Last Friday we received a letter in the mail from our childrens' school district.
I won't read it to you word for word - I'll save you the gory details...
It basically read that due to budget cuts all of the schools in our district would have 4 less school days this year.
Unbelievable.
I know my kids were ecstatic when they heard the news, but for me, not so much.
I feel like our kids are getting short-changed as it is...less hours of instruction, overcrowded classrooms, dropping arts programs left & right. Now they just want them to sit at home and do nothing all day. Really? Seriously?
I'm sad that I'm seeing this happening. I'm sad because while my kids are pretty good while left to their own devices (they are really good boys)...there are plenty of parents out there that have children that should not be left alone - and that are TOO YOUNG to be left on their own.
And don't even get me started on what this does to the teachers! They aren't getting paid for these days off of course. It's just really, really sad.
I think on those extra 4 days off, I'm going to spend half of the day challenging my boys to do something educational and the other half loving on them.
Something positive has to come out of this right?
Thanks for listening to me vent.
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
Checking out your page – you left a comment at my little blog the other day….Our school district in NC (I’m an 8th grade teacher and the mother of two school-age boys) cut 18 days out of our school year this year but added 1.5 hours to each day. It works out to the same number of contact hours. It was either that or lose teacher positions and raise class sizes. I’ve enjoyed the extra time with each of my classes – I definitely get more accomplished. Although there are disadvantages such as childcare, I think anything we can do to keep class sizes down is worth it in the long run. I wish there was a simple answer to our states’ budget woes.
KP