Sunday, October 3, 2010
Shorter summer vacation
The largest school district in Indianapolis is planning on taking weeks off of summer vacation and during the year so they can have more time in the classroom. "They need to be in the classroom as much as is humanly possible," said IPS spokesperson Mary Louise Bewley. The school district wants a "balanced calendar" which is a combination of the traditional schedule and the year round schedule. The school year would start around the same time but summer break would be cut in half which means they would only get 5 weeks of vacation. Some parents really support the idea because they feel that they would rather have their children in school rather than getting in trouble over the summer. The parents that support the idea are the working parents that would also save money by not having to pay for as many day care centers during the summer. Other parents feel that no student should be robbed of their summer vacation and as a student I agree. Parents hate the fact that it would cut into family time. Unfortunately President Obama also likes the idea of a longer school year. He feels that since students in the states go to school about a month less than students in other countries, we forget what we have learned over the summer. A longer school year would make a huge difference in student performance. Will this "balanced calendar" become more common in the states?
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6 comments:
As a student i feel I almost have to disagree with this "balanced" calender because i enjoy having the long summer break that I get. On the other hand if I really look at this rationally and without bias i see the point that the President is making as a country we do fall behind during those long summer breaks and a lot of my vacation really was just wasted time were i did nothing. In my opinion i think the answer isn't to get rid of all of those extra weeks but instead get rid of one and then add the rest to winter break to balance the breaks in the school year half and half.
As a student, this is probably unfavorable because most students don't want to go to school for a longer period of time. But if I were a parent, I'd see this as an opportunity for my child to receive a more quality education because there's a longer period of time for him/her to learn. Although I don't really like it now, I would support this because it's going to be beneficial in the long run.
I have to say, I enjoy my long summer breaks. I can't stand being in school for so long. It's just too much stress to handle. Breaks, especially summer breaks, are important to me because it's the time where I can apply and get part-time jobs and spend time with my family. I don't think that just removing extra weeks of summer break would be productive for us students. And as for the parents who believe that staying in school for longer periods of time prevents students from being in trouble.. If a kid is the type to get into trouble to begin with, he or she will find ways to do it. (i.e. simply cutting school) The answer to that problem is not more schooling, but better parenting.
As far as your final comment is concerned, Miya, I surely hope not. Extending the school year will have horribly detrimental ramifications in the following three areas:
1. Student Sanity
2. Student Success
3. Financial Viability
1. I kid you not, Ms. Bewley, but working children "as much as is humanly possible" will lead to an increase in student depression and insanity and a horrific rise in burn-outs. Students need the downtime that we call summer vacation to rejuvenate themselves, to pursue things that they are truly interested in, things that they may not have otherwise had the chance to pursue. Working children for 41 weeks a year for 13 years straight may not leave much of the students' sanity in tact. School is already so strenuous, why make it even more draining? We need the education system to churn out competent and capable individuals, not hackneyed automatons.
2. Summer is when some of the greatest things happen. As a student in a district with a normal schedule, some of my greatest work has been accomplished during the summer. Whether it be conducting novel research at universities or teaching in developing countries, my summers have provided me the necessary breaks to pursue things that I would not otherwise have had the chance to do. If summers were cut down to half their current length, would students have the chance to engage themselves in meaningful and significant activities? Maybe. But probably not. We all need time to cool off at the end of the school year, and a little over a month is simply not enough.
3. And in the end, it comes down to the money.
I know how to bolster our lackluster education! Let's increase the length of the school year!
It's not really all that bad of an idea in theory, but who's funding this (unnecessary) extension of the school year? With debt holes dug all the way to China and a global economic crisis, it hardly seems feasible to extend school by one week, let alone five. Who will pay for the extra pay for teachers, administrators, and staff for a 14% increase in work days? With sky-high taxes and little reassurance provided by our dismal economy, I certainly see no way to execute this plan. But where there is a will, there is a way, I suppose. Maybe we could print some more money. After all, that worked in Germany after World War I, didn't it? Oh wait...
I agree with Tony and believe that the longer school year is a good idea. While I understand Amrit's point first hand and do believe the summer is a great time to do things that are otherwise impossible, I believe that a longer school year will ultimately be beneficial to society. It is clear to me that I forget things over the summer, even when I have academically focused camps or programs, and I think changing the school year will relieve that issue. In terms of the cost, however, Amrit does bring up a good point that I don't know how to solve. Ultimately though, the long term is where we need to be looking in terms of education. As much as I have loved my extended summers full of camping trips and family events, I hope my children will have shorter summers and more time for learning.
I truly believe that summer should NOT be cut down to 5 weeks, because ever since I've started high school, I've noticed that summer flies by and the school year seems endless every year. Especially since we have to do summer homework during the summer for some classes (most classes) that require some type of homework to be completed during our summer break. I mean isn't it called summer break? Shouldn't we actually be getting a break from school? This is one of the reasons why I don't like summer homework, because it takes up my time of the summer to do homework, time I could be spending doing other stuff, "summer stuff", such as hanging out with friends, going to the movies, traveling abroad, etc. I really hope this idea doesn't take place in California!!!!
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