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[shira]

My family was very poor growing up.

Sue me.

We must have had completely different cafeteria experiences.

The prices were ridiculously high at ours. Only the "rich kids" could eat there regularly and they just drove elsewhere.
We had a restaurant nearby, they dropped their prices for cokes and fries below the cafeteria. Cleaned up.
There was literally no reason to eat at our cafeteria unless you were in a serious rush and needed something to eat.

 

[bman94]

Horrible idea. Just adding an extra hour to the school day would make it horrendously long. The middle school I teach at STARTS at 9:30 and gets out at 4. If you were to hypothetically make up that Friday you would have to add an extra two hours meaning you would get out of school at 6.

Even if it's not that extreme you'd still have to push back extra curricular and after school programs later. Athletics, tutoring, performing arts, all of these would have to be done much later in the day. Then ypu got to worry about picking kids up that late or having supervision on the day off...its a lose lose situation for everyone.

 

[Earthbound64]

What if workers only went to work 4 days a week?

---->

Many positions have the option of working fewer days at more hours, versus more days with fewer hours

 

[Gentleman Jack]

We must have had completely different cafeteria experiences.

The prices were ridiculously high at ours. Only the "rich kids" could eat there regularly and they just drove elsewhere.
We had a restaurant nearby, they dropped their prices for cokes and fries below the cafeteria. Cleaned up.
There was literally no reason to eat at our cafeteria unless you were in a serious rush and needed something to eat.

My family got subsidized school lunches for me because we met the income requirements. Every month I got a big sheet of tickets that counted as one lunch and a smaller sheet of tickets that counted for snacks (which substituted for breakfast more often than not). I think it worked out to ~$1/meal over the course of a school term.

The food wasn't spectacular, but it was convenient and inexpensive.

I switched to brown bagging a sandwich in 7th grade and up.

 

[siddx]

If a four day week was shown to be the best option for students and their learning, then that is the schedule that should be adopted, regardless of how parents feel about it. A school's primary purpose is to educate, and if something shows a significant benefit to that education, it needs to be policy. The convenience of parents comes far below what's best for students on the list of priorities.

As a teacher I'm still not convinced it is though. I would personally love a four day week as I feel like I have way more energy and focus on the weeks we happen to have an extra day off, but I don't know for sure it helps students.

But there are a ton off issues with school schedules in general that desperately need fixing.

 

[Fenderputty]

School isn't daycare

I remember when liberals all loved the idea of one year of public preschool Obama had, even though we knew it wouldn't pass, because it's basically one more year of state paid childcare for the parents.

Anyway, what a silly post. The main point is obviously education, but additional ulterior benefits existing is a good thing

 

[bman94]

If a four day week was shown to be the best option for students and their learning, then that is the schedule that should be adopted, regardless of how parents feel about it. A school's primary purpose is to educate, and if something shows a significant benefit to that education, it needs to be policy. The convenience of parents comes far below what's best for students on the list of priorities.

As a teacher I'm still not convinced it is though. I would personally love a four day week as I feel like I have way more energy and focus on the weeks we happen to have an extra day off, but I don't know for sure it helps students.

But there are a ton off issues with school schedules in general that desperately need fixing.

Honestly college was the first time scheduling made sense to me. As a new teacher I feel the burnout from teaching class to class to class everyday. Having space in between classes in college was wonderful. You had time to breath and reflect. I feel bad for my students that have 3 minutes to rush to class and then have to immediately be focused. It's not fair to them and as teachers we aren't going tl get the most from our students if they are constantly fatigued.

 

[neurosisxeno]

Definitely. And I'm not even sure how to fix it as long as rural areas are unattractive places to work for many people.

Change the way we fund Education. Rather than it being tied to a districts property taxes make it based on need/demand. It's my understanding that finding teachers for Rural Schools is so hard because the pay is decidedly lower (due to budget reasons) and their access to resources is substantially lower. It's the same reason inner-city schools in poor neighborhoods struggle.

 

[siddx]

Honestly college was the first time scheduling made sense to me. As a new teacher I feel the burnout from teaching class to class to class everyday. Having space in between classes in college was wonderful. You had time to breath and reflect. I feel bad for my students that have 3 minutes to rush to class and then have to immediately be focused. It's not fair to them and as teachers we aren't going tl get the most from our students if they are constantly fatigued.

Yes that's definitely one of the big issues, the rush to shove information in kids heads spills over into how quickly they are expected to move from subject to subject.

 

[Massive Duck. C.M.]

I remember when liberals all loved the idea of one year of public preschool Obama had, even though we knew it wouldn't pass, because it's basically one more year of state paid childcare for the parents.

Anyway, what a silly post. The main point is obviously education, but additional ulterior benefits existing is a good thing

Parents treating schools like nothing more than free daycare is one of the reasons standards and retention are so low.

Schools providing extra services is commendable but many parents are not holding up their part of the bargain.

 

[Bonen no Max'd]

Change the way we fund Education. Rather than it being tied to a districts property taxes make it based on need/demand. It's my understanding that finding teachers for Rural Schools is so hard because the pay is decidedly lower (due to budget reasons) and their access to resources is substantially lower. It's the same reason inner-city schools in poor neighborhoods struggle.

This was actually in the Democratic platform!

...in 1972, back when we were also going to get single payer and a federal job guarantee and dismantle the military industrial complex. Good ol' McGovern!

 

[Alcotholic]

I could imagine it could improve student performance if the extra time given allows students to destress more.

 

[Valhelm]

I could imagine it could improve student performance if the extra time given allows students to destress more.

Maybe. A longer schoolday might cause kids to get less sleep.

Another problem with this model is that it might hurt lower income kids who work afternoons. This could be a good idea, but I'm not convinced that it's effective.

 

[Zoe]

I could imagine it could improve student performance if the extra time given allows students to destress more.

What makes you think that extra time would be spent resting? And it's not "extra" time--it's instructional time that is being shifted from Friday to the other days.

 

[MomoPufflet]

Kids need less homework, not less school days. Reducing the number of school days will probably make the homework situation even worse-- they'll see it as an excuse to give them even more of it. Probably more big projects too ("You have a whole extra day to work on this!")

 

[Deepwater]

Parents treating schools like nothing more than free daycare is one of the reasons standards and retention are so low.

Schools providing extra services is commendable but many parents are not holding up their part of the bargain.

big, if true.

 

[Hollycat]

... How about 6 days a week instead?

 

[neurosisxeno]

... How about 6 days a week instead?

Would still present problems, and odds are parents would complain about having only 1 full day with their kids. The opposite complaint is that 6 days would likely be less hours per day, and as it is most Schools basically use After School Programs to keep kids around so parents can work during the day.

 

[ReiGun]

So parents just eat the cost of child care for their 4-11 year olds for a day a week?

This would be my issue with it, especially in lower income neighborhoods.

Parents treating schools like nothing more than free daycare is one of the reasons standards and retention are so low.

Schools providing extra services is commendable but many parents are not holding up their part of the bargain.

I agree we need parents to be more involved and have more active and thoughtful roles in their children's education. However, I don't think that involves parents needing to eat more of the costs of childcare. Espeically when many can't afford it.

 

[nekkid]

School isn't daycare

Not a parent, are you.

 

[Ploid 3.0]

What was their reasoning behind "having shorter Thursdays"?
And, depending on when you went to school - many schools have been going to longer days. And shorter vacations.

I don't think I ever questioned it. I was out so I only noticed because my siblings would be out early every Thursday.

 

[Tripon]

Most schools pick a day to have shorter day in order to hold weekly staff meetings during work hours. That is the main reason.

 

[.JayZii]

So parents just eat the cost of child care for their 4-11 year olds for a day a week?

Yes. They changed over to this system in the school district my mom teaches in. I don't see the point of it.

 

[Kerensky]

Then what are these kids going to do with more free time on their hands? i know from experience that bored kids on the streets are a recipe for disaster (hah ha).

Schools are important places for teaching them and if anything i wish i would have spent more, not less times studying when i was a kid.

 

[It's Jeff]

I taught in a district on this schedule. The days were longer and we still had to attend most Fridays for development days. It also meant that the district was reluctant to call weather days because a day off meant the contact hours for students per annum were lower. It's not as neat as it seems.

 

[IISANDERII]

Once again Scandinavia has the answer. Finland 🇫🇮 has the best education in the world; they have very little homework and fewer school hours.

Do parents have to pick their children up sooner? What a society that knows how to prioritize!

 

[excelsiorlef]

Sounds great for rich to solidly middle class families... sounds like a giant oh well fuck you to poor families.

Parents treating schools like nothing more than free daycare is one of the reasons standards and retention are so low.

Schools providing extra services is commendable but many parents are not holding up their part of the bargain.

So what's your solution to low income 2 paycheck families who can't afford full day care 1 day a week every week for every school year for upwards of 10 years? Tough shit figure it out?

 

[Walshicus]

The five day week needs to just die. The more sectors that switch the better.

 

[GasProblem]

So parents just eat the cost of child care for their 4-11 year olds for a day a week?

Would work if people could get by with a 4 day work week.

 

[Maximus.]

So parents just eat the cost of child care for their 4-11 year olds for a day a week?

what if the work week was changed to be 4 days...

 

[SoRuffShoNuff]

We must have had completely different cafeteria experiences.

The prices were ridiculously high at ours. Only the "rich kids" could eat there regularly and they just drove elsewhere.
We had a restaurant nearby, they dropped their prices for cokes and fries below the cafeteria. Cleaned up.
There was literally no reason to eat at our cafeteria unless you were in a serious rush and needed something to eat.

School lunch at my schools ranged from 80 cents in elementary school to 1.35 in high school. That's just the basic lunch and a milk, of course if you wanted cookies, juice, etc.. it was extra. No restaurant is competing with that.

 

[NewGame]

Terrible for working parents

Terrible for the entire institutional system to be based around minimizing family time and maximizing secular activities.

 

[Zoe]

Would work if people could get by with a 4 day work week.

what if the work week was changed to be 4 days...

Even the teachers don't get to work a 4 day week:

I taught in a district on this schedule. The days were longer and we still had to attend most Fridays for development days. It also meant that the district was reluctant to call weather days because a day off meant the contact hours for students per annum were lower. It's not as neat as it seems.

 

[entremet]

Yup my immediate thought was but what about childcare?

How old are we talking about?

I was a latch key kid at 5. I would have loved to stay home and play in the afternoon on a Friday. I would be fine.

The issue is that we have this helicopter parent culture these days we kids must be supervised 24/7.

 

[The Elite]

So parents just eat the cost of child care for their 4-11 year olds for a day a week?

Four day work weeks should be a thing to compensate.

 

[SoRuffShoNuff]

How old are we talking about?

I was a latch key kid at 5. I would have loved to stay home and play in the afternoon on a Friday. I would be fine.

The issue is that we have this helicopter parent culture these days we kids must be supervised 24/7.

Oh please. Try to understand the difference between coming home and playing in the afternoon and spending the entire day home alone at 5.

Also its great you did well but in many parts of this country free time is what destroys the lives of the youth. Free time equals more exposure to the streets, it's more exposure to crime, it's more exposure to people who do not have your child's best interest at heart. The worst thing you could do for these kids is give them a day at home alone with nothing to do.

 

[Fancy Clown]

I think I'd need to see more evidence of real results to consider a major shift like this. My wife is a high school English teacher in an inner city school and she makes progress from Tuesday to Thursday, and then it's like all lost by Monday. Not really but the sentiment is there.

Further, 100% of the kids in her school are on free lunch, and for millions of students in the US, their most reliable meal every day is the free lunch or breakfast they get at school. While this may work in some districts I'm not sure if it's right for many urban school districts. You just can't decide "well, I guess they won't eat on Friday," and take it lightly.

For other things like heat, using thebinternet, school activities, and getting out of the house, school is a lifeline to normalcy for some of her students.

As a parent, I'd hate it. Wouldn't match up with 95% of the jobs around here.

Yup

 

[Vincent Grayson]

I'd be far more interested in a shift to year-round school with smaller breaks.

 

[Vital Tundra]

Man republican reps would looove something like this.

 

[Vanillalite]

If anything kids should go more days not less, but they should start later into the day and go for a less overall time (not including extra curricular​ activities).

Kids across the board also need access to the extra curricular activities you see kids at a magnet school or science or the arts as to further enrich them in things that aren't just the core subjects in the classroom.

I also think schools aren't daycare, but we also should understand there are reasons people lean in on schools for things.

That means instead of going omg 4 days of school means a kid won't have a meal on Friday so they need to go to school, and focus on fixing the fact that millions of kids don't have access to well balanced food at home.

Going for more days means less time in-between school for kids to not have any positive scholastic reinforcement. That being said kids especially older kids generally go to school too early. They aren't at their optimal peak efficiency to learn. Also classes tend to drag for kids by the end of the day.

If you could somehow go 6 days for less time you'd have an extra day to reinforce class subjects with less time in-between to forget things while not burning kids out trying to cram stuff in 5 days let alone the proposed 4.

Plus you'd give more time for kids to join their schools robotics league, take up sign language club, join the school play, try out for sports, or maybe get in with the gardening club.

 

[teh_pwn]

A huge portion of families these days are dual income so that would be disruptive for parents.

 

[hollomat]

You'd need a childcare facility that could accommodate all the kids for just one day a week. If only a place like that existed, and could also teach the kids something while they were there, without any additional cost to the parents.

It seems like a terrible idea because while the children are on a 4 day schedule, parents are still on a 5 day one.

Only place I could see it working is rural communities where the kid spend the day off working with their parents.

 

[entremet]

If anything kids should go more days not less, but they should start later into the day and go for a less overall time (not including extra curricular​ activities).

Kids across the board also need access to the extra curricular activities you see kids at a magnet school or science or the arts as to further enrich them in things that aren't just the core subjects in the classroom.

I also think schools aren't daycare, but we also should understand there are reasons people lean in on schools for things.

That means instead of going omg 4 days of school means a kid won't have a meal on Friday so they need to go to school, and focus on fixing the fact that millions of kids don't have access to well balanced food at home.

Going for more days means less time in-between school for kids to not have any positive scholastic reinforcement. That being said kids especially older kids generally go to school too early. They aren't at their optimal peak efficiency to learn. Also classes tend to drag for kids by the end of the day.

If you could somehow go 6 days for less time you'd have an extra day to reinforce class subjects with less time in-between to forget things while not burning kids out trying to cram stuff in 5 days let alone the proposed 4.

Plus you'd give more time for kids to join their schools robotics league, take up sign language club, join the school play, try out for sports, or maybe get in with the gardening club.

Hasn't school time been increasing?

It's not like kids are doing better according to the international tests.

Oh please. Try to understand the difference between coming home and playing in the afternoon and spending the entire day home alone at 5.

Also its great you did well but in many parts of this country free time is what destroys the lives of the youth. Free time equals more exposure to the streets, it's more exposure to crime, it's more exposure to people who do not have your child's best interest at heart. The worst thing you could do for these kids is give them a day at home alone with nothing to do.

I get it, but why are we making schools into these vast institutions responsible for curing every youth social ill.

Schools cannot do this. They're barely funded for the basic subjects as is.

I know, I grew up in the inner city.

If you want schools to be this magical panacea of social ills you're looking at the wrong place.

The biggest issue with student performance is poverty and that's bigger than schools.

Wanna improve this? How about ending the drug war, which is a huge focus of gang activity.

 

[TheOfficeMut]

I think I'd need to see more evidence of real results to consider a major shift like this. My wife is a high school English teacher in an inner city school and she makes progress from Tuesday to Thursday, and then it's like all lost by Monday. Not really but the sentiment is there.

Further, 100% of the kids in her school are on free lunch, and for millions of students in the US, their most reliable meal every day is the free lunch or breakfast they get at school. While this may work in some districts I'm not sure if it's right for many urban school districts. You just can't decide "well, I guess they won't eat on Friday," and take it lightly.

For other things like heat, using thebinternet, school activities, and getting out of the house, school is a lifeline to normalcy for some of her students.

As a parent, I'd hate it. Wouldn't match up with 95% of the jobs around here.

My biggest concern is that too many parents have a Monday through Friday work schedule and wouldn't be able to accommodate their child not being in school for one of those days.

I have a few friends with children who, if not for being able to send their kids to school during the week, would not be able to sustain their household. As soon as you eliminate one of those days, they're going to incur added expenses to simply have their child supervised and fed, not to mention the headache of it all.

 

[Vanillalite]

Hasn't school time been increasing?

It's not like kids are doing better according to the international tests.

Your going more days, but you aren't necessarily going for more actually time.

It's like let's say kids went to class for 30 hours a week. They could go 6 hours a day for 5 days or else 5 hours a day for 6 days.

I prefer the latter as means the kids are getting part of every subject 6 days to help reinforce concepts even if it's for a shorter period of time each day. Plus shorter individual days means more time for extra curricular activities without eating into everyone's other shit they need to do.

 

[Ashby]

I would give up one of my limbs to only work 4 days a week for the rest of my career.

 

[Zoe]

I would give up one of my limbs to only work 4 days a week for the rest of my career.

It's not as great as it sounds.

 

[Aleh]

Well it could be worse. Here you have to go to school 6 days a week. It's just paradoxically brain numbing.

5 days with less homework, and more time for extra activities sounds like the better option

 

[JdFoX187]

Your going more days, but you aren't necessarily going for more actually time.

It's like let's say kids went to class for 30 hours a week. They could go 6 hours a day for 5 days or else 5 hours a day for 6 days.

I prefer the latter as means the kids are getting part of every subject 6 days to help reinforce concepts even if it's for a shorter period of time each day. Plus shorter individual days means more time for extra curricular activities without eating into everyone's other shit they need to do.

And what about the teachers that have to work that extra day of the week in addition to everything else they have to do? There's a big difference between being able to grade work and input grades at your own pace on the weekend, compared to having to cram it in at the end of the day during the week. You're essentially calling for teachers to work without a break, which would lower their ability to provide a proper education for students.

I think your plan would work best if the sixth day was a voluntary extracurricular day, but that's it. Everyone needs their time away from work.

 

[boiled goose]

So that Americans fall futher behind in education? No thanks.

Not enough money? 50 billion in increases to defense proves otherwise.