More time in school, with a drain on Chicago’s teachers
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CHICAGO –– Two years ago, Mayor Rahm Emanuel and public school officials faced a difficult predicament. They wanted to rectify the fact that Chicago had one of the shortest school days in the nation. But they didn’t have the money to pay the city’s 20,000 teachers to work more.
To make their plan economically viable –– and to end a weeklong teachers strike that resulted partly from their proposal for longer teacher hours without a proportionate pay increase –– they agreed with the union to rearrange the workday.
Before the change, teachers were typically required to arrive at least a half hour before their students each morning. They often used that time for staff or parent meetings and collaborating with colleagues.
Patrick Henry Elementary School Principal Januario Gutierrez, with student Camila Siles-Syrek, runs after-school enrichment activities in 10-week cycles so staff members can rotate who leads them to avoid burnout. (Armando L. Sanchez / Hechinger Report)
Now, more than a year after the strike, teachers are only contractually bound to arrive and leave at the same time as students, a proposition that many say they find absurd and leaves them working far more hours. Dozens report that the revised schedule has made two hallmarks of any successful school –– teacher collaboration and training –– more difficult.
The Hechinger Report informally surveyed 70 Chicago teachers from around the city, all enrolled in a class preparing for the prestigious National Board Certification, which recognizes distinguished teaching. When asked if they receive less training than they did before the longer school day began,