do think that students need a break from school, but 45 days would be more than adequate. During those 45 days, teachers can plan or attend district conferences to brainstorm teaching methods and what works and what needs improvement and how to improve things that need work - that all should get wrapped up in school policy no later than 1 year after finalized. Teachers would work and get paid year around as teachers, except two weeks before they report back to their schools, those two weeks can be vacation time.

[George II]

20. Schools have been dismissed at about 3:00 for decades, if not longer. Not a good idea....

When I was in high school I took a bus and subway into Manhattan - the trip was about 90 minutes each way. I'd leave at about 7:00 AM and didn't get home until almost 5:00 PM, and that's with a 3:00 dismissal time. Some days I was exhausted and went to bed as soon as I got home.

[mcar]

22. You are talking about high school, George.

This proposal isn't.

I highly doubt many 8 year olds take a bus and subway 90 minutes to school each day on their own.

What do students whose parents work till 5 do now?They either are in after-school care programs at their schools, Boys and Girls Clubs, etc (which parents are paying extra for), or they are home alone. Those kids in after-school care programs are doing homework and some activities.

Again, those kids are not getting home until a parent picks them up, anyway. Others are home alone because the parents can't afford the care.

Schools have been dismissed for 2 months in the summers for decades, if not longer, too. Funny, though, most students aren't needed to help with the summer planting season anymore. Yet we still do it. That's not a good enough reason to keep doing it.

My kids were in after-school care and then summer programs for many years. It cost a good bit, and the options were slim. I would have loved to have a program provided for my kids, where they could do homework, run around and play, have fun, and maybe get some enrichment, too.

Many parents (mostly mothers) end up working fewer hours because they can't afford the care or it's not available in their communities.

This proposal would help the entire family.

[MineralMan]

30. "I highly doubt many 8 year olds take a bus and subway 90 minutes to school each day on their own."

Really? In my neighborhood, school buses go by every morning. One, for example, stops across the street from my house at 6:30 AM. It picks up a 6 year old girl and an 8 year old boy. At 4:30 PM, it returns and drops those two off. The children attend a magnet school for Hmong children. They have a 90-minute bus ride twice a day. In St. Paul, MN, parents can choose any school in the district and buses will pick them up and return them daily.

So, I see those buses go by my house every morning. At least six of them each morning. The last bus goes by at 7 AM. Then, in the afternoon, the buses start going by again, with the last one dropping kids off around 5 PM.

Long bus rides are the norm in St. Paul, MN. During the winter, they board the bus and get off the bus in the dark. I think that's awful, but the parents choose their childrens' schools, not me. There is an elementary school a block and a half from my house. There is a middle-school four blocks away, and a high school 8 blocks away. Some neighborhood kids go to those schools. They don't have to get on a bus and get off a bus in the dark. That neighborhood school is pretty well-rated, to boot. I often wonder if the reason parents put their kids on a long bus ride has to do with their own work hours.

What do you think?

[mcar]

38. I live in a rural area

and I am well aware that many children have long bus rides each day. That was not the point.

In my community, there is no school choice until high school.

And, wouldn't it be nice if, instead of riding on a bus all afternoon for 2 hours, the kids could be in a well-run after-school program where, instead of sitting on a bus, they'd be doing homework, running around the playground, hanging out with friends, reading and maybe learning something they are interested in, like music? Then mom, dad, guardian could pick their child up and bring them home.

That seems like a much nicer scenario.

[MineralMan]

43. And in my community there is school choice from Grade 1.

My point is that where I am, the long bus rides make the question of what to do with the extra time moot.

Where I grew up, a small town, no house in town was far enough away from the schools to need buses at all. We all walked to school. I started walking to school in kindergarten, which was a block from my house. I walked with another kindergartner who lived on my block.

There are no universal situations when it comes to all this. So, there are no simple solutions.

[mcar]

46. I just added this to my previous post

And, wouldn't it be nice if, instead of riding on a bus all afternoon for 2 hours, the kids could be in a well-run after-school program where, instead of sitting on a bus, they'd be doing homework, running around the playground, hanging out with friends, reading and maybe learning something they are interested in, like music? Then mom, dad, guardian could pick their child up and bring them home.

That seems like a much nicer scenario.

__________

No one said there was a simple solution. So we shouldn't try anything?

[Blue_true]

87. I am surprised, I don't have kids, but kids in my Florida county go to

the closest school to their homes. A few get bussed, but most kids walk home or get picked up by parents.

I really like the idea of longer school days for all kids, even high school kids. We can make up for high school kids not working by providing housing and mealplans at college or trade school. I do think that high school kids should have more time for summer break than younger kids, 60 days versus 45 days. I believe schools should be restructured, Pre-K and K, 1st-3rd, 4th-6th, 7th-9th, 10th-12th (high school). High school teachers would have more time to plan and conference during the summers than lower grade teachers, but that makes sense because their teaching is a little more demanding.

[boomer_wv]

26. Wow

Harris jumping in on the general election losers positions.

You know what people roundly hate? Federal policies for schools. Most people think all school decisions should be made at the local level. They love federal and state money, but detest mandates. Even healthy school lunch is hated when its mandated.

[Kaleva]

31. This is a proposal for a pilot program involving 500 schools.

Your comment:

"You know what people roundly hate? Federal policies for schools. "

You may be associate with people who roundly hate the federal government for integrating schools or providing stiff penalties for teachers who abuse students or violates their rights, and such but there are those who do welcome federal initiatives.

[mcar]

47. "Most people?"

Really?

I wonder what people who have children in elementary and middle school, who are struggling to pay for after-school care, would think about such a proposal. I would have grasped it with open arms.

[boomer_wv]

75. Ok.

What federal education mandate has been popular over the past 20 years? Look at this thread, it's already being ripped and this is a liberal board.

[mcar]

76. And many of those on this board

ripping the proposal thing M4A and free college are going to pass. The others seem to think that if everything was OK for them when they were in school, or things are OK for their kids/grandkids, there's no problem.

Disappointing, coming from liberals. We're supposed to care about everyone.

[demigoddess]

32. when I was a kid, we lived in France just down the street from a

school. I got home about three and the French kids got out of school around five. Didn't seem to hurt them at all. They had more time to learn. I remember when my kids were in school they were so rushed through lessons that they did not enjoy it. One teacher had the kids file their own homework for her in files. My son would get it in the wrong file and would be given a 0% for that lesson. Also, when I was in 5th grade the teacher would read us a chapter out of a really good book after lunch. Half an hour or so of classic stories, that probably never happens nowadays.

[Blue_true]

88. I believe that grades Pre-K through 9th should have a master teacher and

two assistants in each classroom. High school (10-12) should have a master teacher and one assistant in every classroom. Master teachers would be required to certify to gain that designation and recertify every five years, but they would also be paid well (including being refunded for the expense of certification and recertification).

[Kaleva]

33. Kids with working parents are dropped off by bus at a day care for those who can afford it.

Or they go to a member of the family or a friend's place.

I do not know of any grade school kids that go home to an empty house but I do know of jr. high and high school kids that do.

[mcar]

48. For those who can afford it

That's the key issue.

You may not know of grade school kids who go home to an empty house, but they are out there.

[PunkinPi]

34. Thanks for posting, mcar...

seems many react without reading. Her plan offers choice of extended hours and makes nothing mandatory.

Kamala got some worthy praise on her proposal by AFT Union

Link to tweet

Thank you @SenKamalaHarris for introducing the Family Friendly Schools Act! Investing in after school programs, summer enrichment & 21st Century Learning Centers helps families who can’t find affordable, quality child care outside of the school day. #ChildCareforWorkingFamilies

[Kaleva]

36. +1

[mcar]

39. Thanks

Apparently the AFT is anti-children or something, given the reaction here.

[Demsrule86]

37. Bad bad bad idea.

She has little education experience I am guessing.

[Kaleva]

40. The president of the American Federation of Teachers union supports the proposal

[PunkinPi]

42. AFT Union (1.7 million teachers and other education professionals)

disagrees with your assessment of her proposal...

Link to tweet

Thank you @SenKamalaHarris for introducing the Family Friendly Schools Act! Investing in after school programs, summer enrichment & 21st Century Learning Centers helps families who can’t find affordable, quality child care outside of the school day. #ChildCareforWorkingFamilies

[mcar]

49. I find it odd, and disappointing,

that people are responding to this only based on their own childhood experience, or that of their children or grandchildren.

Investing in after school programs, summer enrichment & 21st Century Learning Centers helps families who can’t find affordable, quality child care outside of the school day. #ChildCareforWorkingFamilies

[PunkinPi]

50. It is disappointing and shows a lack of empathy for other people's situations. nt

[mcar]

65. A. Families would opt in voluntarily

B. The AFT (American Federation of Teachers) has endorsed it. I think they know a little about education.

[Kaleva]

86. You are okay with them going to day care after school I guess.

[Demsrule86]

54. We can't get enough money as it is...won't work.

[mcar]

66. Why the negativity?

This is a modest proposal for a pilot program to determine best practices.

It has potential to help working families. The AFT supports it. Why just dismiss it out of hand?

[Demsrule86]

100. First of all funding is always an issue...not GOP at all as someone said you have to consider this.

Secondly, I spent some years in the classroom before I went into business...and nine hour days are just too long for kids. I think there should be programs specifically for low income working parents in order to pay for after school care but it should not be a school program. I am against 8 or 9 hour school days...I also believe the summer break is a good think for kids and am against all year school...just my opinion.

[mcar]

109. Yes, it's your opinion

and one many hold. I don't.

The traditional school calendar was developed when children had to be home in the summers to help on the family farm. There's not much need for that anymore.

Students in Europe have 8 hour school days and a year-round calendar and they seem to do just fine.

I think there should be programs specifically for low income working parents in order to pay for after school care but it should not be a school program.

Harris' proposal is for low-income working parents in order to pay for after-school care. Most of those programs are in schools; some would, I presume, be elsewhere.

This proposal is not a "school program." It does not mandate participation, nor does it mandate teacher participation.

[Demsrule86]

110. Europe has an entirely different system.

I do not agree with leaving kids in school eight or nine hours...and there have been subsidized after school programs for years. How is Harris's plan different? I also think that catering to jobs will only encourage them to make parents work more; kids need their parents and to spend time with them...fix the laws that allow this sort of employment victimization...why should taxpayers pay for parents to able to work longer hours and probably not even receive additional pay? It is really subsidizing corporations. Everyone has an opinion. What you write is your opinion...what I write is my opinion. I fail to see the point you were attempting to make.

[mcar]

112. Some after school programs are subsidized, not all

Some communities don't have adequate programs at all. This policy would address that.

fix the laws that allow this sort of employment victimization

Do you really think that would be easier to do than offer help for parents with school-age kids? Should parents be able to leave work at 2 M-F to get their kids home from school? How would non-parents in the workforce feel about that?

why should taxpayers pay for parents to able to work longer hours and probably not even receive additional pay?

I don't know what that means. Parents wouldn't be working longer hours because of this proposal. If you read the proposal, it notes that 70% of working parents work until 5 p.m. Why would this proposal cause them to work extra hours?

What it might do, though, is give a single mother the opportunity to work fewer hours on her 2nd job because she doesn't have to pay for child care anymore. It might give working families the chance to have some quality time in the evening because kids have already done their homework. Maybe that single mother could take on-line classes at night to help improve her job prospects.

Yes, Europe has a different system. That is a given. You may not agree with kids being in school 8 or 9 hours, but most already are in school or some kind of after-school program - or in after-school sports or band.

My husband and I worked full-time when our kids were young. They attended the after-school care program at their elementary school - and the before-school care program as well. Are you suggesting my husband and I were somehow wrong for "leaving" our kids in school 8 or 9 hours?

[Demsrule86]

115. That is not necessarily true that all kids are in a program...my experience and I worked

in a YMCA after school program has been that kids hate after school programs...it really is warehousing. In Ohio we have community programs and parents do get subsidized care if they are low income . Also, many kids go home with friends...I had extra kids when my kids were young...kept them until their parents got home. I just don't like the plan and don't think it is workable and it kind of lets the businesses that employ these parents off the hook too.

[thesquanderer]

98. "We can't get enough money as it is" sounds like the Republican response to any Dem initiative!

This is a relatively low-cost proposal for pilot programs to see what can affordably be done.

[Demsrule86]

101. I think eight or nine hours at school is too many. There should be after school programs for low

income parents but this is not needed. It is the same as MFA...you see an issue and instead of coming up with a limited plan that addresses those who need the help...you insist on making the program available for everyone...which raises costs and increases complexities. One of the things I noted when I taught school was that different schools need different things. Schools where the parents are low income need a great deal of support and schools where parents are well to do ...don't. The way we fund schools is a bigger issue in my opinion.

[thesquanderer]

114. re: "you insist on making the program available for everyone"

There are benefits to that.

When you make a program available only to low-income people, it is stigmatized. In this case, it could mean that some kids won't want to participate.

Also, programs that benefit everyone tend to be more politically palatable than programs that only help "those other people." That's why free public K-12 education, social security, medicare, unemployment insurance, are all popular and things that are 3rd rail for any politician to threaten, whereas "welfare" -- things like SNAP (food stamps), housing subsidy programs, home heating oil assistance, etc. -- are more politically vulnerable.

Please also see my post #97.

[Demsrule86]

117. I get that but it is not needed for higher income parents and increases the costs and waters down

benefits which should go to those who need it. And when we offer to those who don't need it...often programs are too expensive and those in need end up with nothing. And you know the wealthier areas will benefit far more from a program like this than poorer areas as they have better facilitiies and will afford additional activities.

It is like the hope scholarship which was given to all people in Georgia...no income considerations...and you ended up with the wealthy kids driving around in what was called Hopemobiles. It drove up the costs of college so lower income kids couldn't get into an affordable college (the wealthy had tutors to help their kids) so the poor ended up subsidizing education for the rich while their own kids did without or joined the military for school money.

[ehrnst]

58. Why? Some kids could very much benefit from the extra enrichment. (nt)

[Demsrule86]

103. It has been my experience when I taught that kids need more down time...and forcing kids who

may be bullied to remain in school for 8 or 9 hours is not a good thing either. I was always the new kid when I grew up...my parents were in the service and unless we went to base schools, it wasn't good. My Dad traveled around even after he and my Mom got out of service. I was lucky enough to go to one High School but before that it was changing schools at least once a year sometimes more. I also think after a certain amount of time...kids are just done...and keeping them in school past this time leads to misbehavior and other issues.

[ehrnst]

125. I know of kids who need this extra time to gain social and academic skills, and their parents

aren't home yet. Are you familiar with extended day programs that are avialable now? They aren't "study halls." there are tai chi lessons, game clubs, yoga, homework help, and quiet reading time in the library if that's what they want.

"Keeping doors open" isn't "forcing kids to remain in school." Perhaps public schools that aren't on bases are different, I don't know.

This hardship is particularly pronounced for low-income mothers and mothers of color, who are the most likely to have unpredictable or inflexible work schedules.

Better that the kids who need it have access to consistent, supervised, and enriched time after classtime, don't you think?

[mcar]

128. I'm finding the rejection of this plan,

in many cases by people who haven't even read it, very discouraging on a Democratic board. We are supposed to care about people, even if we haven't had their experiences.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

51. Terrible idea.

[Act_of_Reparation]

52. Her solution is make the school day longer?

What in the actual fuck?

[PunkinPi]

92. Wrong...

Link to tweet

For Gods sake everyone Kamala Harris is not trying to make your kids go to school until 6 pm! She wants to fund aftercare programs of the kind that already exist in public schools with affluent PTAs.

[Act_of_Reparation]

94. Calling something by a different name doesn't change its essential nature.

Good effort, though.

[PunkinPi]

95. Her plan offers choice of extended hours and makes nothing mandatory. nt

[ehrnst]

57. A school for underserved kids where I lived tried to do this - to give those kids more services.

And the principal was shot down.

These kids needed that extra time in an environment where they could get enrichment activities.

[Demsrule86]

104. When I worked at a low income school in Connecticut...the problem was not enrichment but teaching

the basics. I think we should have more teachers and assistants in schools that are low income...and before and after school programs are helpful but expecting kids to hit the books 8 or 9 hours a day is not going to work. Also having more breakfast and lunch programs for poor kids would be huge and summer programs too...it is a disgrace that we have kids going hungry in this country. In the summer our community center hands out free lunches to any kids who needs one...no signing up and no income qualifications either...just feeding hungry kids. We had a couple that were only eating half their lunch...saving the other half for dinner...made my cry so we handed out extra food for those kids .

[ehrnst]

124. The kids in this school's parents work 3 jobs on average and many kids come in with a language

level - in ANY language - at the level of a three year old.

It's a school near an immigrant community from the african diaspora, and all of the caucasian parents for whom this is a neighborhood school have opted out to magnet schools. There is no PTA - just teachers who volunteer extra time to do things like have the school fair.

These kids need services as well as enrichment. Sending them home to the care of their older siblings wasn't going to give them that, so the principal managed to stagger the schedules of the teachers and teacher assistants to give many of those kids that extra 5 hours of week just to get them caught up both socially and academically.

[quakerboy]

60. No thanks

Set up a legislative plan that reduces "full time" to be more in line with the productivity increases of the decades since that was last changed, and increases employee compensation accordingly, and then parents (and everyone else) can be home in time to spend a few more hours a week with their children and other loved ones.

That would be a program to write home about.

Not a plan to acclimatise kids to the idea they should be putting in longer hours to get ready for working undercompensated jobs once they get older

[oasis]

63. Just what we need, school buses added to rush hour traffic.

[mcar]

67. For Gods sake everyone Kamala Harris is not trying to make your kids go to school until 6 pm!

Link to tweet

?s=19


Michelle Goldberg
✔
@michelleinbklyn
For Gods sake everyone Kamala Harris is not trying to make your kids go to school until 6 pm! She wants to fund aftercare programs of the kind that already exist in public schools with affluent PTAs.

[mcar]

68. National League of Cities endorses Harris planlan

Link to tweet

?s=19


National League of Cities
✔
@leagueofcities
.@KamalaHarris's Family Friendly Schools Act is an important step in supporting America's working families. Better aligning school & work schedules will help community #economicgrowth & #childdevelopment in cities, towns and villages across the country

[whistler162]

69. Here is a article on school years world wide

https://www.infoplease.com/world/world-statistics/school-years-around-world

One issue I have with eliminating the two-month or less period of no students at the school is maintenance and construction. In 8 years of working in school districts the two months in the summer are some of the busiest days around. Cleaning crews clearing out classrooms to give them a thorough cleaning. Repairing infrastructure and installing new computer-related equipment(my area).

School of some kind until 6 pm may not be practical if it takes 45 or more minutes to get students of all ages home. For example school lets out at 2:30 pm or so for Elementary students and after 3pm for MS/HS students. When I leave at 3:30pm I pass a bus, probably MS/HS students, at about the 1/2 point in my 32 mile trip from the same school district. So some students would be getting home at 6:45pm or later and still likely have some homework/chores to do before getting up to get a 7 A.M. or earlier bus. That doesn't take in to account winter which can be a little bit of an issue in my area of the U.S..

[mcar]

74. My nephew lives in Switzerland

He is in university now. He had school year round, 8 hours a day. They had quarterly breaks, 2-3 weeks long. I assume that's when the maintenance crews did their work.

The schools had no cafeteria; kids took public transpo home for lunch or, when they were older, went to a restaurant.

He's studying forestry in college and doing very well.

I think winter is an issue in Switzerland too.

[boomer_wv]

81. We should

take the entire month of January off from school. There are already a lot of missed time in that month for bad weather. It would also cut down on one of the biggest vectors for the spread of flu. We can expect flu to kill 50,000~ Americans each year. January and February are typically the peak of flu season and schools are some of the best places for it to spread. Pediatric deaths are pretty rare, but those kids interact with plenty of elderly people, and elderly flu deaths are much more common.

So, trading some summer time off for winter time off would probably save a few thousand lives a year, minimum.

[whistler162]

91. Old article or incorrect article?

https://www.expatfocus.com/switzerland/guide/education-schools

"School hours always include a lunch break. That means, after a few hours of morning classes, usually two hours between 08:00 and 12:00, kids are free until lunch time and are able to go home to eat it. Most of the schools and kindergartens are closed during this time. After the two hours of lunch time, children go back for another two hours of classes. In older classes children might have additional lessons before 08:00 and after 15:00. The school year starts between mid-August and mid-September, has two terms or semesters and around 12 weeks’ holiday a year, including the summer holidays which last for 10 weeks. The exact dates differ depending on the canton the school is located in."

[comradebillyboy]

72. Most teachers get really tired of being experimented on by politicians. At least

that was the general feeling when I was a teacher. When Gary Johnson was governor of NM he tried to push through an extra two hours a day for the public schools. Like every other republican he didn't want to pay teachers for the extra hours.

[mcar]

73. It's not about teachers

Read the proposal. Teachers wouldn't be working those extra hours, unless they wanted to for extra pay.

My SO works extra hours tutoring. A teacher friend waits tables 4 nights a week. Maybe they'd like the choice of being paid to stay at school and help kids with math, or start a running club, or a board game group.

[nini]

77. Since I actually read the article and would have loved this program when I was a single mom

..this is a wonderful idea. Having daycare at the school so you don't have to worry about your kid going home alone or figuring a way to have them picked up for other day care would have been a godsend for me.

Too bad others aren't taking the time to actually read what this is about. Typical American problem - shitty headlines and lazy 'readers'.

[mcar]

96. Thanks nini

[Music Man]

78. There's a lot of sense in this proposal, but it has to be framed and approached VERY carefully.

If the emphasis is on "funding and research for after-school and enrichment programs," that's a winner. If she and the bill's supporters use the language of "extending the school day," the ideas are dead on arrival.

Such endeavors must absolutely be voluntary. Some parents are able to pick up students in the afternoon, and there's some school work that kids can just as well as do at home.

Pilot studies and strategies to customize these programs with each community will also be important, because there are so many logistics involved beyond just inviting community members in to work with students or paying teachers more to voluntarily teach extra hours. Later hours mean that custodians have to be on site longer to lock up or clean when said groups are finished. Will school nurses stay the full time? What about special needs aides? Since I presume not every student needs to stay until 6:00 p.m. to align with their parents' work schedules, how efficient can bus routes really be for a handful of kids?

Aligned with the work day or not, there is some sense to the official school day ending before 4:00. It's time enough to offer voluntary after-school activities, after school events like concerts or ballgames don't have to happen too late, teachers can grade or work with students and still get home at a reasonable hour to see their families and actually have a life. It seems to me that the discussion needs to be around serving families rather than a sweeping overhaul of school hours. I teach high school, and I get nervous when I hear phrases like "modernizing the school day."

[liberalmuse]

79. Cut work hours to match school hours, but don't cut pay.

Extending school hours is not the way to do this.

[nini]

80. So if you live in a city like LA and have a crappy commute

You'd need a 3-4 hour workday.. Not rational.

[whistler162]

90. All except teachers and support staff...

<SHRUG> they just need to tough it out.

[Kaleva]

89. Freepers aren't supportive of Senator Harris's proposal

"More time to indoctrinate the children in the evils of capitalism and the wonders of communism."


"1) Get more indoctrinating in per day.

2) Funnel more of OUR money to Dem money-laundering NEA members.

3) Make kids think the goobermint is their parent and their mom is the au pair....and

4) Pander to dem voters by dispensing "free" daycare "


"More baby sitting for Los Illegales!

3 meals for free, and de gringos will pay for it!

Yee hah!"


"Oh, yay. Subject kids to more bullying, away from their families in a hostile environment. There is nothing like government sanctioned child abuse to turn those kids into maladjusted leftists."


"the ineligible scam artist candidate should learn that in America the federal government is NOT supposed to run our local schools"


"This would be horrible for kids - accommodating their school day to parents’ work day is ridiculous.

Maybe people shouldn’t have kids, unless one parent can be truly dedicated to the child, and home when the kid gets home."


"FedGov has no say in this matter.

Kamalalala is not just ineligible, she’s stupid."


"Her position perfectly encapsulates the imbecility of the supposedly omni-competent state.

Put children more and more under the control of public authorities with all the efficiency of the USPS and all the compassion of the DMV.

It deserves to be said by 10,000 voices, 10,000 times. Get your kids and grandkids out of these damned Soviet day-orphanages known as public schools. "

There are lots more like the above.

[Demsrule86]

106. What is your point? That if we disagree with this plan, we are 'freepers'? How about I don't want

kids stuck at school for eight or nine hours...and parents need to spend time with their kids too...how about I see better uses for this money than catering to unfair job practices...let's re form employment instead.

[PunkinPi]

93. Here's a supportive twitter video, which explains Kamala's proposal.

Link to tweet

I'm appalled at the backlash to #KamalaHarris's school funding proposal bc y'all read a tweet not the bill. Y'all would be wise to READ #Kamala's proposals bc she offers DIRECT support not trickle down structural change.
Start here with 50 things
⬇️
#KHive
https://link.medium.com/VeW9CgTOb1

[jcgoldie]

111. Many schools release at 3:30 and kids get home as late as 5 PM on the bus

Keeping the school open until 6 pm is ridiculous given the realities of public school transportation.

[mcar]

113. Wouldn't it be better for those kids to be in some kind of quality after-care program

and then get picked up by their parents at 5, rather than sitting on a bus for 2 hours?

[jcgoldie]

116. Maybe

But the more likely effect will be that attendance will fall precipitously especially among children from lower income families who can least afford to miss school, because parents will not get them to and from school without busing.

[mcar]

118. It would only be after school

But yes, that could be a problem for some families. Others, however, could greatly benefit.

Again, this program would not be mandatory. If a kid needs to ride a bus home for 2 hours because the parent can't get him/her from after care, that's what it would be. So attendance wouldn't fall at all - nothing would change for those families.

I find it so discouraging that this is being received with such negativity. This is a modest proposal that might help working class families. While other candidates - and we - battle over huge structural programs like M4A, I find it encouraging that at least one candidate is looking at other needs of our fellow citizens.

[Ilsa]

119. My husband used to pick up my son from school on his way home from

work. He usually had to wait for him.

Kids need the after-school hours for extra-curricular practices, etc.

[mcar]

120. Yes, they do

The idea that most kids come right home from school just isn't true anymore.

Some kids are doing extra-curriculars like sports or music. Others might need tutoring. Still others could be learning a language, or to cook, or doing their homework and hanging with their friends.

I like this proposal because it seems very flexible. Communities could structure the programs to meet their students' needs.

[rainy]

126. SHORTEN THE WORK DAY!!! Thats the modern realistic solution. Education is not babysitting. Finland

gets it right:

https://bigthink.com/mike-colagrossi/no-standardized-tests-no-private-schools-no-stress-10-reasons-why-finlands-education-system-in-the-best-in-the-world

[PunkinPi]

127. Here are some actual working parents view the Family Friendly Schools Act...

Link to tweet

Twitter is always a ridiculous pile of #hottakes. This week was no exception.
Here's how *actual* working parents view the Family Friendly Schools Act. Watch it.