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Tuesday, December 4, 2012

300 HOURS « Teachers Fight Back

300 HOURS « Teachers Fight Back:


300 HOURS

I saw a news report about several states passing laws that would require 300 more hours of school for each student.  That would figure out to be about an extra month of attendance days. Most teachers already are in school from mid August until mid June.  If you throw in another 300 hours, that would make most schools virtually year round, at least for the teachers who need to add more prep time at the beginning and end of the school year. I hope the teachers in those situations are going to be adequately compensated and have access to good mental health facilities, they’ll need it.
It’s just amazing how people continue to look for the magic bullet to increase student achievement. If only the students had more hours in school. If only every teacher was an excellent one. If we just had the right curriculum and used the right methods in our schools. If we could make all of our schools to be year round schools. If we just put more emphasis on science and math in the classroom.  If we could make sure our students all receive