Post-Labor Day start is great but what about all
those school holidays?
As a working single parent, it's difficult enough to get my children to and from school every day with my work schedule. That task is made nearly impossible by arbitrary days off, sometimes in the middle of the week, and extended holiday and spring breaks, which is why I support Gov. Larry Hogan for finally bringing some predictability to my children's school schedule ("Labor Day madness," Aug. 30).
When schools have administrative days off or require parent-teacher conferences to be done during the school day, I am often forced to miss work, which hurts my ability to provide for my children, or on the flip side, I struggle to find child care at the last minute.
I hope that school boards will work with parents for a change when they create their new calendars to ensure they make sense for students and families as well as teachers and school administrators.
Briana Capuano, Lusby
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13 comments:
Stop having so many children or put them in private school where they will actually learn something and the holidays/days off are fixed.
3:58. Private school is not the answer to this problem ( I had two children in private and one in public). The public school schedule is nonsense with all of the teacher work days. Get rid of them all. They are unnecessary. Either use that time to shorten the school year or give a spring break that is not tied to Easter when prices are insane. You are right about the fact that the education in private schools is FAR better than public. I feel sorry for the generation coming up through the public school system now.
I suspect that most teachers couldn't tell you what all their special days off or for. It's just baggage their union picked up along the trail. The teachers already get the whole summer off. Make them work a full week during the school year.
I guess you have an advanced degree in school admin and are sofa king smarter than those that have been hired to run the schools. Stop whining.
The infamous PD days are rearing their ugly heads once again. Yes, most teachers loathe them, because they are missing instruction time in their classrooms for small group work with other teachers. Most teachers do not like them because they offer no new strategies at this point in the common core curriculum, which I thought was the basis of them years ago; to implement the new way of teaching as it was handed down from the powers that be. I have ask many times, what exactly goes on, on these PD days? Only to hear, grumbling from the admins and teachers.
I believe in my whole heart that most teachers in this county really want to teach, to make a difference. These ridiculous days off for professional development is not warranted and only creating tension between parents and the BOE. I believe that once the teachers unions were needed, today they are not, the collect their dues while not listening to their constituents (teachers)
My suggestion for next years calendar would be to really make the instruction time consistent. Teachers's convention? How many really go? Make the CE classes available on Saturday or Sunday, show the communities that instruction is important. Winter break? Not enough time to argue the 2 weeks off, while only having 2 days in the spring. It is ludicrous to have all those days off 3 mos into the school year.
I believe that the order that came down from the governor is an OPPORTUNITY to bring common sense to our school calendars. Lets not squander it.
4:46 That kind of thinking is part of the problem. Our public schools are a joke....even with all the "advanced degrees".
I have many friends who are teachers in grades 4-12. Many of these friends teach in other states than Maryland and they all have commented on the high number of professional, educational days the teachers here have off. They don't get as many and their school year runs starting the second week in August and ending the Thursday before Memorial Day. They have the friday before Easter week, and have friday before Christmas and return after New Year's off. They manage to get their scores recorded for report cards before the last minute rush, they meet with parents in the evening after school and if necessary will schedule another evening session so parents don't miss work or need to lose pay by taking time off work. Their school boards approved the changes many years ago and has been working well for teachers, children and parents.
If other states can be progressive in this approach, why with all the money Wicomico County residents pay in school taxes can't this school board do the same thing? The only answers are, the union runs the school board and dictates policy, or the teachers like having the extra days off and the free meals as their personal perps for babysitting. In both cases, it is a sad commentary on the school system and the quality of the education received.
I firmly believe in private and charter schools for a better quality education. The kids receive a better education, have more motivated teachers that actually teach reading, math, and science. The time is better spent educating and instructing and the proof is in the well-rounded student who is actually there to learn and explore rather than see how much disturbance they can be to others.
Most of my friends teach in other states and also have the best drugs.
Teachers need to submit to random drug test, lie detector test psychological and backgrounds. It's good enough for law enforcement should be good enough for a person in direct contact with kids.. To think its not makes me sick.
A calendar. How hard can that be?
way to many inservice days. couldn't they do that over the summer? aren't they being paid for a full year even though they only work 9 months? seems reasonable to me. but then again I'm not a liberal pos union democrat!
Just cut out three of the twenty teacher work days. Problem solved.
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