454 elementary schools in Chicago. Only 13 have volunteered to participate in the longer day

[proud2BlibKansan]

CHICAGO - A confidential school-by-school analysis conducted by the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) reveals that teachers and other classroom professionals at 115 elementary schools voted down the longer school day waiver ballot proposed by the school board.
“These results demonstrate that most union members clearly favor taking the appropriate time necessary to carefully plan for delivering the rich and broad curriculum that our students deserve,” said CTU President Karen GJ Lewis. “This longer school day initiative is just another experiment in a long line of experiments over the last two decades.”

There is no strong evidence indicating that student achievement will rise if the school year is lengthened. CTU maintains it is the quality not the quantity of instruction that matters.
CPS CEO Jean-Claude Brizard’s “longer school day,” initiative is a rebranding of a similar program offered by the Daley administration, then called “Additional Learning Opportunities (ALO).” On August 25, 2010 the Board of Education approved Resolution 10-0825-RS3 which authorized CPS to increase student learning hours in designated schools by requiring students to attend a mandatory 90 additional minutes per day for five days per week, or as otherwise scheduled. At the time Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley said the ALO program costs were expected to exceed $10 million. To date, the Board has not provided taxpayers or educators with an assessment of the extended learning time experiment.

Ever since CPS began its recent aggressive public relations campaign to force schools to endorse its longer school day ideology, CTU phones have been flooded with calls from concerned teachers who said they had “received no training or in-service as to how the 90 additional minutes were to be used,” according to one grievance report.

At Henry H. Nash Elementary School, 4837 W. Erie Street, though CTU attorneys declared the vote null-and-void because a school bus driver was asked to break a tie of 14 to 14 in favor of the extended day, the K-thru-8 campus will go to an extended schedule from 8:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. After school programs could see children as young as seven walking home in the winter months well after 6:00 p.m.

more . . . http://ednotesonline.blogspot.com/2011/09/there-are-454-elementary-schools-in.html

[dkf]

1. Well now we have a test case.

[msanthrope]

9. For what? It goes city-wide next year. nt

[TBF]

2. Our elementary school is 8:00-3:00 currently -

if children are walking home after 6:00 pm it is their parents' work schedule, not the fault of the schools. Perhaps the parents should pick up their children on the way home?

[proud2BlibKansan]

3. Perhaps the parents don't have cars

:shrug:

[TBF]

4. I don't see how that is the fault of the schools or longer hours?

:shrug:

But I would be in favor of subsidized buses - I know in our district there is a certain perimeter & if you live within a certain distance of the school you have to pay for bus service. I know it's a pipe dream in this climate, but those buses should be free (subsidized by tax payers). Weather, safety, etc...

[madfloridian]

5. Ah, that reminds me. I hear Rahm said they all will do it next year ....or ELSE

Gotta find that article. The ones that did were bribed to go anti-union.

[AngryAmish]

7. State law says longer school day in mandatory next year.

edited because I'm too stupid to spell.

[AngryAmish]

6. I was talking to a union rep about this on Sunday

Rahm wants the kids off the streets until later in the day. Teachers don't want to be babysitters and think of the longer school day as a cut in pay. As it stands many schools have their day end at 2:15. It is going to be pushed back.

[msanthrope]

8. I think a school ought to be open longer than 6 hours. I find it incredible that according to the

OP, teachers are wondering what they would be doing for the 'extra' 90 minutes.

Seriously.

[Withywindle]

10. I find it kind of bizarre too.

The public schools I went to in another state never let out before 3:30, IIRC. We had a full day of classes and were always trying to cram in more.

[proud2BlibKansan]

11. This isn't about the longer day

It's about how Rahm is going about the process of lengthening the day.

[Withywindle]

12. Oh, I know.

And that is so totally wrong, I'm with you on that.

[joeglow3]

14. How the eff did they get down to a 6 hour school day?

That is insane and should never have been accepted.

[proud2BlibKansan]

15. It's perfectly reasonable for kids who go home to help on the farm

and for kids who have football practice after school.

[joeglow3]

17. Bullshit aaaaaand bullshit.

1. Not too many kids in Chicago working the farm and,

2. Football is an extra activity that does NOT take the place of classroom time. I played 6 years of football (4 years at a college prep school) and NEVER had less than 7 hours in the school day.

In short, it is a bullshit policy that should NEVER have been accepted by the parents or the students.

[proud2BlibKansan]

19. The reason the day is the length it is goes back 100 years

When our economy was agriculture based and most of our children were needed at home on the farm, the length of day and summers off were set for the convenience of families. And they have remained that way. Perhaps because no one other than you has declared bullshit.
:)

[joeglow3]

22. I can assure in my experience in Nebraska, that is NOT the case

Amazing how the people here can adapt, yet Chicago is stuck in the 1800's. Maybe someone needs to clue them into the fact that we are in 2011. And, they sit their in wonder as we get our asses handed to us by countries that realize 6 hours in the classroom is not enough.

So, if it is not bullshit, then it is negligent ignorance on the part of Chicago residents and employees.

[proud2BlibKansan]

24. Lots of kids are in school for 6 hours.

That's not at all unusual.

[joeglow3]

26. Hence why we perform like shit against the rest of the world.

[JVS]

28. Germany manages to kick our ass at academic tests with a 8AM-Noon school day.

[mopinko]

29. this was an issue in the election, and the voters spoke loud

and clear. this issue had strong support, even tho rahm said every time that it was going to cost money and teachers deserved to be paid for it.

all he's doing is trying to get schools to do the right thing before the law comes down. this is a state law that takes effect next year.

[madfloridian]

13. Teachers don't oppose a longer day. They oppose anti-union bribery...

and they oppose the push to get it through without saying what Rahm wants to do with it. More test practice or what?

http://gapersblock.com/mechanics/2011/09/07/a-one-man-stimulus-package/

"Talk about a sudden reversal of fortune. On June 15, Mayor Emanuel's hand-picked Board of Education voted (unanimously, of course) against paying CPS teachers the 4% contractual raises they were scheduled to receive this year. At that time, the board claimed it did not have "a reasonable expectation" of finding the money -- roughly $80 million -- to cover those raises.

What a difference a couple of months make. On Tuesday, CPS CEO J.C. Brizard became a one-man stimulus package, offering to pay each of the city's 482 elementary schools $150,000, if the teachers at those schools quickly agree to extend the length of the school day by 90 minutes. If all the schools sign on, Brizard's so-called "incentive" payments will add up to about $72 million.

But just in case $72 million isn't enough to seal the deal, Brizard is also offering each of the roughly 13,600 teachers at those elementary schools a lump-sum payment of $1250 -- you know, just to show he cares. That's another $17 million in newly discovered greenbacks.

As you can see, things change in a hurry around here. One minute, the board can't come up with $80 million for previously-agreed-to raises; the next thing you know, Brizard and his team are gearing up to hand out $89 million as if they were CIA agents stationed in Kabul, using cash-filled suitcases to curry favor with local officials. (Condolences to the city's high school teachers, who get left out in the cold this go-round. Maybe you guys are just affiliated with the wrong warlords.)"

[LeftyMom]

16. Kindergarteners going to school 8-3:30? My high school day wasn't that long.

Our school day in high school was 8:15-3:05, and my energy level and attention span were shot by the end of that last class (especially when it was math.) How on earth are four and five year olds expected to manage that long? Did whoever dreamed that up ever deal with even one five year old for that long?

I went to an award winning, very well-regarded elementary school- like all schools in the district we had half-day kindergarten. The rest of 1-6th grades went from 8-2 or 8:45-2:45 (the staggered start was for smaller reading or math classes.) My classmates and I were years ahead of expectations and scoring in the 99th percentile on state testing on that schedule.

Keeping kids in class beyond their age-appropriate ability to concentrate is not just a waste of time, it's actively counterproductive. Besides, a quick glance around should tell anybody with a lick of sense that today's kids need more running around time, not more time in chairs.

[Pisces]

18. They don't know what to do with an extra 90 minutes???? How about longer discussions with more

participation from students in geography, science, literature ( this alone could take all afternoon in a true discussion of a book). What kind of nonsense are we arguing. Maybe they could give them an extra 10 minutes at lunch so the children aren't choking down their food, because the lunch time has been shortened to accommodate the classroom time. Of all of the dumb arguments, what to do with 90 minutes.

[proud2BlibKansan]

20. Yes that will work well in kindergarten

:eyes:

[Pisces]

21. Wow, we can't modify one grade? Grades 1-12 should be subject to kindergardeners? Still not answerin

the question. Teachers don't know what to do with the extra 90 minutes???? I gave a few suggestions, i can't imagine teachers can't figure it out. Of all things to complain about this seems ridiculous.

[proud2BlibKansan]

23. First of all, it's kindergarTen

And no it's not up to the teachers to decide how to spend the extra time. That decision is made by the state and district administration.

Perhaps you should develop a better understanding of how public education works. You're jumping to a lot of false conclusions here.

[Pisces]

25. Good thing you are a teacher and able to catch my sp. errors. The outrage on this issue is

overblown. Schools do need more time, lunch is way to short. Children do not have enough time to eat. Math, Reading, Science, Geography, History could all use an extra 18 to 20 minutes. Especially with the class size expanding due to less teachers. Is 18 min. extra something that needs to be scheduled and discussed how to use???

You lose credibility when you are up in arms over every single change. You sound like a republican that just wants to say no to everything because you don't like the person proposing the change.

[proud2BlibKansan]

30. Once again. Teachers don't make these decisions.

You have a lack of knowledge to back up your opinion. Accusing ME of losing credibility and telling me I sound like a republican is not working for you.

This issue isn't about lengthening the school day. It's about Rahm bulldozing it through in an attempt to bust the union. The teachers don't oppose lengthening the day. They oppose Rahm's tactics to get it done. This isn't that hard to understand.

[JVS]

27. Long school days are our country's way of dealing with lack of affordable daycare.

Little kids are already barely functional by the end of a 6 hour day. They'll be total messes by the end of a 9 hour day.