Four Day School Week: Illinois

[yellowwood]

I could hardly believe that our Illinois representatives would vote 81-21 to allow school districts to operate just four days a week. It's not a mandate, but what a hare-brained idea! The representatives managed to go bi-partisan on this one.

Sure, our schools are doing "a heck of a job" with five days a week. Why not cut them back to four? Or three?

Maybe my local school won't do it, but I don't want to see it done anywhere!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/23/illinois-schools-could-tu_n_509802.html

[Fumesucker]

1. It's going to be really popular with working parents..

They will get to cut back to a four day week too so they can watch their kids..

Or maybe even a no day week..

[Dappleganger]

2. Did they cut back state gov't to four days a week?

Isn't it horrible that the first programs cut in a recession always have to do with children, old people and the poor.

[MadHound]

3. Cheating an entire generation out of their rightful education

Between this, and teachers' firings and NCLB and RTTT, it seems as though the real purpose of education these days is to raise a generation of uneducated people while simultaneously extracting as much money as possible from the public school system. So much for change.

[KharmaTrain]

4. I Knew Where It'd Going To Be Done...

A downstate school district my daughter teaches at. A sad state overall there as the area was the target of relocating many Section 8s from Chicago (having a max security prison being the largest "employer" of the area) and then left the town and district to fend for itself. The school would end up on the wrong side of NCLB and see its funding drastically cut and many teachers were let go. Now the area's even more depressed...property and retail taxes have tanked and there's no money from the state to help. What's a district to do? Ask the teachers to work for free? While the richer districts cut sports and extra ciricular activities, my daughter's school is cutting basic supplies and services...making do with less and less. We have an educational crisis among many of the other time bombs exploding throughout our broke society.

[surrealAmerican]

5. They would still be getting the same number of hours per school year ...

... but even so, this is a bad idea. It will leave poor, working parents scrambling for childcare, and a longer school day is not much of a benefit for younger students.

[yellowwood]

6. Call Your Illinois Senator

It has already passed the house in Illinois. Now it goes to the Senate. Someone has to stand up for the children.