Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) plan to close the ever-growing achievement gap between low and high income students with a new strategy: an extended school year. Two Silver Spring elementary schools have already extended the end of the 2018-2019 school year by five weeks. Arcola Elementary and Roscoe Nix Elementary were targeted because they have a particularly high number of students from economically disadvantaged families. The new initiative hopes to help these students boost their academic performance, but it also fails to recognize the issues of cost, effectiveness and negative attitudes that would result.
I live in this area. The schools already provide an extended school day through fee-free after-school programs in arts and supplementary instruction. The schools provide access to nutrition and health care. The schools provide early childhood education for students not yet in kindergarten. Why not ask the parents and students directly whether they would like more days of school? We have so many teachers and administrators commuting to Montgomery County from out of the area, that perhaps a pay cut could be used to finance the additional costs, or some of the additional cost coverage could come from funds already allocated to make MoCo as welcoming as possible. I am thinking of the grants that MoCo gives to non-profits, which lack the oversight to ensure that laborers earn the prevailing minimum wage, are covered by insurance, and are legally permitted to hold employment. https://wearecasa.org/hire-workers/
ReplyDelete--Michelle
https://www.afterschoolmaryland.com/excel-beyond-the-bell
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