Four Day School Week

[LuvOrlando]

OK horseshowmom, I am officially burying the poor dead horse, RIP

 

[torinsmom]

My girls were both just about 4 years, 9 months when they started K. They had no problems at all and were reading before they started K. It was a total non-issue.

Did your kids go to preschool and/or were you an involved parent who provided them with educational experiences? If so, I don't doubt they were ready. Many kids do not have those benefits. For every one like yours, I have at least 2 that don't even know their colors, and some do not even know how to rote count to FIVE! As I said in my previous post, it is very individual, but many are not developmentally ready for K before they are 5. If we did universal preK, I think we could have a January date, no problem. The kids I have in preK do awesome in kindergarten, even when they do not have involved parents, because they have the base they need to be successful.

 

[Pixiedust34]

We like the idea of a four day school week! With the high price of gas/energy and the hurting economy, it makes sense to cut back on the number of days the buses drive. It'll also help with energy reduction in the buildings.

 

[Pigeon]

Did your kids go to preschool and/or were you an involved parent who provided them with educational experiences? If so, I don't doubt they were ready.

No preschool, although almost every other kid in their class did go to preschool, so I'm not seeing as that's uncommon.

Of course we are involved parents. Practically every parent I know is an involved parent. I'm not saying that's the case everywhere (dh is a public school teacher). However, making a blanket statement that it's crazy for kids to start K at that age disregards all the many kids for whom it's just fine.

 

[torinsmom]

No preschool, although almost every other kid in their class did go to preschool, so I'm not seeing as that's uncommon.

Of course we are involved parents. Practically every parent I know is an involved parent. I'm not saying that's the case everywhere (dh is a public school teacher). However, making a blanket statement that it's crazy for kids to start K at that age disregards all the many kids for whom it's just fine.

I said it was crazy, because there are LOTS of kids who are too immature to be starting school when they are 4. Every parent I am friends with is involved, but when you are talking urban schools, there are lots of young, single parents and those who don't even make sure there child has enough to eat or clean clothes, much less help them with their homework. We have K's who don't even know where you start reading on the page of a book when they start. They don't know the top of the page from the bottom, they don't know the difference between a letter and a number. These kids don't have parents who pay for a good preschool. They are sent to the cheapest daycare around, or grandma "watches" them all day(they watch tv and run the neighborhood). So, yes, I do find it crazy that EVERY child who is 4 years 9 months can start K. That's my opinion, but you are free to have yours.

 

[mum4jenn]

We like the idea of a four day school week! With the high price of gas/energy and the hurting economy, it makes sense to cut back on the number of days the buses drive. It'll also help with energy reduction in the buildings.

Yes but besides cutting fuel used there is a driver going without a day of any pay for one day a week for 36 weeks.

 

[Acklander]

Yes but besides cutting fuel used there is a driver going without a day of any pay for one day a week for 36 weeks.

And with all the collective bargaining rights going away, I can almost guarantee that having a 4 day work week is just the excuse politicians will need to start cutting teachers pay/benefits.

 

[CdnCarrie]

I said it was crazy, because there are LOTS of kids who are too immature to be starting school when they are 4. Every parent I am friends with is involved, but when you are talking urban schools, there are lots of young, single parents and those who don't even make sure there child has enough to eat or clean clothes, much less help them with their homework. We have K's who don't even know where you start reading on the page of a book when they start. They don't know the top of the page from the bottom, they don't know the difference between a letter and a number. These kids don't have parents who pay for a good preschool. They are sent to the cheapest daycare around, or grandma "watches" them all day(they watch tv and run the neighborhood). So, yes, I do find it crazy that EVERY child who is 4 years 9 months can start K. That's my opinion, but you are free to have yours.

My son is starting Kindergarten this September. He won't be 5 until October.

Cut off date is December 31st.

Don't see anything wrong with it.

You can always keep your kid home for an extra year if you don't think they ready for it.


Up here teachers start at $45,000 and max out around $70,000. Think they make more if they have a Master's.

 

[torinsmom]

My son is starting Kindergarten this September. He won't be until October.

Cut off date is December 31st.

Don't see anything wrong with it.

You can always keep your kid home for an extra year if you don't think they ready for it.


Up here teachers start at $45,000 and max out around $70,000. Think they make more if they have a Master's.

The thing is, parents who CARE that their child is not ready keep them at home or in Preschool for another year. The parents that don't help their children look at it as free daycare, and could care less if the child isn't ready. Our cut off date used to be October 16th and they moved it back to August 31. I see less problems with kids who aren't developmentally ready since they changed the date.

In NC, teachers max out at $67K with a PhD and National Boards and 33+ years of experience. Someone else posted the link to our salary scale on the previous page. I have 13 years experience and a Masters right now. Once I get my National Board certification, I will be up to almost $49K. Maybe then I can quit my second job.

 

[MrsPete]

Are we still doing averages because averages are useless, I don't like them, never have and never will because they paint a distorted picture. How about we do the average income for an American citizen? I think the average HOUSEHOLD sits fairly high, should we all assume that's what everyone makes or maybe no because the real world doesn't work in averages.
http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/cats/income_expenditures_poverty_wealth.html

I vote for no because averages are derived by adding up everyone across the spectrum, dividing them by the number of participants and getting the number if things were shared equally. But things are not shared equally so the exercise really tells us nothing of any value. Average does nothing to tell me about who is sitting on either extreme of the spectrum and since I am only interested at those on the top end, and of those only the members who may be there due to time rather than skill averages are less than useful. The numbers out there have no relevance unless they will breakdown individual salaries constructed to reflect the mode, that would be useful and pertinent to my point. Even then the list would have to include both poor and wealthy districts, including exceptions, I don't think such lists exist.
( In case my point is now lost, my point is that high paid crummy teachers can be/should be replaced by potentially better teachers who will take less fresh out of school)

In NYC I seem to remember the teachers being paid very well and in other states the rates were really really high. Not that they don't deserve it, some do, but to say all teachers are suffering in poverty... well that's not quite true either.

I don't see why people have their fur up, unless you are a high paid teacher not worth your salary I'm not talking about you.

What are you talking about? No one was talking about averages. You said taxpayers would like to know what teachers earn. The link I provided was a salary scale. It tells exactly, to the penny, what every teacher in my state earns.

Well we homeschooled for K-2nd, but my daughter has one of those mid-October birthdays, and she was reading the Magic Tree House books and doing double digit multiplication (20X16) by the time she could have started K at 4 years 10 months...but no way would she have dealt with it emotionally/maturity wise. She made the K cutoff, not the private school cutoffs, and so we homeschooled.

You're exactly right: Being able to read and do math has nothing to do with emotional maturity. Being able to do those academic things doesn't mean she's ready to manage her own lunch, go to the bathroom by herself, make it a whole day at school.

And with all the collective bargaining rights going away, I can almost guarantee that having a 4 day work week is just the excuse politicians will need to start cutting teachers pay/benefits.

The majority of teachers in America aren't unionized and have never had collective bargaining rights, so I don't see the two as being connected. This change isn't about changing teacher hours, pay, or benefits -- it'd just alter the work schedule.

And it's too late to START cutting our pay -- that's already been done.

 

[CdnCarrie]

The thing is, parents who CARE that their child is not ready keep them at home or in Preschool for another year. The parents that don't help their children look at it as free daycare, and could care less if the child isn't ready. Our cut off date used to be October 16th and they moved it back to August 31. I see less problems with kids who aren't developmentally ready since they changed the date.

In NC, teachers max out at $67K with a PhD and National Boards and 33+ years of experience. Someone else posted the link to our salary scale on the previous page. I have 13 years experience and a Masters right now. Once I get my National Board certification, I will be up to almost $49K. Maybe then I can quit my second job.

Why are salaries so low in the U.S.? Canadian teachers make way more than that. And I've never heard of any major cuts to schools up here. In fact they are building new schools.

Why aren't teachers unionized down there?

 

[shaylyn]

Kinda sad that school is considered daycare

 

[torinsmom]

Why are salaries so low in the U.S.? Canadian teachers make way more than that. And I've never heard of any major cuts to schools up here. In fact they are building new schools.

Why aren't teachers unionized down there?

Some states have unions and those states tend to pay their teachers better. Those are the salaries that always come up in threads where people are complaining how teachers get paid so much for PART TIME work. NC is one of the lowest paid, and coincidentally, our students are some of the lowest performing. We got millions cut from education last year and on top of those cuts, millions more this year. It is sad when you think that the kids are the ones who lose.

Kinda sad that school is considered daycare

It is truly sad. We have a preK program at our school, and I am always shocked that people will apply for a lottery spot, get in, then pull their kid to go to a different school once they get their free "day care". It's a Montessori program, so it is beneficial if kids are in the class for both years. Instead, we have to take K's who have no previous knowledge of Montessori.

 

[bigmerle1966]

:The salary you think veteran teachers are making is just too ridiculous to get past.

In my county the range for teachers is $33 to $102K a year.

A teacher I know who worked in another county retired about 5 years ago. He was a HS science teacher and was making $125K at the time of retirement. He had been a teacher there for 30 years.

 

[Cinderella94]

In my county the range for teachers is $33 to $102K a year.

A teacher I know who worked in another county retired about 5 years ago. He was a HS science teacher and was making $125K at the time of retirement. He had been a teacher there for 30 years.

Oh wow! If you're not comfortable putting it on the DIS I completely understand, but do you mind my asking what county that teacher worked in? (I only ask because mom is a teacher in MD as well, with her Masters, teaching for 19-20 years now I believe, making nowhere near that amount...maybe we should move ).

 

[taylor1293]

I have mixed feelings on the 4-day school week. I can see the positives and negatives of implementing a shortened week. I teach in Florida and my district hasn’t mentioned this as a possibility. However, if massive budget cuts continue and other districts are successful with their implementation of the 4-day week, I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s something that we turn to in the near future.

As for salaries, my district starts their teachers at around $37,500. With your PhD and 30 years, you receive around $68,500. We are a district that is unionized. That doesn’t mean that everyone is a union member, it means that it is optional. I believe around 55% of our teachers are members.