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Hawaii's school year cut

Goobieman

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Hawaii's school year cut
By Mark Nissen - The Associated Press

HONOLULU -- At a time when President Obama is pushing for more time in the classroom, his home state has created the nation's shortest school year under a new union contract that closes schools on most Fridays for the remainder of the academic calendar.

The deal whacks 17 days from the school year for budget-cutting reasons and has education advocates incensed that Hawaii is drastically cutting the academic calendar at a time when it already ranks near the bottom in national educational achievement.

While many school districts have laid off or furloughed teachers, reduced pay and planning days and otherwise cut costs, Hawaii's 171,000 public schools students now find themselves with only 163 instructional days, compared with 180 in most districts in the U.S.

Hawaii's school year cut - Nation & World - TheSunNews.com

:shock:

So, the teacher's union decided that the jobs of its members are more important than the education of their students, in a school system that already ranks at the bottom.

:shock:

Woohooo union! Yea union! Way to put the important things first!!
 
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With all the restructuring for health care going on - and giving that top-notch importance - it really angers me to think of all the educational benifits which could come from the same restructuring, but it's being deemed less important.
 
So, the teacher's union decided that the jobs of its members are more important than the education of their students, in a school system that already ranks at the bottom.

Sorry pal but this is no surprise at all. I fear the old adage that says; Those who can do and those who can't teach, maybe truer today than ever before. I have spent time teachers and I'm sorry to have to report the problems go much deeper than their Unions. The education being received in college seems to equal an 10th grade education in the 20s and 40s and a 12th grade of the 60s. Next tine you talk with a high school student ask them about the Constitution. You don't have get into details just ask something simple like what is the Bill of rights? The lack of correct answers will shock you, and the big surprise in that their teachers in some cases can't answer it either. In the 60 in California you had had to study and pass a Constitution test in order to graduate from the 8th grade. The standards have been dropped and the grading system eroded to the point where every student is being dragged down to the lowest level rather than being lifted up to the highest level. They don't want to upset someone by failing them. It's the same in sports where everyone who participates gets a trophy even if they suck. It teaches children they don't have to work hard to be given a pat on the back. Parents with poor educations and low expectations accept and have pride in their under achieving children and it's rampant in the schools because the teachers don't know any better. It's not all teachers some are as upset as I have been over this, but this contributes to the attitude that the job is more important than the future which is the children.
Again it's not all teachers and it's not all children. A quick check will show you that home schooled children have a better education because Mom and Dad care and get involved.
 
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So, the teacher's union decided that the jobs of its members are more important than the education of their students, in a school system that already ranks at the bottom.

Sorry pal but this is no surprise at all. I fear the old adage that says; Those who can do and those who can't teach, maybe truer today than ever before. I have spent time teachers and I'm sorry to have to report the problems go much deeper than their Unions. The education being received in college seems to equal an 10th grade education in the 20s and 40s and a 12th grade of the 60s. Next tine you talk with a high school student ask them about the Constitution. You don't have get into details just ask something simple like what is the Bill of rights? The lack of correct answers will shock you, and the big surprise in that their teachers in some cases can't answer it either. In the 60 in California you had had to study and pass a Constitution test in order to graduate from the 8th grade. The standards have been dropped and the grading system eroded to the point where every student is being dragged down to the lowest level rather than being lifted up to the highest level. They don't want to upset someone by failing them. It's the same in sports where everyone who participates gets a trophy even if they suck. It teaches children they don't have to work hard to be given a pat on the back. Parents with poor educations and low expectations accept and have pride in their under achieving children and it's rampant in the schools because the teachers don't know any better. It's not all teachers some are as upset as ii have been over this, but this contributes to the attitude that the job is more important than the future which is the children.
Again it's not all teachers and it's not all children. A quick check will show you that home schooled children have a better education because Mom and Dad care and get involved.
 
Hawaii's school year cut - Nation & World - TheSunNews.com

:shock:

So, the teacher's union decided that the jobs of its members are more important than the education of their students, in a school system that already ranks at the bottom.

:shock:

Woohooo union! Yea union! Way to put the important things first!!

The area that I live in cut school days down from mon-fri to mon-thurs. The days are a bit longer though. Our kids have actually done better grade wise than they were with the normal mon-fri school week.
 
Sorry pal but this is no surprise at all. I fear the old adage that says; Those who can do and those who can't teach, maybe truer today than ever before. I have spent time teachers and I'm sorry to have to report the problems go much deeper than their Unions. The education being received in college seems to equal an 10th grade education in the 20s and 40s and a 12th grade of the 60s. Next tine you talk with a high school student ask them about the Constitution. You don't have get into details just ask something simple like what is the Bill of rights? The lack of correct answers will shock you, and the big surprise in that their teachers in some cases can't answer it either. In the 60 in California you had had to study and pass a Constitution test in order to graduate from the 8th grade. The standards have been dropped and the grading system eroded to the point where every student is being dragged down to the lowest level rather than being lifted up to the highest level. They don't want to upset someone by failing them. It's the same in sports where everyone who participates gets a trophy even if they suck. It teaches children they don't have to work hard to be given a pat on the back. Parents with poor educations and low expectations accept and have pride in their under achieving children and it's rampant in the schools because the teachers don't know any better. It's not all teachers some are as upset as I have been over this, but this contributes to the attitude that the job is more important than the future which is the children.
Again it's not all teachers and it's not all children. A quick check will show you that home schooled children have a better education because Mom and Dad care and get involved.

Just as long as you aren't making a blanket generalization. The fact of the matter is teachers make pretty good wages these day and most have masters degrees to go along with the job.

In regards to your complaints about the constitution; they're actually true. The educational system nationwide has moved away from the idea of teaching information. We are now told that in order to be relevant we need to teach kids not just facts but how to find them, where to find them, and what to do with them once they find them. In short, we need to teach children how to learn.

Personally, I think we've gone to far. I think we teach too much information to to little depth. I think kids really need to know facts, along with about a million other things. I also think they need more time in the classroom, not less. What the article didn't indicate and I would like to know; are the other school days lengthened or do they stay the same. If they are lengthed as they've done in some school districts in my state the kids will get roughly the same amount of instructional time. Still not enough in my opinion but what the heck, I just do what the state department of education tells me through my superintendent and principle.

BTW, just in case you didn't know teachers unions are a huge impediment to the education of your children. They seem to exist to simply funnel a percentage of the workers wages into the democratic party coffers whether the teachers want them to or not. I do not now, nor will I ever, join any teachers union if they contintue to operate the way they do now.
 
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The area that I live in cut school days down from mon-fri to mon-thurs. The days are a bit longer though. Our kids have actually done better grade wise than they were with the normal mon-fri school week.
I have heard of schools that have done this, with the total instructional hours remaining the same. I do not believe this is the case in HI.

Ohio schools are headed to 200 days. The teachers unions are already complaining.
 
The area that I live in cut school days down from mon-fri to mon-thurs. The days are a bit longer though. Our kids have actually done better grade wise than they were with the normal mon-fri school week.

Your children's grades matter far less than what they are doing on the yearly standardized tests.
 
they cut teacher pay by 8% and made an equitable cut in teacher hours

what kind of union would agree to an 8% cut in pay without some offsetting benefit

like the other posters, i agree cutting days in school is a poor place to go to get your budget cuts

but this stinks of a government/electorate which has its priorities misplaced, that it would abbreviate the amount of time for the students to attend public schools

read an interesting article recently about testing of poor urban and affluent suburban school systems. seems the poor students did as well on the tests as their affluent counterparts, when the tests were semester to semester, when measuring academic growth. the annual scoring difference was found to be due to the gains achieved in the summers. the affluent kids, who got to travel and attend camps and receive special instruction showed educational performance gains during the summers. the poor kids, without those same opportunities to develop their mental abilities showed negligible gains. over the course of a 12/13 year public education the affluent kids had a tremendous accululated advantage. the point being, if we want to have a world class economy we must educate our kids on par with the most advanced academic performing nations. we are not providing what our kids need to be competitive and they are scoring at inferior academic performance levels as a result. where are our nation's priorities ... are we, the other 49 states, almost as bad as hawaii?
 
Schools will logically lay off teachers if the money isn't there, which in turn increases classroom sizes. If they're now cutting the year short, then it must mean that they aren't willing to increase classroom sizes anymore, and I think this is ultimately a good thing. Having 40+ kids in a class with one teacher and no assistants is pretty useless. The teacher will spend half their time disciplining and not teaching.
 
they cut teacher pay by 8% and made an equitable cut in teacher hours...what kind of union would agree to an 8% cut in pay without some offsetting benefit
One that cares more about the end result of their professional efforts than their own compensation?
One that puts the needs of their children over their own?

but this stinks of a government/electorate which has its priorities misplaced, that it would abbreviate the amount of time for the students to attend public schools
This is very true.
 
Schools will logically lay off teachers if the money isn't there, which in turn increases classroom sizes. If they're now cutting the year short, then it must mean that they aren't willing to increase classroom sizes anymore, and I think this is ultimately a good thing.
This is only true if the loss of efficacy from increased class size is more than the loss of efficacy in a ~10% reduction in class time.

I think you'll have a hard time showing this to be the case.
 
As long as they leave that extra minute to recite the "Pledge of Allegience", I'm cool with it....:)
 
This is only true if the loss of efficacy from increased class size is more than the loss of efficacy in a ~10% reduction in class time.

I think you'll have a hard time showing this to be the case.

It's not as simple a a cost/benefit analysis. It's up to the school board to determine for their district which is more valuable to them. It's easy for us to judge but they have their own values. I don't think it's as black and white as saying the union is greedy and would rather delay schooling in order to avoid laying off teachers.

There is also no indication in the OP if the schools will or won't be compensating for the loss of time. For example, maybe kids will be given material to look at when they're at home; maybe they will be given online resources. I don't know, I'm just positing.
 
Your children's grades matter far less than what they are doing on the yearly standardized tests.

If they're doing good grade wise then they will no doubt do good on the standardized tests since the same stuff is covered either way.
 
read an interesting article recently about testing of poor urban and affluent suburban school systems. seems the poor students did as well on the tests as their affluent counterparts, when the tests were semester to semester, when measuring academic growth. the annual scoring difference was found to be due to the gains achieved in the summers. the affluent kids, who got to travel and attend camps and receive special instruction showed educational performance gains during the summers. the poor kids, without those same opportunities to develop their mental abilities showed negligible gains. over the course of a 12/13 year public education the affluent kids had a tremendous accululated advantage. the point being, if we want to have a world class economy we must educate our kids on par with the most advanced academic performing nations. we are not providing what our kids need to be competitive and they are scoring at inferior academic performance levels as a result. where are our nation's priorities ... are we, the other 49 states, almost as bad as hawaii?


Interesting, bubba !
 
where are our nation's priorities ... are we, the other 49 states, almost as bad as hawaii?

I enjoyed your post, and it makes sense.

Unfortunate in North America there seems to be a trend toward cutting education and health care before anything else. They are usually the first to go.
 
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