Shortening the School Year is Not the Answer

Shortening the School Year is Not the Answer:

By Janet Frieling, Network Director

I read with interest the article in the Seattle times the other day saying that Washington school superintendents are pushing for a shorter school year as a budget fix. In a recent study published by The Education Trust-West, and other groups such as RAND, The National Center on Time and Learning, shortening the school calendar has dramatic impacts on those children and youth who are already struggling. Yes, times are tough and budget decisions need to reflect these unique times, but do we really want to sacrifice the ability of thousands of Washington’s children to make a livable wage?

Low income children and youth and children of color are more likely to suffer if this approach is taken. Not all families in our state will be able to supplement additional learning opportunities for their children and youth if the school year is shortened. For many, this extra time may translate to more time in front of a TV or video game, or more time hanging out at the mall with friends. Is this really the best that we can do for our kids when research clearly shows us that more quality learning opportunities need to be made available to all children and youth to allow for experiential learning, increased social and emotional development, and more time to practice putting academic theory into daily practice.

The current school year calendar is already woefully inadequate in both of these areas-do we really want to reduce learning opportunities even more? Low income families will have to make tough choices and finding high quality activities for their children if the school calendar is shortened for extra learning options will not rise to the top of their list of “must fund” items.

Other states are actually looking at increasing school schedules by partnering with community based organizations to offer quality learning time in multiple settings-especially during the summer months. Across the world, the United States' instructional calendar is already one of the shortest. This solution will only cause our kids to fall further behind and the persistent achievement gap to widen at an even greater rate. Let’s look for other solutions to our budget crisis.

Via SOWA Live (So Alive!)