Saving your Summer?
A few months ago I learned that in the state of Virginia school districts must have special permission from the State Board of Education if they want to start the school year before Labor Day. This is often referred to as the King's Dominion Law (after the King's Dominion theme park) because the tourism industry lobbied to get the law enacted so they would have (cheap) teen-age labor available through Labor Day. Since tourism is so important in Florida, I was surprised that Virginia has had that law since 1986 and we don't. Not yet. Save Our Summers (SOS) is a Florida-based grass-roots effort to enact just such a law. And, as expected, they have support from our big tourist attractions.
Several counties in Florida have moved the start date up to the beginning of August. Orange County (OCPS), where I teach, did this several years ago. There are certainly some things not to like about starting the school year at the beginning of August, but here are three things I really like about it: we have the same number of days in both the fall and spring semesters, the fall semester ends before winter break in December, and we get two full weeks for winter break. Oh, and our students are out of school before Memorial Day, which obviously is less important to parents than Labor Day although I'm at a loss to explain why.
Some counties justify the change to allow more time to prepare for the state-mandated assessment (FCAT). The FCAT is administered in late February or early March and how well students perform is a primary means of assigning a grade and certain funds to each school. While it seems logical that a few extra weeks to prepare might help improve test scores, I haven't seen any research yet that proves that. And, despite claims made on the SOS website, I haven't seen any research that refutes it either. Neither do I have proof that giving semester exams immediately before winter break is better than giving them two weeks after the break as we used to do, but I still prefer the current schedule.
What I find most disturbing about the debate, and I'm being very charitable to characterize it as such, is the level of emotion that groups such as SOS have attached to it. There is a transcript (badly in need of editing, by the way, but you can get the gist of it) of an interview with Sherry Sturner, founder of SOS, by Tucker Carlson that refers to "a disturbing trend growing in America even as we sleep: cutting summer vacations short". And, "This is something out of a horror movie. First they go after Christmas and now there's actually a move afoot to cut short summer vacation. It can't be real."
We have not stolen the summer from our children. I am still employed 10 months out of the year. It used to be from around the end of August until around the middle of June. Now it is from the beginning of August until the end of May. Mr. Carlson is either far too easily horrified or far too desperate for ratings.
Parents in South-Florida's Broward County protested the early start date planned for next year. When the school board voted to keep it as planned, parents shouted and stomped out of the meeting vowing to vote the board out of office in the next election. While I support and applaud their right to vote as they see fit, I find it unfair to claim that the board failed to listen simply because they disagree. Ms. Sturner attended that meeting with a petition signed by local parents. But the board did exactly what it is supposed to do, acting in what they believe is the best interest of the students. They gave far more valid reasons, in my opinion, for keeping the earlier start date than the parents did for wanting it later. (Usually I find school boards are much too quick to bow to parental pressure.)
A very wise friend of mine says that you can't reason someone out of a decision they didn't reason themselves into. When "reasons" are emotional reactions rather than logical conclusions, neither side of the argument makes any progress. The fact that the calendar was different when you were in school is in no way a logical reason for keeping it the way it was. I can't in good conscience give your child the same education you got. They don't live in the same world you did. They deserve much better from us. If moving your vacation plans by a few weeks is part of the price you have to pay, it seems like spare change to me.
Technorati tags: Saving your Summer? Part One~blog~education~sensations
Several counties in Florida have moved the start date up to the beginning of August. Orange County (OCPS), where I teach, did this several years ago. There are certainly some things not to like about starting the school year at the beginning of August, but here are three things I really like about it: we have the same number of days in both the fall and spring semesters, the fall semester ends before winter break in December, and we get two full weeks for winter break. Oh, and our students are out of school before Memorial Day, which obviously is less important to parents than Labor Day although I'm at a loss to explain why.
Some counties justify the change to allow more time to prepare for the state-mandated assessment (FCAT). The FCAT is administered in late February or early March and how well students perform is a primary means of assigning a grade and certain funds to each school. While it seems logical that a few extra weeks to prepare might help improve test scores, I haven't seen any research yet that proves that. And, despite claims made on the SOS website, I haven't seen any research that refutes it either. Neither do I have proof that giving semester exams immediately before winter break is better than giving them two weeks after the break as we used to do, but I still prefer the current schedule.
What I find most disturbing about the debate, and I'm being very charitable to characterize it as such, is the level of emotion that groups such as SOS have attached to it. There is a transcript (badly in need of editing, by the way, but you can get the gist of it) of an interview with Sherry Sturner, founder of SOS, by Tucker Carlson that refers to "a disturbing trend growing in America even as we sleep: cutting summer vacations short". And, "This is something out of a horror movie. First they go after Christmas and now there's actually a move afoot to cut short summer vacation. It can't be real."
We have not stolen the summer from our children. I am still employed 10 months out of the year. It used to be from around the end of August until around the middle of June. Now it is from the beginning of August until the end of May. Mr. Carlson is either far too easily horrified or far too desperate for ratings.
Parents in South-Florida's Broward County protested the early start date planned for next year. When the school board voted to keep it as planned, parents shouted and stomped out of the meeting vowing to vote the board out of office in the next election. While I support and applaud their right to vote as they see fit, I find it unfair to claim that the board failed to listen simply because they disagree. Ms. Sturner attended that meeting with a petition signed by local parents. But the board did exactly what it is supposed to do, acting in what they believe is the best interest of the students. They gave far more valid reasons, in my opinion, for keeping the earlier start date than the parents did for wanting it later. (Usually I find school boards are much too quick to bow to parental pressure.)
A very wise friend of mine says that you can't reason someone out of a decision they didn't reason themselves into. When "reasons" are emotional reactions rather than logical conclusions, neither side of the argument makes any progress. The fact that the calendar was different when you were in school is in no way a logical reason for keeping it the way it was. I can't in good conscience give your child the same education you got. They don't live in the same world you did. They deserve much better from us. If moving your vacation plans by a few weeks is part of the price you have to pay, it seems like spare change to me.
Technorati tags: Saving your Summer? Part One~blog~education~sensations
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