http://www.king5.com/story/news/local/seattle/2015/09/12/seattle-teachers-school-officials-continue-talks/72166570/
Tommorrow will be the fourth day Seattle public schools is closed due to a teacher strike going into it's second week. The district put money into a plan to add 20 minutes to the school day. They offered compensating the teachers for the extra time spent teaching even though they planned it so that the teachers' work day is not getting longer. The district already has the shortest school day in the state at 6 hours and 10 minutes while everyone else's day is 6.5 hours. This teacher strike might come back to bite the teachers, students, and district all because the 3 snow days built into the school calendar year have been used up by this strike. Graduation will also have to be put off until the district makes plans for the end of the year. The district is stuck between making holidays shorter, or the school year longer, both of which are exactly the opposite of what the teachers have been trying to achieve. The city of Seattle, meanwhile, has plans to provide all-day daycare due to school not being in session starting Monday.
I think that the teachers got away with the day being 20 minutes shorter than everyone else's in the state for a good while, but it is coming to an end and the district is trying to keep up with the state. But, I also think the teachers are right because they have to come up with more material to cover 20 more minutes even though they are getting paid for time that is already allotted in their work day. This is already a no-win situation because they will have to make up days anyways so the district is in a bad spot and so are the teachers. The students will probably be less prepared for mid-terms, finals, and tests in general if the strike keeps up for much longer because shorter holidays, longer days or a longer school year will keep them in school more than they are used to and make them more stressed.
This just goes back to the fact that statewide or nationwide exams aren't really doing kids good and teachers are teaching to the test to please the district, not to really get kids to learn or enjoy learning.
What a shame to know that spoiled Americans once again don't appreciate the opportunity of school. The wasted days of strike could make the difference in the students border lining the state test, the line to pass or fail. Kids who aren't given the free education today would travel hours on feet and pay large sums of money for 20 more minutes in class. - Cassidy Jones
ReplyDeleteGranted, no one really wants to be at school, even if it's 20 minutes longer. I think these teachers should be more considerate towards the children they are refusing to give an education to for the past three days. (Bella Di Fazio pd:8)
ReplyDeleteI agree that many teachers teach by the test, which to me is not the point of assuming a position as a teacher. Teachers should be dedicated to the success of their students. An extra twenty minutes of class time to help students for their exams should not be such a dreadful addition to the school day, and frankly the reactions of the teachers seemed immature to me.
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