Longer School Daze

Buffalo Superintendent Kriner Cash appears to be interested in lengthening the school day in the five schools that are designated for receivership. As the Buffalo News reports in the Sunday November 16^th edition, this is not a cure all.

The issue is not how much time students spend in school. This real issue is how this time is spent. Emphasis on the word “how.”

How will this time be used? Will it be put into a longer school day with extra time padded onto over sized classes? Or will the time be turned into extra periods for instruction with smaller class sizes? Or will it be a longer school year? Ever try to teach students in summer time? Or when other schools are on holiday (Christmas, Easter) break?

Will more teachers be brought into the school to help reduce class size and add more electives – music, art, history, and language arts classes beyond the core curriculum? The “fun courses” that students enjoy? Or will it just be more of the “same old boring stuff?”

What is the extra time being used for? Drill and kill for the state mandated exams? Exams that tell us absolutely nothing about the students except how they were doing on that one particular day, if that? Ever watch a student take an exam after breaking up with their girl or boyfriend? Or if they are getting over the death of a pet or a family member? Or saw an accident on the way to school Not a pretty sight. And the scores show it.

Or is this time being used to enhance and expand the curriculum? Add in meaningful literature and projects that the students will really learn from? Projects that will enhance the students' ability to learn and grow?

Will the teachers have extra time to meet with the students for mentoring? Or meet with each other to discuss problems and brainstorm solutions? Will teachers have time to plan lessons with each other?

What about the students' time? Will they have break times worked into their schedules? I have never been in a work environment that is strictly regimented like school is. Everyone needs a break. How will the students;' schedules look? Will the time be in the morning or afternoon? Transportation is an issue – how will students get to and from school? Bus drivers' schedules need to be considered.

Buffalo has a high poverty rate. How many students receive free or reduced lunches? Will this be expanded to a snack time? I have breakfast, a mid morning snack, lunch, a mid afternoon snack, and then go home for dinner. Will the students that need it have time to take a break and eat? We all need food – and a hungry student will not learn.

How is this gong to be paid for? The extra time in the buildings with come with extra costs in electricity for the lights, computers, air conditioning, and other electronic devices. And then in winter is the extra cost for running the boilers for heating. The federal government will only cover so much and for so long and then the costs are passed on to the district, And Buffalo is a high poverty district. Where will this money come from?

There's one sacrifice that is going to be made that no one wants to talk about. The high schools all have student clubs, activities, and sports teams. Will these groups still be able to meet? That's even more time out of everyone's day. And if those activities are cut – school morale will go down the tubes with it. Those types of activities (for some students) are the only reason they go to school. To take them away is to take away the only thing that gives school meaning.

And is this extra time going to be in a decrepit school building? Or one that has been renovated and updated? The physical environment of the school impacts learning. I would not want to try learning in a dank, dark, and dirty environment. Should students?

The Buffalo Teacher's Federation has stated that it is open to the additional time, provided that the teachers are properly compensated. It is good for them to let the discussion be started and have their demands out in front. They also need to hold the line on dragging teachers around. The teachers in the receivership schools are doing the best they can with the students they have. Many of them have relationships with the students that keep them (both teachers & students) coming back, hoping that maybe things will change and get better. To wreck these relationships is to wreck the whole goal of fixing the school.

Those are my questions about longer daze. If they are not answered properly, all we will have is a longer daze.