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Tuesday, December 19, 2006

Let's hear it for year-round school

The Broward School Board is set to vote on the start of a school year. Under state law, Florida schools can't start any earlier than two weeks before Labor Day, so it pretty much limits the offerings to Aug. 20 and Aug. 27. That law was a result of lobbying by parents who witnessed the school year opening earlier and earlier to accommodate everything from FCATs to AP exams.
But really, why bother? Instead of figuring out a start date every few years, we should throw out the antiquated school year we have now -- designed for agrarian communities two centuries ago -- and go to year-round school. It makes a lot more sense academically to shorten the breaks from the classroom.

4 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Are you willing to pay educators for the extra 2 months of work?

It's bad enough that teachers' salaries are so low (compared with similarly educated careers) but now, you want 2 more months of work. How will they schedule their vacation times - since you are proposing that we work them during the summers - their traditional vacation time. Will subs be employed more often?

Do you really think that this will be good for the kids? Or is it just so parents save money on babysitters and camps duringt the summers, Spring Break, and Christmas break?

9:29 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

The most important thing in a child's development is to spend time with the family.

Are you shunning your own responsibilities as a parent?

We work kids hard enough; they deserve a break every once in a while instead of some broken up weeks throughout the year of worries about their upcoming semesters.

Year round schooling is crazy

2:19 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hm. You know, as a former attendant of a year-round school, I have to say I preferred it.

Every time you were fed up with work, drama, and your teachers, you got a nice three week vacation.

And the student body is divided into different segments on different schedules--I had tracks 1, 2, 3, and 4 at my school. Teachers vacationed with their respective tracks.

The teachers said they preferred it too. And they get paid more, so they don't have to scramble in the summer to make money.

Perhaps you should fully research things like this before you make statements that simply aren't true. People gripe about year-round, but they love it upon entering.

As for spending time with family...there's plenty of opportunity for that with year-round, especially since year-round schools tend to end earlier in the day and provide traditional vacation time at Christmas and Easter, times like that.

2:12 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Didn't work up here in Jacksonville. It was a complete flop!

Some children in same family were on one track while other children in family were on another track.

Police were unable to identify students not attending school.

Many teachers had classes "on a cart".

Children did not benefit. Students still only go to school 180 days per year.

Who was happy? No one!

6:17 PM  

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