This is not what you might be expecting.
An online petition of the SCASD Board has been started that is asking for alignment of the SCASD and Penn State calendars. Here’s the link:
http://www.petitiononline.com/scasd10/petition.html
This has nothing to do with math education and I’m not urging visitors to the PQME site to sign. The only reasons I am posting about it on this site are (1) the nostalgia value of looking at another SCASD petition on the PetitionOnline website; and (2) my amazement that this petition has collected 550 signatures in a single day, clearly raising the bar on civil unrest directed at the Board.
OK, Steve – since you posted on this….
I absolutely appreciate the sentiments that gave rise to this petition. Indeed, a year or two ago, I too would’ve readily signed it.
This year, as a member of the curriculum committee that has generated the proposed SCASD calendar, I have a much greater appreciation for the many things the proposed version is trying to balance out or keep under consideration such as: instructional needs, timing of report cards, PSSA testing, weather, Grange Fair and other ag events, teacher prep time, availability of bus drivers & other staff, lack of air conditioning in elementary schools, availability of staff, record keeping needs, having a summer holiday, PSU’s schedule, professional development needs, keeping a predictable schedule, potential cost savings, coincidental alignment with religious holidays, etc. Frankly, if we addressed each of these individually and tried to please everyone (e.g., started after Labor Day, had full fall, winter, and spring breaks, kept 190 school days as contracted with teachers), well — our kids would pretty much be in school year round. Maybe that is something to consider in the future. Some districts and countries do this already. Plus, it addresses the summer ‘regression’ in academic skills that many kids may experience, but I seriously doubt that’s what most families would want.
From my perspective on the committee, I can assure you that all voices and concerns are welcomed and carefully considered, and I hope the Board will so the same when it comes to make a final decision as to the 2010-11 and future calendars. At the same time, I recognize that there will be dissatisfaction with the calendar despite our best efforts to balance kids’ instructional needs, teachers’ professional development needs, and family schedules.
There are several parents on the committee and these issues have been discussed in detail. As for the petition, I did read each and every comment. All make good points but in the larger picture may be a bit myopic. For example, I am especially mindful that while faculty members like myself are not teaching over spring break, my co-workers who are staff members are expected to be at work and must make child care arrangements if school is out for that week. So, not even all of the PSU-affiliated families would necessarily agree that spring break should be reinstated. In any case, I hope a district representative can adequately address these concerns at the board meeting.
Personally, I would find it quite helpful to have the PSU and SCASD schedules align. But I know that that this is not true for all families in the district, and may even create hardships for some.
Although I cannot speak for the district, students’ absence for families’ “educational field trips” seems generally considered to be acceptable. Truth be told, I will be traveling with my family this year over the 1/2 break, and agree it will be interesting and quite instructive to see how SCASD attendance that week is impacted overall. Regardless, I personally will have no qualms about traveling in subsequent years if the opportunity arises, will fill out the form ahead of time for approval (or not), and have my kids make up the work they miss. An inconvenience? Yes. But a complete impediment to family time and traveling? No.
My two cents, for what it’s worth
There’s a story in the CDT this morning about the petition and it’s interesting to read the comments – they are almost all against the petitioners. Very much town versus gown, and some faulting petitions in general.
My recollection from the spring when the CDT ran stories about math is that almost all the comments were supportive of the math petition. This despite the relatively slow rate at which we collected signatures on the math petition.
I can certainly see why faculty and some others at PSU want the change made, but I’m not sure facilitating vacations for the families of employees of PSU is going to trump the childcare headaches of those who aren’t able to take that time off of work.
It will be interesting to see the way this plays out. Math is not on the agenda for Monday night’s meeting, so I will be watching on TV.
Today’s news brought some giggles on my part.
Yesterday, reading comments on new petition here, I could have agreed with most of the points Barb brought in favor of changing calendar. I could have support most of them. However, listening to the morning interview today on the matter, I was surprised. Apparently, students came back from spring break last year and perform not so well on PSSA. This is why we needed calendar changes! The main factor of low scores is spring break! Logically would be the next statement subsequently: kids do not need any breaks from school (summer, winter, spring or fall) because it causes drop in level of education.
Before this interview, I could have agreed with Steve that this petition do not have anything to do with math and science. I think, this petition unexpectedly became related to curriculum all of the sudden. PSSA score is low not because of spring break, but bad math and science education due to bad curriculum, due to kids not prepared to science. It sounds as if “investigation” is letting kids to “discover” everything. However, after you “discovered” something, you would not forget after spring break or not. Might that “discovering” be a faulty one?
What interview? Is it available online?
Oh – here it is:
http://wearecentralpa.com/content/fulltext/news/?cid=141952
I am not sure if it available online. I heard it today morning on local channel WTAJ6(?). Interview with Mr. Mextorf.