4 day school week?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's terrible. My brother and his family live in a district that went to a 4-day school week due to budget shortfalls and it's miserable for working parents. No onsite care provided on the day off either -- you're on your own. Most of the families in this district have two working parents, and it's common for parents to do hourly and shift work. In some ways that can make it easier (you and your spouse just take different days off so that someone can be home with your kids on Friday when there is no school) but the reality is that it means families are stretched thin with less leisure time. Plus they have the same learning loss issues everyone has from Covid, so I know my brother and SIL also feel more pressure to be doing more academic enrichment with fewer days in the classroom and concerns about reading levels and math acquisition from a year of virtual and a poorly managed hybrid schedule.

It's an example of how we are just abandoning families. My SIL and I have talked about feeling like we had kids under false pretenses, as people who had children between 2014 and 2018. It never occurred to me when I chose to have kids that my kids might only go to school 4 days a week or that there would be literally no open daycare spots because they changed the regulations for daycares and it eliminated hundreds of available spaces in the neighborhood (which happened to us). Our school aftercare literally doubled in cost when they switched vendors. It feels like it only gets worse and never better.

I had kids in 2015, 2017, and 2021 and feel this a lot too. Like the rug got pulled out from under us all in 2020. I tell friends just having kids now that it’s so much harder with my 2021 baby than my older 2. Daycare/preschool is harder to find due to places closing and/or reducing hours or staffing. Extended day staffing has gone down so there are fewer spots for kids after school. Even the cost of babysitters has skyrocketed. The only thing that thankfully hasn’t seen to go up by crazy amounts is summer camps for some reason (maybe due to an abundance of college kids to hire?).

Also things like pediatrician appointments are harder to get because people need to be seen in person for return to school notes over things they wouldn’t have gone to see a doctor for otherwise (thankfully this seems to be easing up, but was awful 2020-2022).

The burden of raising kids is largely on families and then society is like why aren’t people having kids?! Oh no, there won’t be enough workers to pay into SS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:School personnel here --we are not babysitters.

I would love a 4-day week. My cousin has taught in 2 districts with 4 days weeks -- no burnout, everyone loves it.

You are responsible for your own children.

The law requires us to send our kids to school until they’re 16.

Kids go to school. Adults work. That’s how society works.

We’re not asking you to deal with our kids on the weekends. We’re asking you to provide an education for them during the goddamn workweek.

See how good it did y’all to scream about ‘lazy’ teachers in 2020. You guys will never learn.

See how calling parents idiots that do not care for their own children now has schools and teachers under a microscope? We knew you were all bottom of the barrel prior to the pandemic, but seeing it on an endless loop in Zoom for almost two years was shocking to say the least.
This is like all they eyes on bad policing - we are in the process clearing out the bad apples.

DP. I don't agree that teachers are 'bottom of the barrel', but I do think seeing school for 1.5 years did indeed make me (as a parent) much more concerned about my kids' education.

I also think hurling teacher v. parent insults (both sides) is not really going to get us anywhere.

I worked even more hours during Covid trying to find out how to translate my curriculum to an online format. I watched a coworker conduct Chemistry labs by using common household items that students could gather at their laptops. I watched another perform an entire Shakespearean play online, complete with costumed students and creative student-made digital backgrounds. I watched a 3rd conduct court scenes, with online students prepared to be judges, lawyers, and jurors.

Perhaps it helps because I know how hard it was to take an existing curriculum and adapt it for an online format. What I saw was teachers going above and beyond to do just that. I also saw teachers take time to check in with their students, conducting extra office hours for academic (and emotional) support.

So while some posters here want to hurl “bottom of the barrel” comments about teachers, I’ll stick with what I know to be true. Teachers made the best of a crap situation.

NP and I don’t at all think any of my kids’ teachers are bottom of the barrel. But I think most of those online gimmicks didn’t translate well to young learners. We tried online K for a few weeks before I ended up hiring a retired educator to come teach my child to read, take him on outdoor outings, and create other hands on learning experiences while we worked. He went into 1st grade well prepared and has subsequently tested very high and overall done well in school (I’ve volunteered in his class and still see some kids struggling to fully read in third grade).

If schools go down to 4 days I will 100% be finding a program or hiring someone to come do a combination of enrichment and athletic activities with him on the day off (possibly coordinating with other friends who can pay for this as well so our kids are with peers). Meanwhile there will be kids left home alone or on iPads while their parents work. Which would horrible for those families and society as a whole.

[Anonymous]

Run for your local school board if you have a strong opinion about a 4 day week.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My sister, my mother and I are all teachers. A PP suggested 4 days a week year round. I wouldn't mind that al all. That would be more hours worked and therefore more income -- even with 4 day work-weeks. Please lets do that.

1. what happens to poor or even middle-class kids on the 5th day?
2. if schools provide extra resources for poor or middle-class kids on the 5th day, where does that money come from?
3. do teachers get paid less for fewer hours? If hours are not cut, then what are the educational impacts of longer school days? Does children't education suffer?
4. what are the educational impacts on children's education of moving to four days a week? There must be studies done about this. If the education suffers, what would be your remedy?

NP. I presume the 5th day could be lower-paid positions to supervise kids similar to aftercare. If the high school is 4 days a week, maybe there's an opportunity for those seniors interested in education or working with kids to help for credit (piggybacking off the internship idea). You could charge parents for childcare on the 5th day on a sliding scale. If school is year-round, my guess is that you would have less learning loss, particularly among vulnerable students.

I don't know if I fully support the 4 day school week, but it's interesting. I would like to see an end to the choppy calendar if the school week ever moves to 4 days.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:School personnel here --we are not babysitters.

I would love a 4-day week. My cousin has taught in 2 districts with 4 days weeks -- no burnout, everyone loves it.

You are responsible for your own children.

f you. actually the state mandates that I send my kid to school. if you don’t want to work a normal job and summers off isn’t enough for you, you can find a different job.

NP. And where do you think you’re going to find new teachers? There are not enough replacements, let alone experienced ones staying in the profession. Good luck.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:4 day week for teachers is great. Kids still need a 5th day of care. That can be clubs or arts days with different staffing.

The 5th day actually isn't a need

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:School personnel here --we are not babysitters.

I would love a 4-day week. My cousin has taught in 2 districts with 4 days weeks -- no burnout, everyone loves it.

You are responsible for your own children.

And we wonder why parents don’t appreciate school personnel more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:4 day week for teachers is great. Kids still need a 5th day of care. That can be clubs or arts days with different staffing.

The 5th day actually isn't a need

DP. The standard work week is Monday-Friday, so for all intents and purposes, it's a need. This wouldn't practically work for most of society without a plan for the 5th day. I agree that it can be different personnel who can staff recess or crafts or study hall or any number of things. It doesn't need to be teacher positions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:School personnel here --we are not babysitters.

I would love a 4-day week. My cousin has taught in 2 districts with 4 days weeks -- no burnout, everyone loves it.

You are responsible for your own children.

The law requires us to send our kids to school until they’re 16.

Kids go to school. Adults work. That’s how society works.

We’re not asking you to deal with our kids on the weekends. We’re asking you to provide an education for them during the goddamn workweek.

See how good it did y’all to scream about ‘lazy’ teachers in 2020. You guys will never learn.

See how calling parents idiots that do not care for their own children now has schools and teachers under a microscope? We knew you were all bottom of the barrel prior to the pandemic, but seeing it on an endless loop in Zoom for almost two years was shocking to say the least.
This is like all they eyes on bad policing - we are in the process clearing out the bad apples.

DP. I don't agree that teachers are 'bottom of the barrel', but I do think seeing school for 1.5 years did indeed make me (as a parent) much more concerned about my kids' education.

I also think hurling teacher v. parent insults (both sides) is not really going to get us anywhere.

I worked even more hours during Covid trying to find out how to translate my curriculum to an online format. I watched a coworker conduct Chemistry labs by using common household items that students could gather at their laptops. I watched another perform an entire Shakespearean play online, complete with costumed students and creative student-made digital backgrounds. I watched a 3rd conduct court scenes, with online students prepared to be judges, lawyers, and jurors.

Perhaps it helps because I know how hard it was to take an existing curriculum and adapt it for an online format. What I saw was teachers going above and beyond to do just that. I also saw teachers take time to check in with their students, conducting extra office hours for academic (and emotional) support.

So while some posters here want to hurl “bottom of the barrel” comments about teachers, I’ll stick with what I know to be true. Teachers made the best of a crap situation.

Some did. Most video-phoned it in. And parents saw.

Yeah I bet teachers saw parents not parenting....so theres that