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Summer school vacation is a relic of the last century, when the labor from the whole family was necessary in the fields. Crops in the south mature at different times than crops in the north.
Now that children are no longer allowed to work in the fields, there should no longer be a summer break in their education.
What is becoming a driver, actually since NCLB, is that schools not meeting their goals in testing are required to enact additional programs to meet goals.
One of those is an expansion of the school year. Not the "year round school model" where the year is still 180 days with shorter breaks interspersed throughout the year but 200 or 220 days of school. Annapolis High School did that several years ago when they went into voluntary reconstitution (they would have been forced to reconstitute the next year so it was done a year early). The school day lengthened by an hour or two and they went to a 210 day (I think) year.
The move is to go to a longer year, both for testing but also because parents are demanding it for, I hate to say it, daycare reasons.
What a bummer.
I sure am glad I grew up in a kid-friendly era. No silly standardized tests to worry about, no fuss about the 180 days in a school year, etc.
Summer school vacation is a relic of the last century, when the labor from the whole family was necessary in the fields. Crops in the south mature at different times than crops in the north.
Now that children are no longer allowed to work in the fields, there should no longer be a summer break in their education.
So you think kids should be forced to slave away all summer long, huh? And I bet you think kids should be given 4 hours of homework a night, after 8 grueling hours in the classroom, with no recess and 2 days of PE a week.
I'm SO glad I was born in 1966. I got my childhood in while the going was still good. Maybe kids a 100 years from now will have it good too, but I ain't getting my hopes up.
I'd actually love to pay teachers more, implement year-round school with integrated study periods and additional fine arts courses at all grade levels, and do away with homework all together.
I don't think there's any rhyme or reason to it, but it does seem like it varies from one area of the country to another, by custom.
On the west coast, for years, long before NCLB, school has started after Labor Day and doesn't get out until some time in June. Also New York state, at least 20 some years ago when we lived there. Pennsylvania was like that when I was a kid, but now it seems not so much. We also got NO spring break, just Good Friday and Easter Monday. (Yes, I'm old.) Here in Colorado, with its "local control" policy, it seems most of the metro Denver districts start some time in August, and get out by late May. Frankly, I don't get it, b/c the weather in August is consistently hotter than the weather in early June.
My uninformed guess would be "year round schooling" to accommodate the many people flocking to the south that school schedules are stretched out to run an extra school term in.
Summer school vacation is a relic of the last century, when the labor from the whole family was necessary in the fields. Crops in the south mature at different times than crops in the north.
Now that children are no longer allowed to work in the fields, there should no longer be a summer break in their education.
Where is the funding going to come from to fund year around school?
Many districts got a hard time funding a 9 month schedule.
Where is the funding going to come from to fund year around school?
Many districts got a hard time funding a 9 month schedule.
Year round school does not need to cost more than a regular schedule depending on how it is set up. For most places, year round school simply spreads out the breaks throughout the year instead of having a long summer break. Intersessions may be set up to handle kids who need extra time or enrichment during breaks, but they do not *have* to be.
Also, it is more efficient for the school building to be used year round. You could rent out the classrooms to community organizations during breaks and generate revenue. These schools may even be less expensive since if they do multitrack, you avoid having to add more school buildings to accomodate a growing population.
The primary motivation for many schools and districts in adopting year-round schedules, and particularly multi-track schedules, may be financial, as these schedules can lead to reduced costs. The California Department of Education’s Year-Round Education Program Guide, for instance, highlights some cost savings of year-round education:
Avoided Costs: capital outlay for additional facilities; avoided extra‐site operation and staffing, including classified, certificated, and administrative personnel, furniture, supplies and equipment, utilities and maintenance, and transportation.
Potential Savings: additional average daily attendance (ADA) generated; shared materials (library, computer, audio visual, science resources, textbooks); benefits (calculated on a 12‐month basis for most employees), reduced absenteeism (additional ADA and decreased requests for substitute teachers); and decreased vandalism.
So you think kids should be forced to slave away all summer long, huh? And I bet you think kids should be given 4 hours of homework a night, after 8 grueling hours in the classroom, with no recess and 2 days of PE a week.
I'm SO glad I was born in 1966. I got my childhood in while the going was still good. Maybe kids a 100 years from now will have it good too, but I ain't getting my hopes up.
Yes, there should be about four 2-week breaks during the year, and school the rest of the time. Kids forget too much over their long summer vacation, which puts them years behind. I also think elementary school students should get two recess play periods and a long lunch break every day. Two hours of homework a night is plenty for high school students. I would toughen PE requirements and make them grunt a little.
By the time you were in school, all you did in the summer was dink around and watch your brain cells rot. The real reason for the summer break was so you could spend 10 hours a day six days a week working in the fields. By the time you came along they had made that illegal.
So the kids can have one month when it's not 100F every day. You can't even go outside for much of July and August in Tx. Might as well be in school.
They should have "summer vacation" here from May-June.
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