Re: FHSD- Middle School Wednesday Early Release Day Proposal

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My kids school is having a meeting now to supply information as
to why they are increasing the early release days and late
start days to accomodate more teacher planning days. This is a
bunch of hogwash, to put it nicely. I live in a small community
and I'm telling you it is going to impact our family greatly. I
can't hardly afford to pay the before/after school care I have.
The economy is in the pits so raises or better jobs are out of
the question. The states get into trouble and the first thing
that happens is they cut out kids educational hours, which is
not nearly enough as it is. Do you know that the foreign
students that come over here for college are so far ahead us
that it's embarrasing. Oregon state wanted teachers to work for
1 or 2 days a month without pay... that raised a big stink and
they refused, but oh give them a chance to take more time not
teaching... they grabbed at that...

Our educational system here in the U.S. is so far in the sewer
that our hope lies with Arne Duncans future plans of revamping
the system, extending school hours and comeing closer to other
countries educational standards.

On 12/20/08, Our school has early release every Friday -- 1
hour. wrote:
> We are a small district in a small community and the parents
> haven't indicated it is a burden on them.
>
>
>
> On 12/17/08, Julie wrote:
>> Hello All!
>>
>> My son is a 5th Grader in the Francis Howell School
>> District. Recently I received a letter from his school
>> about the District wanting to shorten his Wednesday's by
>> 45 minutes every week, next year in Middle School for
>> teacher planning and collaboration with other teachers
>> with regard to the NCLB. I understand the District is
>> giving parents an opportunity to learn more about this
>> proposal and give feedback in January 2009. I plan to
>> attend. However, I have concerns that I'm not quite sure
>> how to articulate in a large group Q & A presentation
>> style setting. So I'd like to open a discussion about it
>> here with what I'm currently thinking. You may not agree
>> with my views and that's fine, but I am looking for a way
>> to support the proposal that will sit easier on my mind.
>>
>> I understand it is important for Teachers to collaborate,
>> I don't understand why this should take place during my
>> child's school time hours every Wednesday of the school
>> week. Why not once a month? As there are already early
>> release days throughout the school year for which the
>> children miss for teacher improvement, meetings, etc.,
>> sometimes twice a month. Four times a month for this one
>> purpose just seems to be excessive to me and an un-
>> necessary weekly burden on parents and students when the
>> school day for Middle School Teachers could be extended to
>> allow for such meetings on those days or a little every
>> day, rather than taking that "learning time" away from my
>> child in larger chunks every week.
>>
>> I also understand that teachers deserve to be paid for the
>> things they do to help our children district wide, but I
>> personally don't see how taking away 3 hours of learning
>> time per month from these children will make a positive
>> impact on the NCLB or my child's individual learning
>> performance in school by the District expecting parent's
>> to fork out an extra $80.00 per month permanently on after
>> school childcare per month. I'd rather see the District
>> work this extra money into their budget for teachers if it
>> truly is necessary. Furthermore, some of these children
>> may be released from school to homes without supervision
>> because the parent's can't afford to pay for that
>> additional childcare. Possibly increasing the chances of
>> some of them getting into some kind of trouble because
>> they are not in school.
>>
>> I can't help but feel that the negative impact to our
>> student's education and family life may be far greater
>> than the positive one here, when time learning is being
>> taken away from them for "administrative purposes" that
>> can be carried out by teachers for 10 minutes each morning
>> or afternoon before school starts or ends for the day for
>> the students.
>>
>> I feel that the current proposal interrupts the student
>> learning process every week and causes possible family
>> hardship that could result in parents feeling forced to
>> support a proposal that could be better thought out
>> without the children having to lose valuable time each
>> week from the classroom.
>>
>> Can someone explain this to me in a way that will help me
>> understand the benefit of taking additional learning time
>> away from my child and giving it to teachers who, from
>> what I understand, already plan and teach lessons that
>> correspond to what the other teachers are teaching in
>> their respective subjects so the children understand how
>> they all connect to one another and learn more
>> productively? I mean if this model of educating our
>> children is currently being planned, used and analyzed by
>> teachers within the time frame already allotted to them
>> and it seems to be working on the Middle School level,
>> then what is the extra time really needed for?
>>
>> Any insight into this subject by current FHSD teachers or
>> concerned parents would be greatly appreciated.
>>
>> Thanks in advance for your thoughts!
>>
>>

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