Will Extending the Ohio School Year Help Ohio's Students Be Successful?
Gov. Ted Strickland Proposes New Ohio Educational Reform
In Governor Strickland's 2009 State of the State Address , Mr. Strickland stated, "It is absolutely clear to me that simply tinkering with centuries-old education practices will not prepare Ohio's children for success in college, for success in the workplace, or for success in life. Therefore, today, I present my plan to build our education system anew."
According to a report that came out in January of 2009 by Education Week, Ohio schools rank the best in the Midwest and ranked sixth overall compared to the other fifty states and the District of Columbia.
Governor Strickland wants to start his reform in the Cleveland Municipal School District. The Cleveland school district has been lagging behind the rest of Ohio. The proposed education reform includes adding twenty more school days to the school year, taking the school year from 180 days to 200 days per year. That is a full extra month of school for the kids.
Education is constantly changing. Some of Governor Strickland's proposed education reforms will help lagging school districts catch up. We have two children in one of Ohio's school districts that is adjacent to Cuyahoga County's Cleveland School District. Our school district is doing exceptionally well with test scores in the eighty-fifth percentile and above on the Ohio Graduation Test. Extending the school year will not help to increase Ohio's education ranking or better prepare students for college or success in life.
Children should be allowed to be kids. That includes summer break, spring break, Christmas break, and all the other single day holidays that are included throughout the school year. Children need the down time to explore outside the classroom.
Not all education happens in the classroom. Summer break enables kids to play sports, take ballet, and do other extracurricular activities without it interfering with school work. This helps with leadership, cooperation, learning to play fair, and just having fun.
Summer breaks give older kids the opportunities to become the well rounded students that colleges look for. The students have ample time to work and still have fun. They can also have time to volunteer through their communities, churches, or national programs. Our community uses high school volunteers for day camps and safety town for five year olds.
Social skills are also enhanced over school breaks. Kids seek out friends instead of just hanging out with the kids in their classroom.
If the problem is in a handful of school districts, or just one school district, then we should focus our attention on the problem areas, not make statewide reforms. I appreciate that Governor Strickland's focus is going to start in the Cleveland Municipal School District, but what works there may not work in other school districts.
Is Governor Strickland's proposal to extend the school year a means to help parents with child care? If this is the case, then it is for all the wrong reasons. It is not up to the schools or the government to raise our children.
Some of Governor Strickland's proposed education reforms seem to be on the right track. Accountability among teachers is long overdue. Every employer should hold employees accountable for their jobs. There should be no guaranteed tenure after only three years. The education reform proposes a tenure after nine years. This gives the school district time to evaluate the teachers and their performance.
Education reforms are needed in some Ohio school districts but extending the school year is not necessary. Implementing other reforms such as teacher residency and job accountability will help our children become successful in college, their jobs, and life.
Sources:
Governor Ted Strickland's Education Reform and Funding Plan
http://www.trulia.com/school-district/OH-Medina_County/Brunswick_City_School_District/
Published by Kim Keason - Featured Contributor in Lifestyle
Full time mom, part time nurse, and part time freelance writer. View profile
- 8 Reasons to Consider Private School for Your ChildrenEveryone wants the best education they can get for their children. In that search don't overlook private schools for your kids even if you don't think you make private school kind of money.
- Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451: The Societal Implications of Book CensorshipRaymond Bradbury's depiction of society in 'Fahrenheit 451' aligns chillingly close with aspects of our own society today.
The Early Days of the Universal Studios Tour and the Curse of the Ten-Ye...1915 Hollywood sounds like the Stone Age to most people now. But it was actually a fascinating time when WWI hadn't started yet and Hollywood was a bustling industry. Universal...- Extending a Child's Bedtime for Summer Vacation: The Pros and ConsParents are often on the fence about relaxing their child's bedroom during summer break. This parenting article will help you make that decision.
- Ohio Education ReformTed Strickland is missing the key point in educational reform: we must understand and remove the key problem, before we can make any true progress.
- Freud's Consciousness and the Unconscious
- The Twelfth Day of Christmas & Three King's Day
- How to Host a Successful Oscar Night Party Without Breaking the Bank
- School Choice Under Fire in Ohio
- What Ever Became of the Kennedy 'Death Car' from Dallas?
- School Shootings Have Moved to Inner City
- AISD Budget Analysis
19 Comments
Post a CommentI agree with wingetal. Children have family obligations and we would not want to become strangers to our children. Extending the school day would limit our time with them even more, hurt church obligations, family trips/time and even cause issues with farm duties. I don't like this at all and if they do it I'm pulling my children out of Public School.
I know as far as my children they go to school all week,then when they get home it seems like there at the table doing homework till bedtime.I think this is just a way for them to take control of our children and not let the parents really be apart of there lives.I don't get to spend much time with them now,let alone if they go to school any longer.What about family vacations in the summer?Where is the family time suppose to come in?It's not they want control of our children and it's our job to try to stop it!
I think it is a bad idea the state already dont have the funds the way it is now, If they expand the school year then they will be cutting sports activities and ect. More students will drop out. And it only means more home work and teaching from the parents at home. The teachers dont teach anymore they consentrate on disipin while the parents teach.
The schools in ohio are already ranked high, just leave it that way and make sports or something better. better supplies. not more day.
i say that is would be wrong to do this, it makes no sense at all. we will hate school more than we do now.
why
ok if he does this i KNOW that kids will hate school. he is going to get shot or something because all the kids at my school HATE him. this is NOT going to work. colorado only has 167- something school days and they have a better education. this shows us that the problem is not the amount of days.. its something else.
I didn't realize Ohio ranks so highly. I live in Cleveland and attended Cleveland public schools and I don't think that extending the school year is what needs to be done. I went to East Tech High School and what they really need are books and more extracurricular activities. I agree that kids need their time off to explore hobbies and interests as well as have time to socialize and be kids. I think Strickland should spend more money on sports and other extracurricular programs because these types of things are what help to develop a student. They also need to purchase updated textbooks and other necessary learning supplies. Just because the school year may be longer does not mean the kids will learn more. I enjoyed reading this and I am going to pass it on to my friends who have kids attending Ohio schools.
Ohio already ranks 6th overall? Why does he want to mess with a good thing?! This will just make kids resent school.
Gov. Strickland needs to listen to Ohioans. Extending the school year will not help. Quit throwing money at the problems and wasting our time and children's education experience on nonsense.