It looks like Wake County students won't have to be in school for an additional 10 minutes a day this fall.
The state Board of Education agreed today on a process that will allow school districts to get a waiver from adding the additional five days of instruction for the 2011-12 school year. School districts would have to show how they're using those five days as teacher workdays to enhance student achievement.
Perhaps just as importantly for Wake parents, attorneys for the state Board said districts couldn't be required to add in the additional 25 hours of instruction to get waivers. They said district either had to have 185 days and 1,025 hours or waivers had to be granted for both.
Wake school officials said this week that they'd only extend the day if it was necessary to get the waiver.
The state Board will vote on waiver requests on July 7 so Wake should get a answer before year-round schools start July 11.
State board members warned that they'll be flexible this year with waivers because of the short time notice for the 2011-12 school year. They warned that might not be the case next year. But in Wake at least, Supt Tony Tata said they plan to revise the 2012-13 calendars to get in the additional days and hours.
Comments
Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeew
Fri, 06/24/2011 - 21:55 — FSandYOUThat was a close one.
WHY EDUCATE ALL?
Fri, 06/24/2011 - 13:26 — BlawgDawgMany are citing China and other countries' education systems as being better than ours, and test scores are the basis. It's not that hey go so many more days for their indoc---wait, I mean education, it's that they only educate the most academically capable children. When we compare scores, we should compare their scores against those of the American kids that are in the top classes. (Not the tops schools, because we know that even at schools like Enloe, the kids are separated by ability, though Enloers hate to hear that - even from their own students.)
Which comparison scores are
Fri, 06/24/2011 - 21:51 — red_balloonWhich comparison scores are you talking about?
As a teacher, thank you for
Fri, 06/24/2011 - 13:52 — luv2teachAs a teacher, thank you for that statement. It's true, however, they never factor in who and how these other countries educate!
The biggest difference
Fri, 06/24/2011 - 15:01 — shearertwThe biggest difference between our system and most of the rest of the world is that, generally, at a fairly early age, kids are directed into different "types" of education. Some of that is due to ability but much is often due to who your parents are. In the US, everyone has an equal opportunity to go as far as your abilities can take you, although parental support goes a long way towards getting you through those early years. In China, you can be fairly certain a government official's kid is going to be tracked into higher level education even if the ability is not there....That all leds to a lot of difficulty in comparing scores from China (for example) to here. Pretty much everyone tracking into higher education either has really really involved parents or kids that were ID'd with special abilities early on. However, there is no doubt that the top kids getting out of public HS's in the US are no where near their competitors in China and Europe. In the US, the catch up game begins for these kids in college and graduate schools. To survive at those levels, you have to be pretty good on your own....mommy and daddy can't help much anymore. By the time US born/educated students get through higher education, they're definately as competive as students from just about anywhere. Unfortunately, it doesn't appear that our system is keeping pace, at least in the high tech fields, with those other countries. Therefore, it seems we're (in the US) losing some kids along the way.
Why 180
Fri, 06/24/2011 - 13:06 — stevemichaelsWhy does the US stop at 180 days of instruction per year - most advanced countries exceed that figure - What education guru sits there and thinks - "you know what would make our high school kids more competitive? How about 3 straight months of no education each year!"
Why do the summer months
Fri, 06/24/2011 - 14:48 — shearertwWhy do the summer months have to be un-educational? There are tons of activities available for EVERYONE during those months that can be just as productive (if not more so) with regard to a person's education as attending a public school. In my opinion, that is time for kids to learn about thing not taught in public school. Not to mention, I'm pretty sure the public library remains open year round. Speaking of HS kids, how 'bout get a JOB!? What can be more educational than spending the summer WORKING!?
Job stats.
Tue, 06/28/2011 - 08:17 — Dove314I believe there have been several articles published recently on the challenges for high school age to find a summer job. The last one I read suggested only about 25% of those who applied this year were able to find a job due to the pool of available workers and the economy at this time. That would mean a lot of kids who wanted to work but couldn't.
that's true
Tue, 06/28/2011 - 09:32 — EBDarcyAnd many who do find work end up cobbling together several part-time jobs to get a decent number of hours. I don't see that changing for a few years. Even before the economic slump many of the summer internships companies used to offer were being cut to save money.
Of course this means that one of the reasons often mentionned against YR high schools is not much of a factor any more.
Time for High schools to go year round
Tue, 06/28/2011 - 09:26 — FSandYOUIf there are no jobs for them then that means there is no longer any excuse not to convert al high schools to year round and then that problem is solved.
The summer months are not un-educational
Fri, 06/24/2011 - 21:57 — FSandYOUWe're in school almost all summer long thanks to the last school board.