4 day school week?

[Anonymous]

This works only for the privileged few who can use the day off for academic enrichment, music, art, etc. It's terrible for the typical working parent who cannot WFH the whole day or pay for a caregiver. It's terrible for people who don't have free grandparent daycare.

[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 thus another homeschool family is made.

[Anonymous]

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.

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.

+1

We will be paying for learning loss from the shortened school days for years. MoCo had a 4 day week during the pandemic. Look at the numbers. The learning loss from the last few years is huge! HUGE!

School districts have shorten school days because they have no money, not because it is better for the students. Of course the teachers love it, but they already have their education. Kids do not need shorten school days.

+2

[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.

Fine with me if you get 80% salary. Otherwise, forget it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Please tell me about the movement to push for 4 day school week. I heard that several times in local media this week.

Where do you live?

It was on either NBC4 or FOX5 during the local news time. They interviewed someone from RAND, a college professor, and a teacher or school admin. They said the school children need a break from the stress and 4 day school week is beneficial to students' mental health. When asked about catching up on the learning loss during the pandemic, they said the kids learn better when they are not under pressure or stressed out. One of the people said school is not for babysitting.

[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.

Fine with me if you get 80% salary. Otherwise, forget it.

That's more or less what they have already.

[Anonymous]

If it's to save money, then no. I would be open to a four-day school week if free or affordable enriching care is available on the fifth day for those who need it. I would much rather have regularly scheduled non-teacher days than the random stops and starts we already have. If teachers used the 5th day for grading and planning, it might result in less burnout and better overall morale. Or what about year-round school with 4 day weeks? Would that be better?

[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 understand the day care/cost concerns but teachers and school systems are not babysitters. It's starting to feel that way. Parents are viewing schools as a place to drop your kids-teachers and admin can't do their jobs-you know teaching because we have to parent all day. We have to find a balance with schools. Teachers are quitting in high numbers and school systems are just jamming more kids in to classrooms. That leads to burnout for the teacher who stayed and learning loss also happens in these over sized classrooms. Education is broken. Families are relying too heavily on schools-it can't keep going this way.

[Anonymous]

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.

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.

+1

We will be paying for learning loss from the shortened school days for years. MoCo had a 4 day week during the pandemic. Look at the numbers. The learning loss from the last few years is huge! HUGE!

School districts have shorten school days because they have no money, not because it is better for the students. Of course the teachers love it, but they already have their education. Kids do not need shorten school days.

+2

What kids need is their parents to step up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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 understand the day care/cost concerns but teachers and school systems are not babysitters. It's starting to feel that way. Parents are viewing schools as a place to drop your kids-teachers and admin can't do their jobs-you know teaching because we have to parent all day. We have to find a balance with schools. Teachers are quitting in high numbers and school systems are just jamming more kids in to classrooms. That leads to burnout for the teacher who stayed and learning loss also happens in these over sized classrooms. Education is broken. Families are relying too heavily on schools-it can't keep going this way.

Are you a teacher?

[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.

+ a million

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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 understand the day care/cost concerns but teachers and school systems are not babysitters. It's starting to feel that way. Parents are viewing schools as a place to drop your kids-teachers and admin can't do their jobs-you know teaching because we have to parent all day. We have to find a balance with schools. Teachers are quitting in high numbers and school systems are just jamming more kids in to classrooms. That leads to burnout for the teacher who stayed and learning loss also happens in these over sized classrooms. Education is broken. Families are relying too heavily on schools-it can't keep going this way.

Are you a teacher?

I am and I'm also a parent of three.

[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.

Go parent your kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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 understand the day care/cost concerns but teachers and school systems are not babysitters. It's starting to feel that way. Parents are viewing schools as a place to drop your kids-teachers and admin can't do their jobs-you know teaching because we have to parent all day. We have to find a balance with schools. Teachers are quitting in high numbers and school systems are just jamming more kids in to classrooms. That leads to burnout for the teacher who stayed and learning loss also happens in these over sized classrooms. Education is broken. Families are relying too heavily on schools-it can't keep going this way.

Are you a teacher?

I am and I'm also a parent of three.

Respectfully, the "school isn't childcare" trope is tired and does little to garner support for teachers. Why can't we debate whether public education, which is compulsory, should be delivered in a manner that recognizes that most families have working parents and accommodates the need for a consistent schedule for school attendance? Teachers say that childcare needs don't matter for purposes of delivering public education, yet when they are called upon to provide childcare for their own children, childcare needs are critically important. This was evident during the pandemic, but I've heard protests about unreasonable expectations for teachers to obtain childcare for their own children for years when our district debated adding school days to make up for weather closures. We can't possibly teach on those extra days, because we won't have childcare. Is it "parent your children and figure it out" as long as you aren't a teacher?

Ideally, we should all come together to figure out how to address teacher workload and burnout while also setting families up to succeed in supporting their kids' education. Just like teachers, the more maxed-out families are trying to balance their work lives and parenting duties, the less likely they are to send their kids to school ready to learn.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:i thought this was only happening in the flyover states with no money... definitely not the dmv

This is my understanding as well.