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

[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/