Kamala Harris & 10-hour school days

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:With her plan, is the entire day mandatory or can you pick up after the academic day is done? Will busses run for both the end of the academic day and then again for the end or the after school care?

It's basically just more funding for SACC. It's not an actual extended school day. I don't think anyone is against SACC - we have a waiting list, after all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It would be done for the benefit of the parents and not the children. Let's be honest about that at least.

100% yes.

+1. Nobody is talking about what would be best for the CHILDREN! Yes, sure, just leave them in jail, I mean, school for 10 hours !!!! a day. Who needs free time to be kids, to participate in family activities, to just be bored at home!?? Do you all really think it would be healthy for a kid to spend 10 hours in a building a day???

This isn’t aimed at UMC kids that go home to a safe neighborhood and food on the table.
It’s geared towards kids that live in low income areas. Going home usually means going home to a parent or sibling that is drunk or high, with no supervision, no help with homework, etc. I see these kids daily. Unbathed, dirty clothes. Living off the free breakfast and lunch. Our schools sends home bagged lunches on weekends for the poor kids. They provide coats and hats and gloves.
But the school can only do so much. 30 hours out of week they are in warm, safe environment. It’s not much.

And who do you think it's contributing big time for the destruction of the families in this country?? Have you read Brave New World?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our school is open 11 hours per day when you factor in extended day

You don’t have teachers working 11 hour days.

Hell, our aftercare doesn’t even have the same crew that does before care and after care.

I agree that this is an insane idea.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:With compressed work weeks and telecommuting at an all time high, is there really a demand for this? Maybe a few counties here and there, but overall?

I feel like there are bigger fish to fry. Why not tackle international policy instead? Put forth an environmental initiative? Find a way to reach across the aisle (gasp!).

All these candidates with these weak (and distracting) "ideas" are just beating behind the bush of real world problems.

+ 1 million

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I work in a high FARMS school. The majority of students have at least one adult in the home that stays home and doesn't work. Sometimes it's mom, sometimes it's dad, sometimes it's an older sibling, sometimes it's a grandma or grandpa or another member of the extended family. Sometimes the working parent works at night and the only time they get to see their child is the time between when the child gets home from school and the parent needs to go to work. Very few families at my school work 9-5 jobs. This is something that is really not aimed at low income families. As it is typical in education, the people making the decisions know jack sh*t about the realities of schools.

We are at a Title One school and I agree with this.

Also, we already offer financial aid for low income families who need it for aftercare.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It would be done for the benefit of the parents and not the children. Let's be honest about that at least.

100% yes.

+1. Nobody is talking about what would be best for the CHILDREN! Yes, sure, just leave them in jail, I mean, school for 10 hours !!!! a day. Who needs free time to be kids, to participate in family activities, to just be bored at home!?? Do you all really think it would be healthy for a kid to spend 10 hours in a building a day???

+1

This.

Really, do you want to be at work for that long? Maybe you do, but this is not what is best for the kids. The kids need a break and it’s not healthy mentally or physically to be stuck at school for 10 hours every day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I work in a high FARMS school. The majority of students have at least one adult in the home that stays home and doesn't work. Sometimes it's mom, sometimes it's dad, sometimes it's an older sibling, sometimes it's a grandma or grandpa or another member of the extended family. Sometimes the working parent works at night and the only time they get to see their child is the time between when the child gets home from school and the parent needs to go to work. Very few families at my school work 9-5 jobs. This is something that is really not aimed at low income families. As it is typical in education, the people making the decisions know jack sh*t about the realities of schools.

true

In my 20+ years in a large system, the mother or the grandmother is home. Or there's an aunt or an older sibling.

We sometimes think money grows on trees. This will run out eventually. And even if the young teachers - looking for extra income - step in, there won't be enough of them to handle the numbers. So they'll have to outsource. translation - more $

Have you seen some of the after-school programs? We think we have problems now with abuse, well, think again. MCPS has already lowered the criteria for hiring subs. And teacher certification is a joke, especially with the Praxis. So you can imagine who will be with these kids - many who misbehave simply b/c they're damn tired.

a recipe for disaster

But who am I but a lowly educator . . .

Kamala is an idiot who doesn't understand that money runs out.

This is exactly how I feel.

Where does the money come from?

Who pays for the additional staff? Who pays for the building usage? Who pays for the food?

Our school system (MCPS) doesn’t even have money to take care of what needs to be taken care of as it is. Overcrowded classrooms, lack of basic classroom supplies, lack of adequate staffing, etc.

Take care of that first and then talk about Universal PreK and 10 hour school days.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It would be done for the benefit of the parents and not the children. Let's be honest about that at least.

100% yes.

+1. Nobody is talking about what would be best for the CHILDREN! Yes, sure, just leave them in jail, I mean, school for 10 hours !!!! a day. Who needs free time to be kids, to participate in family activities, to just be bored at home!?? Do you all really think it would be healthy for a kid to spend 10 hours in a building a day???

+1

This.

Really, do you want to be at work for that long? Maybe you do, but this is not what is best for the kids. The kids need a break and it’s not healthy mentally or physically to be stuck at school for 10 hours every day.

Isn’t what she is proposing really just after school child care and not extended class time per se? Kids aren’t participating in family activities if their parents aren’t home from work yet. It’s no different from my students who arrive at SACC (Fairfax County) at 7 am or get picked up from SACC at 7 pm because of their parents’ work schedules. While it might not be ideal at least they have the opportunity to play outside, do crafts and play games.

[Anonymous]

This is sad.

I don’t get the people up in arms about school not being daycare. Historically, school has always been a place to warehouse kids while parents work. In the beginning it was factory work and now it mostly in offices. It has very little to do with learning and social mobility. A valedictorian from a poor school district will still grow up to be poor.

School is daycare, it has always been daycare, maybe someday in the future it can be something else. One can hope.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Before and after care isn’t the problem. That’s already subsidized. If she really wants schools to help working families then please address all of the weather closures that are not really needed. SACC also adjusts their hours in the morning and this is horrible for working parents who rely on the 7am drop off. Fine with their is actual winter weather but most often there is no reason at all.

Yes!!! Someone please address the weather closures! Low income parents don't have backup care and can't take annual leave as easily as middle class workers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is sad.

I don’t get the people up in arms about school not being daycare. Historically, school has always been a place to warehouse kids while parents work. In the beginning it was factory work and now it mostly in offices. It has very little to do with learning and social mobility. A valedictorian from a poor school district will still grow up to be poor.

School is daycare, it has always been daycare, maybe someday in the future it can be something else. One can hope.

Yes, precisely.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It would be done for the benefit of the parents and not the children. Let's be honest about that at least.

100% yes.

+1. Nobody is talking about what would be best for the CHILDREN! Yes, sure, just leave them in jail, I mean, school for 10 hours !!!! a day. Who needs free time to be kids, to participate in family activities, to just be bored at home!?? Do you all really think it would be healthy for a kid to spend 10 hours in a building a day???

+1

This.

Really, do you want to be at work for that long? Maybe you do, but this is not what is best for the kids. The kids need a break and it’s not healthy mentally or physically to be stuck at school for 10 hours every day.

Isn’t what she is proposing really just after school child care and not extended class time per se? Kids aren’t participating in family activities if their parents aren’t home from work yet. It’s no different from my students who arrive at SACC (Fairfax County) at 7 am or get picked up from SACC at 7 pm because of their parents’ work schedules. While it might not be ideal at least they have the opportunity to play outside, do crafts and play games.

The point is that it’s not ideal for the kids. Whether the parents are paying for it or not. Society would be better off if we addressed the issue of why the kids need to be in aftercare that long in the first place.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is sad.

I don’t get the people up in arms about school not being daycare. Historically, school has always been a place to warehouse kids while parents work. In the beginning it was factory work and now it mostly in offices. It has very little to do with learning and social mobility. A valedictorian from a poor school district will still grow up to be poor.

School is daycare, it has always been daycare, maybe someday in the future it can be something else. One can hope.

Yes, precisely.

No, not precisely.

Schools are no longer just to warehouse kids while their parents work.

[Anonymous]

Is the proposal more like SACC? The OP makes it sound like a requirement for everyone. It could be a slippery slope. I can imagine that at some point everyone will be required to keep their kids in school for the extended time with the excuse that it isn’t fair some kids get to leave early. It’s like what happened to kindergarten, and is beginning to happen to preschool. I don’t agree with this, but I could see it happening. My MC neighbors (many in the UMC+ category) complain about childcare costs all.the.time. They’d totally advocate for a 10 hour for all program.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.inquirer.com/education/kamala-harris-longer-school-day-plan-20191107.html%3foutputType=amp
Keep schools open 10 hours a day? Kamala Harris wants to align student and work schedules.

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris has proposed a 10-hour day for students to align school with work schedules — a pitch she says is intended to ease the burden on working parents.

The Californian’s plan, introduced Wednesday, would extend the day — though not necessarily classes — in 500 schools nationwide by awarding five-year grants of up to $5 million to elementary schools with a large share of low-income students.

And we think we have issues NOW recruiting & retaining teachers? She's an idiot.

your last sentence can’t be emphasized enough.