What would 5 fewer days mean for students?
| Thursday, Jan 29 2009 09:47 PM
Last Updated Friday, Mar 27 2009 12:57 PM
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With a schedule crowded by mandated tests, the seniors in Liberty High English teacher Adam Bishop’s college prep classes already won't have time to read "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" or "The Grapes of Wrath" this year.
Another book or perhaps a poetry section may have to go next if Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s budget proposal to lop five days from the 2009 school calendar — or about 3 percent of the year — is enacted.
Teachers are resigned. School administrators oppose it. So do 63 percent of Californians, according to a Public Policy Institute of California poll released this week.
But it would save the state $1.1 billion, or about 4 percent of the state’s projected budget shortfall for mid-2010.
Most districts teach 180 days in a calendar year. For freshman, eight or 10 of those are eaten up by finals and standardized tests, said Bishop.
At Arvin High, less time means less chance to bring students up to appropriate reading levels, said English department Chairwoman Cynthia Brakeman.
“If we look at the population of Kern County, there's a huge percentage of students who don't have books at home. So where's their experience? — that's in my classroom,” said Brakeman, who said five fewer days probably means one less book.
Under the governor’s proposal, school districts would not be required to drop five days, but the attendant revenue cut might force the issue. Districts could reduce days at any point in the school year.
Schwarzenegger's office said he got the idea from district superintendents who said it would be better than other kinds of cuts, according to a Los Angeles Timesstory.
Districts with healthy reserves might be able to cover the loss in revenue and teach a full schedule. Others would have to cut days.
Cutting days brings up the thorny issue of re-negotiating teacher contracts. The state has not provided guidance on the issue.
Also unclear is a district’s responsibility to fulfill the number of instructional minutes the state requires in the school year.
“It's just another band-aid approach,” said Michael Turnipseed, director of the Kern County Taxpayers Association. “It does not address anything, it just gives the kids less time in the classroom, and less time to be prepared. The adults need to design a system that works.”
Other local school officials are also none too pleased.
“There are only two other states with a longer school year than we have. Why take a step backwards?” said Rosedale Union School District Superintendent Jamie Henderson.
“Here's the big frustration for teachers,” said Mitch Olson, president of the Kern High School Teachers Association. “Sacramento seems to be fine with chopping off the resources, but there doesn't seem to be any discussion of loosening the accountability requirements we teach within.”
If there are fewer days next year, teachers will do what they do best: make it work.
“We'll make whatever happens, happen, but ... it’s harder to maintain any kind of academic rigor,” Bishop said.
