Extended School Day

Live blogging: This is an unedited live document. Live the actual meeting in real time.



The meeting was called to discuss extending the elementary school day. As an information session, the meeting was called to discuss the ramifications of extending the elementary school day.

Jerry Canada called the meeting because he wanted to give the issue a fair hearing. He especially wanted to hear from the staff and principals and have a discussion before the budget season "got away from us" in case there any compensation issues.

Drew Barrineau wanted to discuss modified blocks in middle school. He heard from all of his principals in his area.

Mike Stovall say that there are a lot of unanswered questions. He wants to know if the board should act on it, leave it alone, or fight for it.

David Wymer lead the discussion by turning it over to Dr. Lange.

She walked the board through the basic schedule for each level.

Background:
Elementary : 7 hour contract 6 hour 10 minutes instruction

Option #1: Extend the elementary/middle school contract to 7 hours 20 minutes.

Option #2 : Extend Elementary and Secondary schedule within the day by utilizing the end of the day planning time.

Option #3: Keep the schedule as it is and study further.


Change of policy...not contract.

Rebecca Eastwood gave an insight into elementary schedules. She talked about parallel blocks, floating schedules, and traditional schedules as well as the new encore schedule.

She's hearing that the elementary principals want more instructional time.

Jerry Canada asked if teachers aren't receiving a 45 minute "break." Dr. Lange replied that all teachers receive a 45 minute planning time...which is not the same as a break.

Principals spoke: Herman L Horne: Susan Brown spoke. Transition time is an issue. There is none currently built into the schedule. She said that the vote at her school was about 50/50 with 3-5 and special education teachers in favor of altering the schedule. Mike Stovall asked what students do at 7:30. It was explained that breakfast is a big player in the students' time. Ms. Brown suggested that the day run from 7:50 to 2:20.

Drew Barrineau questioned about the 50/50. Did the people who were opposed to it come up with alternative solutions?

Jerry Canada does NOT want to add more without compensating teachers.

Other principals: Mason's Cove voted 50/50.

Dr. Lange and Mr. Barrineau compared the extended elementary day to a middle school teacher teaching an extra class. She replied that elementary school teachers spend less time with children.

Fuzzy Minnix asked how the time would be spent if added. Dr. Lange replied that each principal makes their own schedule. She suggested that Math would most likely be an important focus.

Mike Stovall asked why teachers should be compensated extra for extending the day within their contract day.

David Wymer asked what goes on in the 7:30-7:55 time. Apparently schools don't do things the same. Many schools engage the students from the moment they come in.

Leigh Porter of Mountain View suggested that many teacher wanted to extend the day. She went on to discuss some creative scheduling opportunities.

Jodi Poff shared that the staff has discussed the issue. The majority seems to be in favor of extending the day. She did not take a vote. She shared that the instructional day starts from the moment the children walk in the door.

Amy Shank said that Burlington was overwhelmingly in favor of extending.

Drew Barrineau then shifted the discussion onto how the extended time would be used.

Math was the number one choice on an area to bolster.

David Wymer asked the same question. He noted that there really is no transition time built into the basic schedule. By having Encore time this year, the pressure on the afternoon planning time has been relieved.

Fuzzy Minnix asked about the support personnel and how it would affect their contracts.

Mike Stovall suggested that he would feel uncomfortable making decisions without giving the teaching staff the opportunity to have input. (Teachers and RCEA)

Jerry Canada feels like the idea of extending the contract without additional compensation doesn't make sense. How much more can we expect our teachers and support staff to extend the contractual day without compensation especially since they haven't receive any additional compensation for three years.

Dr. Lange said that elementary principals would be happy to go back to their staffs to discuss the extension of the day with compensation. (Survey Monkey)

Mary Wagner from Cave Spring Elementary spoke passionately about our needs in elementary. She believes that we are doing well already. Why are we rushing them from place to place? When do we actually have time to get to know them?

Jan Nichols at Glen Cove spoke to the problem with transitions and the lack of time between classes.

Drew Barrineau tried to boil it down to two issues. He questioned whether any further polling is necessary. Do we want to extend the day? Yes or No. If yes, then are we going to compensate them?

Jerry Canada spoke passionately in reply to Mary Wagner's words.


Moving on to Middle School

This live blogger is more in tune with elementary so please forgive him for playing a bit of catch up with the secondary issues.


Each principal spoke in favor of extending the day but only if the teachers are compensated for the additional time. One of their main concerns is that whichever plan is adopted, five minute transition time must be preserved.

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David Wymer wants this item to be kept on the information agenda for Thursday night.

Jerry Canada wanted to know what fair compensation would be for teachers if the day is extended. Dr. Lange thought that perhaps 2%.

David Wymer wants to act on this item at the school board meeting. The discussion clarified that this extension is not a budget issue.

Drew mentioned that this would NOT be a RAISE. It's a contract adjustment for certain people.

Survey Monkey was ditched... in favor of a an update on Penny Hodge's Budget Blog concerning what the board will be voting on Thursday night.

Boiled down: Look at policy 3.17 and will add on a report that teachers will be compensated for additional time.

• Elementary Impact: Extend the student day 20 minutes (7:50 to 2:15). Extend the teacher contract time by 20 minutes and compensate the teachers for the extra time.

• Middle/High School Impact: Extend the day by 10 minutes and extend the teacher contract time by 10 minutes with compensation.

Breaking News From Wisconsin...

A statement from Mary Bell, President of the Wisconsin Education Association Council(WEAC)

Tonight, Senate and Assembly Republicans pushed forward an extreme power grab with an unconscionable maneuver that split collective bargaining off from the fiscal items in the budget repair bill – rigging an 18-to-1 vote in the Senate. The Assembly will vote tomorrow.

This is heart wrenching and unconscionable – and we won’t back down. For weeks our members have pushed forward with aggressive advocacy to have their voices heard about the need to protect their rights. We’ve won the battle in the court of opinion – and we’ve exposed the truth behind Governor Walker and Legislative Republican’s motives.

I know this isn’t over. We are outraged, hurt and betrayed – but he will not break us.

I ask Wisconsin’s educators to be at work tomorrow as we coordinate with the Labor Coalition to determine next steps to make the voices of Wisconsin workers heard. This includes legal avenues, preparations for this weekend’s rally and recall efforts.

In talking about this, my message is that this isn’t what Democracy looks like and this won’t stop us from fighting for what’s right.

Mary Bell is correct. Democracy should not look like this.

No Sale

Tim Summers, RCEA vice-president recently shared his thoughts on the current state of education with the VEA Journal. Maybe one day, we will publish the actual whole piece where Tim told it more like it is.

No Sale

Why a school can't be run like a business.

by Tim Summers

This just in—public schools are to be run like businesses. Hallelujah! Finally, a model that will save failing schools, motivate apathetic students and teachers, and catapult America’s educated citizenry to the top of the world’s list of overachievers.

Just one problem: Schools are not now, nor have they ever been, remotely like a business. The business model cannot be made to fit the art and science of education. The process of awakening the mind and nurturing the growing intellect and natural curiosity of the student fares not at all well in a numbers-based business environment.

Students learn at different rates and, by nature, become prepared to receive information cognitively at different times. Given these real variables, and our emphasis on testing, only superficial understanding of concepts can be attained. In fact, only superficial understanding of concepts is required under the law. Which brings me to the point: Education is a process so dependent upon such a diversity of variables that the word “business” should be anathema to anyone associated with it.

This is the way I used to see it: Education cannot be seen as a business and cannot be subjected to the mechanics of applied business philosophy because education, as a system, is not designed to turn out a product with any degree of uniformity. Nor should this ever be its goal. That’s what businesses are for.

A business manufactures or markets a product which is economically produced and by its nature, therefore, exactly like or very similar to products of the same function. As long as similar models, be they Chevys, mouse pads or insurance policies, are produced and sold to consumers, everyone is happy and successful. In fact, theoretically, the longer a company is in business, the better it becomes at producing uniformity.

In education, there is no uniformity in product. If we consider the product of education to be an adequately educated student, we find that the raw materials required to produce it are so dissimilar that each individual unit is a different product altogether. A human being is a thinking, feeling, dynamic organism. Each child comes to education with different cognitive, emotional, social and economic resources. To expect each unit produced to possess the same attributes is ludicrous—not to mention the fact that I think most of us would agree that we expect and indeed celebrate differences among people.

Like I said, that’s the way I used to see it. Lately I have come to see things somewhat differently. The way the business model is actually being applied today is quite a different story. The product under this model is not the student: It is a score. The score determines the success of the business. A score fits much more easily into the concept of uniformity of product than does a human being. Very little consideration is given to individual circumstances and qualities of the raw materials. Bauxite makes aluminum, therefore children’s sub-cranial electro-fatty matter makes a score.

Let’s take this a little further. If the student is no longer the product, what is she? She is the employee. Her job is to produce the score. She works for the teacher who, in this analogy, is like a middle manager of a company, responsible for the productivity of the workers under him and beholden to the executives above him. The teacher could be rewarded lavishly if his team delivers an excellent product or, conceivably, be sanctioned or lose his job if productivity falls.

Now in the real business world, the middle manager assembles his own team of workers through the interviewing and hiring process and can fire employees who are hurting his team’s productivity. A teacher cannot do this, but must soldier on, seeking a way to reach every student, keeping all together in a protective, nurturing work environment, and never giving up on a single one.

There are, of course, other reasons why business and education don’t mix. Recently I heard it said concerning the preponderance of paperwork teachers are experiencing that, “You’re just getting a taste of what we in business have always done.” Poppycock! This extra work requires teachers who, by the way, are already working far in excess of their contracted hours out of a sense of responsibility (and for free), to put even more hours into the job, to the further neglect of their families and personal lives. Unfortunately, since there are only 24 hours in each day, students may begin to suffer as preparation time for their lessons and time for remediation opportunities fall victim to time spent by the teacher in test analysis and test administration itself.

When businesspeople put in extra hours, it’s usually to curry favor with one’s superiors, seek a promotion, or get some other purely materialistic reward. Businesspeople with comparable levels of education or even less than that of teachers, are as a rule given paid vacation and bonuses. Teachers are not paid for their “time off,” commonly viewed as vacation time. Actually, teachers are not paid for any time beyond their contracted hours spent in the school building. I have to work a couple of other jobs all year just to survive while supporting a family of four. I defy you to find a business professional who would be motivated to pursue a career with these excellent benefits.

While corporations typically sponsor trips, conventions, seminars and other training opportunities for their employees, teachers are often required to dip into their own pockets to pay for mandated training for license renewal. Some are forced to resort to the use of credit cards and other high-debt instruments in order to fulfill these obligations.

By the way, I realize that there are exceptions. There are people in business who are not rewarded in the aforementioned ways and there are teachers—not many—who refuse to work beyond the particulars of their contract.

But teachers do not teach for the money. Certainly not in Virginia, where in the 7th most prosperous state in the nation, teachers are paid near the bottom of the salary rankings among states. Teaching is done in service to society in general and to our communities specifically. Teaching is a service occupation and as such it once again does not fit the corporate model. Teachers ask for little in return for this service: Only that they be given the opportunity to teach as they know best how to do, that their students be successful in a variety of ways, and that they be afforded a modicum of the respect that they richly deserve.

As public support for education dwindles, as the media portray our schools as if they are all failing – it is always the schools that are failing, not the children, their parents or our society – teachers struggle to maintain their composure in the classroom, their morale in general and their love for their chosen profession. It’s a battle that, sadly, many of us seem to be losing.

Summers, vice president of the Roanoke County Education Association, teaches second grade at Oak Grove Elementary School.