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| Township H.S. Dist. 214 Supt. David Schuler: "Our kids are more than a standardized test score." |
Memo to Mayor Rahm Emanuel:
Remember, you banked your entire school improvement plan for Chicago on an imposed longer school day? More seat time for students with no plan for how that time would best be used. And no plan for how to pay for it. You told us that your change model was Houston, TX and even made up this cock-and-bull story to make your point.
"If you start in the Chicago Public School system in kindergarten," offered Rahm, "and your cousin lives in Houston, and you both go all the way through high school, the cousin in Houston spends three more years in the classroom."But Rahm, do you see what they're doing in wealthier and whiter northwest suburban districts, like Township H.S. Dist. 214 where today, the school board will vote on a plan to make the school day shorter, start school later, and put a limit on homework? Under the new plan, students would still receive the same hours of instructional time. But the school day would be restructured with the health and well-being of students in mind.
The plan aims to reduce stress and let students get more sleep for the students who attend schools in six suburbs. The plan also proposes to ease up on the amount of homework.
"We've come to the decision that our kids are more than a standardized test score. We want them to be well rounded global citizens who can contribute in a meaningful way," said District 214 Superintendent David Schuler. -- ABC7 NewsWow! What a concept.
Oh, and BTW Rahm, here's the latest news from Houston:
Alicia's daughter came to Texas two years ago and began third grade in HISD. Since then, she has not conducted a single science experiment, has never had a social studies lesson and has been assigned one book to read in class. Instead Alicia's daughter has taken 75 practice STAAR tests and has completed approximately 1,200 STAAR prep worksheets.
Parents have had enough. We are opting out, or boycotting the STAAR test, to support stronger public schools and to oppose the high-stakes testing culture that is making our schools worse, not better.
The industrial model of educationat the high school level - 6 classes back-to-back, 4-minute transition periods, 22-minute lunches, is failing our children.
ReplyDeleteNot only are the days too long for
At the high school level, teachers are expected to teach bell-to-bell. Students then have a 4-minute transition period to get from one class to another. So we throw information at them in 50-minute chunks, and then they have only 4 minutes to switch gears.
The result is that most of the students are disengaged and hate school - but that might be the intent of Rahm and the Establishment.
The last thing they want is an engaged, questioning citizenry.
In many elementary schools, subs teach art or "library" in an empty room(since there are no libraries anymore)in order to fill up the extended school day. Children and teachers leave school exhausted and often angry. There is no money for classroom teachers much less art, computer, library, or music teachers. SpEd children are being inappropriately mainstreamed counter to their IEPs. Classroom instruction is halted due to all the idiotic tests forced down the throats of children and teachers. rahm has done a great job of totally destroying education in Chicago. No wonder the violence in Chicago is increasing. He can hire as many police as he wants and it is not going to stop until he starts respecting teachers and their knowledge, respecting cultures and what they bring to Chicago, respecting working people and their expectations for fairness at the bargaining table as well as in retirement, etc. All that has been lost since he flew in to destroy this city. He is oblivious to it all. Note his appointment of Andrea Zopp who is to work to improve the neighborhoods she helped destroy by closing 50 neighborhood schools. A high-paying, made-up position for a useless person. Bravo rahm.
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