Anonymous wrote:I REALLY wish it had been my in-bound school (Amidon-Bowen), which had some of the worst PARCC test scores in Ward 6. A 4-week summer break would be enough for my family to travel, do camps, etc. and preventing "summer slump" is a good idea, in my opinion.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am really surprised they could do this without a union vote -

"Davis said Bowser and Schools Chancellor Kaya Henderson made their decision without consulting any of the four unions that represent school workers in the District. She said the WTU has submitted a complaint about the process."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-politics/the-school-year-is-about-to-get-longer-for-thousands-of-dc-schoolchildren/2016/02/03/e2de8128-ca29-11e5-88ff-e2d1b4289c2f_story.html

they can't. It will not go forward as planned. This needs to be negotiated directly with WTU.

They can get around that by forcing the teachers into voting for it at the school level. If they get like 75% of teachers to vote yes, they push forward. Teachers are being bullied into voting yes.

How are they being bullied into voting yes?

Not the PP, but I think that there is an element of bullying in announcing that these 10 schools will be doing extended year and then voting on it afterward. If you vote no and the school has to un-announce, then you're complicit in a public relations debacle. Also, these schools wouldn't be part of this pilot without the support of the principal, so if you vote no, you're immediately in opposition to your boss, which in many if not most cases means that they're looking to get rid of you and you're looking to leave.

Well they needed to announce it before the lottery was over - so that any families who were certain they didn't want to attend a school on that schedule would have an opportunity to opt out.

I was surprised to read the comment that half the charters do ESY. Haynes, KIPP - which other ones? Perhaps that why those get the lion's share of private foundation dollars, because it's expensive to do.

Many of the boot camp charters like KIPP do extended day, as much as 2 hours extra per day. It's their main recipe for success. It works but it burns out teachers quickly. Not as many charters do extended year.

these schools are happy to burn out teachers for results. Also some families drop out. And, as has been well documented on DCUM, high SES families avoid these schools so they remain 100 percent poor and focused on achieving results for the poor. I had thought that DCPS was pursuing a more balanced set of goals including SES diversity in EOTP schools. This extended year initiative suggests to me that they are ok trading in diversity to get results with the poorest. We'll see what happens with high-SES enrollment at HD Cooke. Too early to tell now.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I REALLY wish it had been my in-bound school (Amidon-Bowen), which had some of the worst PARCC test scores in Ward 6. A 4-week summer break would be enough for my family to travel, do camps, etc. and preventing "summer slump" is a good idea, in my opinion.

One reason I heard the PARCC was so bad was because the kids didn't know how to use computers to take the tests. Hoping those stats go up in the future.

I read the same thing in Education Week. Mostly applied to older children (middle and high school) and math especially.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I REALLY wish it had been my in-bound school (Amidon-Bowen), which had some of the worst PARCC test scores in Ward 6. A 4-week summer break would be enough for my family to travel, do camps, etc. and preventing "summer slump" is a good idea, in my opinion.

One reason I heard the PARCC was so bad was because the kids didn't know how to use computers to take the tests. Hoping those stats go up in the future.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am really surprised they could do this without a union vote -

"Davis said Bowser and Schools Chancellor Kaya Henderson made their decision without consulting any of the four unions that represent school workers in the District. She said the WTU has submitted a complaint about the process."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-politics/the-school-year-is-about-to-get-longer-for-thousands-of-dc-schoolchildren/2016/02/03/e2de8128-ca29-11e5-88ff-e2d1b4289c2f_story.html

they can't. It will not go forward as planned. This needs to be negotiated directly with WTU.

They can get around that by forcing the teachers into voting for it at the school level. If they get like 75% of teachers to vote yes, they push forward. Teachers are being bullied into voting yes.

DCPS cannot negotiate directly with teachers, WTU is the sole bargaining unit.

That is exactly the problem, DCPS is holding up negotiations so that it can do these things behind WTU's back. Teachers haven't had a contract in 4 years and one of the major sticking points is extended day/year and all that goes with it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am really surprised they could do this without a union vote -

"Davis said Bowser and Schools Chancellor Kaya Henderson made their decision without consulting any of the four unions that represent school workers in the District. She said the WTU has submitted a complaint about the process."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-politics/the-school-year-is-about-to-get-longer-for-thousands-of-dc-schoolchildren/2016/02/03/e2de8128-ca29-11e5-88ff-e2d1b4289c2f_story.html

they can't. It will not go forward as planned. This needs to be negotiated directly with WTU.

They can get around that by forcing the teachers into voting for it at the school level. If they get like 75% of teachers to vote yes, they push forward. Teachers are being bullied into voting yes.

DCPS cannot negotiate directly with teachers, WTU is the sole bargaining unit.

Anonymous wrote:I REALLY wish it had been my in-bound school (Amidon-Bowen), which had some of the worst PARCC test scores in Ward 6. A 4-week summer break would be enough for my family to travel, do camps, etc. and preventing "summer slump" is a good idea, in my opinion.