Wednesday, October 21, 2009

No Child Left Behind


"180 school days minus 17 furlough days equals failure"

This Friday marks the first day of "furloughs fridays" with no school for 2 Fridays per month. If this keeps up you could not in good conscience present a kid with a bona fide high school diploma after the completion of 12-years, at least from a public school. 17-days absent from school per year, multiplied by 12 grade years, amounts to over a year of skipping school. In that sense, you would need to tack on an additional year of primary education to equalize the instruction hours received in the former 12 school years schedule, and graduation should fall more fittingly after the completion of the 13th academic year.

8 comments:

Rowena said...

With the amount of hours that people spend on computers these days, now's the time for some sharp educational business to offer schooling lessons via the internet. They're already doing this in college, why not for the little ones? All I know is that parents shouldn't waste any time wondering what to do.

RONW said...

Rowena- people have even named their cats and dogs after their teachers. The situation does not bode well for people pursuing a teaching profession in the public school sector. Online education and instruction might be an option. I agree. Same as how online shopping has replaced brick and motar shopping with better results from reputable retailers.

Brad Farless said...

I had at one time considered teaching. I have an interest in history, literature and the social sciences. I don't know if it's worth it anymore, unless you're working for a private school or teaching college.

It's rather disgusting how many days of school the kids are missing. At the rate they're going, you might be better off home schooling. At least then you know your kid will be getting an education worth having.

RONW said...

Brad- I would have reservations about teaching public school, at least, in Hawaii after the furlough debacle. Up to relatively recently, the State was recruiting teachers from the mainland to fill all the vacancies, and this situation is definitely not gonna make it more attractive to teach in Hawaii with our status of having the highest rent in the nation. On top of it all, the custodians and the grounds crews are still working at the empty schools on furlough fridays because they belong to different unions, if that makes any dollars and sense. These workers get paid for a full 12-months of the year, while teacher's only 9-months....12 montly paychecks, but proportioned on the 9-months dollar amount.

Brad Farless said...

My cousin and his wife are teachers in Georgia and they get paid 12 months, but it's the 9 months pay stretched out to cover the other 3 months. As for the janitors, I think it's kinda ridiculous that they should get paid for time when the school is closed.

RONW said...

Brad- the custodians were on last night's local news explaining that they'll get to do heavy duty cleanup since the campus is empty. Heck, what'll they do during summer break and school vacations.

Brad Farless said...

Shouldn't janitorial duties be done at night, after the school is closed? Isn't it empty then anyway? Sounds lame to me.

RONW said...

Brad- the insult is that the custodians are still getting their paychecks on furlough fridays while the teachers aren't. Under that logic, they should leave the lights on in the empty classrooms so the electric company doesn't lose money.