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Leonard Martin Press Release-NOW THEY WANT TO SHORTEN THE SCHOOL YEAR
The effort is now being made to solve the budget crisis by shortening the school year. Leonard Martin, candidate for State Superintendent of Public Instruction agues against this short sighted and dangerous path.
April 12, 2010
Press Release
By Leonard James Martin
Candidate for the State of California, Superintendent of Public Instruction 2010
NOW THEY WANT TO SHORTEN THE SCHOOL YEAR
Critics of traditional public education snidely scoff at time wasted on recess, home room, what passes as "physical education," the long summer vacation and a school day that's too short when there's so much to learn. Those self-appointed reformers applaud charter schools such as one in Oakland that doesn't waste time on many of these frivolities.
Instead it keeps the kids in school longer each and has them come on Saturdays. Some charters have made summer school compulsory.
But many administrators in traditional public school have joined the chorus that demands more time spent in the classroom. We wonder, though, if that time will be devoted to genuine education or will it be additional time wasted on preparing for standardized tests so that a district's schools will show some improvement when the next round of test scores is released. An extra hour a day memorizing questions from previous tests and learning all the other tricks designed to raise those scores isn't what education is supposed to be about.
Faced with massive revenue shortfalls and budgets that are unbalanced, those same administrators and their school boards are suddenly advocates of an entirely different approach. They want to shorten, not increase, the amount of time spent in the classroom.
From Temecula to Santa Rosa, and many big and little districts in between, superintendents, school boards and teachers' associations are drawing up plans to cut a week or more off either this or the next school year. Los Angeles has a plan to cut four days this year and five in 2010-11. It's not the result of any new educational theory. No one is paraphrasing Jerry Brown, claiming shorter is better. It's all about saving money... and jobs.
Despite all the hoopla, California didn't win big bucks in "The Race to the Top." Not only did we not win, we - literally - didn't even finish in the money. To please the president and his education secretary Arne Duncan, the legislature passed two horrendous educational "reform" bills that will have disastrous effects... and Obama gave the state zero dollars. The jobs that had been saved by stimulus money are now unfunded, and the layoff notices went out by the thousands this spring.
In an attempt to forestall layoff and eliminating programs like art, drama and music, teachers, boards and superintendents decided to shorten the school year. The governor, who had called for that last year as a solution to the budget gap, isn't moaning about how this will hurt test scores. No one is worried that cutting a week off the school year in L.A. might mean that a flock of kids will never know the difference between sit and set, or lay and lie. In an American history class it means the equivalent of omitting everything that happened after World War II. What part of the times tables will elementary kids never learn? Oh, instead of learning the elevens and twelve’s, we'll stop at ten times ten. Aren't there some French or Spanish adverbs that we can dispense with? Let's shorten the periodic table of elements. Some of them are surely unessential.
Yes, instead of finding the money to run our schools so that we can do all that we ought to be doing, cut the budget and shorten the school year. The kids will never know the differences.... will they? But Meg Whitman is right! Under no circumstances show we force commercial property to pay its fair share of taxes or make those who have benefited from society with their higher incomes pay a progressively higher tax on their wealth. If higher taxes of the rich or on prosperous businesses are the only solutions, let's shorten the school year. Surely all parents and students will cheerfully welcome that extra vacation time.
Leonard J. Martin
for the State of California, Superintendent of Public Instruction 2010
Leonardj.martin(at)gmail.com
P.O. Box 802888
Santa Clarita, California 91380-2888
http://leonardmartin.us/wordpress/
Best Regards,
Leonard J. Martin
Home (661) 297-4815
Cell (661) 400-0059
Press Release
By Leonard James Martin
Candidate for the State of California, Superintendent of Public Instruction 2010
NOW THEY WANT TO SHORTEN THE SCHOOL YEAR
Critics of traditional public education snidely scoff at time wasted on recess, home room, what passes as "physical education," the long summer vacation and a school day that's too short when there's so much to learn. Those self-appointed reformers applaud charter schools such as one in Oakland that doesn't waste time on many of these frivolities.
Instead it keeps the kids in school longer each and has them come on Saturdays. Some charters have made summer school compulsory.
But many administrators in traditional public school have joined the chorus that demands more time spent in the classroom. We wonder, though, if that time will be devoted to genuine education or will it be additional time wasted on preparing for standardized tests so that a district's schools will show some improvement when the next round of test scores is released. An extra hour a day memorizing questions from previous tests and learning all the other tricks designed to raise those scores isn't what education is supposed to be about.
Faced with massive revenue shortfalls and budgets that are unbalanced, those same administrators and their school boards are suddenly advocates of an entirely different approach. They want to shorten, not increase, the amount of time spent in the classroom.
From Temecula to Santa Rosa, and many big and little districts in between, superintendents, school boards and teachers' associations are drawing up plans to cut a week or more off either this or the next school year. Los Angeles has a plan to cut four days this year and five in 2010-11. It's not the result of any new educational theory. No one is paraphrasing Jerry Brown, claiming shorter is better. It's all about saving money... and jobs.
Despite all the hoopla, California didn't win big bucks in "The Race to the Top." Not only did we not win, we - literally - didn't even finish in the money. To please the president and his education secretary Arne Duncan, the legislature passed two horrendous educational "reform" bills that will have disastrous effects... and Obama gave the state zero dollars. The jobs that had been saved by stimulus money are now unfunded, and the layoff notices went out by the thousands this spring.
In an attempt to forestall layoff and eliminating programs like art, drama and music, teachers, boards and superintendents decided to shorten the school year. The governor, who had called for that last year as a solution to the budget gap, isn't moaning about how this will hurt test scores. No one is worried that cutting a week off the school year in L.A. might mean that a flock of kids will never know the difference between sit and set, or lay and lie. In an American history class it means the equivalent of omitting everything that happened after World War II. What part of the times tables will elementary kids never learn? Oh, instead of learning the elevens and twelve’s, we'll stop at ten times ten. Aren't there some French or Spanish adverbs that we can dispense with? Let's shorten the periodic table of elements. Some of them are surely unessential.
Yes, instead of finding the money to run our schools so that we can do all that we ought to be doing, cut the budget and shorten the school year. The kids will never know the differences.... will they? But Meg Whitman is right! Under no circumstances show we force commercial property to pay its fair share of taxes or make those who have benefited from society with their higher incomes pay a progressively higher tax on their wealth. If higher taxes of the rich or on prosperous businesses are the only solutions, let's shorten the school year. Surely all parents and students will cheerfully welcome that extra vacation time.
Leonard J. Martin
for the State of California, Superintendent of Public Instruction 2010
Leonardj.martin(at)gmail.com
P.O. Box 802888
Santa Clarita, California 91380-2888
http://leonardmartin.us/wordpress/
Best Regards,
Leonard J. Martin
Home (661) 297-4815
Cell (661) 400-0059
For more information:
http://leonardmartin.us/wordpress/
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