just overheard the school admin sounding suprised that there are so many kids on the SACC waitlist. maybe because half day mondays are bullshit? how do teachers get away with that?

The fish rots from the head - when the school board cancels the last few days of school because of unused school days, when the SOL's become the maximum that is teacher versus a minimum standard - the entire system is designed around doing the least possible. And that starts with the SB.

This is actually something the Teacher's Union has clung onto since the 1970's

I can tell you part of the reason SACC's waitlist is so long is that any other daycare center in the county is going to charge a MINT to use their services- they KNOW the waitlist is long and they KNOW the wait for childcare assistance subsidies in the county is long so they know parents have no choice BUT to pay their high rates if they want to keep going to work.

With people losing their jobs/being downsized/having to take a paycut or be unemployed left and right, EVERYONE is looking for less- expensive child care.

If you're making less than 60k in this county and have a kid, good luck because kindercare is going to want $325/week for your infant child (thats $1300/month JUST for child care!) ...and good luck finding cheaper care that isn't some unlicensed immigrant lady in someone's house...

and mondays being 1/2 days...the teachers are just being LAZY.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/01/2012 03:30PM by flight risk.

Hey!
I went to school when elementary went a full Monday.

When Monday became Early release, it added 30 minutes to the school day, Tues, Weds., Thurs. and Friday.

If the county goes back to Full day Monday, I would expect ES to shave that 30 minutes off.
More parents would need SACC coverage for Tues- Friday.


-------------------------------------------------------
> just overheard the school admin sounding suprised
> that there are so many kids on the SACC waitlist.
> maybe because half day mondays are bullshit? how
> do teachers get away with that?

I've never heard of half day Monday's anywhere else but fairfax county. We could shave off a few school days by having full teaching days on Monday's saving the county millions. Just saying.

yeah. i realize it's pointless to cry on this site and it's not like i'm going to change anyone's mind anyway -- just venting, i suppose.

but half day mondays are just insulting and f***s up everyone's working schedules, as do the random bullshit teacher workdays. for example, the monday AFTER spring break -- really? that needs to be a teacher workday?

to hear my kid tell it, she's in meetings and out of the classroom for a substantial portion of the week as it is.

i'm all for teachers earning better salaries, but in exchange for my support -- get your ass in the classroom and do your job.

I LOVE HALF DAYS!!!!!!

i would not mind half days off from school, nothing is better than just getting home at noon and just lounging for like ten hours or hanging out with my buddies. this is a brilliant idea and i urge people to make it happen ASAP

I find it interesting that people are commenting about teachers getting their butts in the classroom. You do realize that TEACHERS do not make these decisions--they are handed down from the top. As for teacher workdays, I would prefer having the students in the classroom rather than all the ridiculous meetings we are required to attend! Complain to the top of the chain instead of blaming the teachers!!

Many years ago, I determined that I could not achieve the lifestyle that I desired AND have kids. So I went for the lifestyle and didn't have kids.

IF YOU CAN'T AFFORD KIDS, DON'T HAVE 'EM!!!

Why is this so fucking hard to understand? It's not the school system's fault you can't afford your kids. It's not Kindercare's fault you can't afford child care. IT'S YOUR FAULT!

Fucking morons

If by "handed down from the top" you mean lobbied for and demanded by teachers' unions... If teachers are against it, then by all means vote to have it changed.

Also, I don't recall having said anything about being unable to afford my children.

My wife and I teach elementary students in Fairfax County and we both would prefer doing away with the early closing Mondays. I know of quite a few colleagues who feel the same way. The student day is just too short. I'd also favor going to a modified (aka "year round") school calendar.

"Early closing" is actually more accurate than "half day". A half day would be only 3 hours and 20 min. The students are in school 4 hours and 10 min.

2 cents Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> "Early closing" is actually more accurate than
> "half day". A half day would be only 3 hours and
> 20 min. The students are in school 4 hours and 10
> min.

Oooooh, that's a whole 50 minutes more - I'd ask for a raise.

SACC demand and early closings on Monday are largely unreleated. Demand for SACC is high because there are a large number of either single parent households or households where both parents are working, the economy is not doing well especially for those at the lower end of the wage spectrum, and private daycare is very expensive in NoVa. Yes there are probably some parents who would not use SACC if school ran later on Monday, but I imagine the percentage is fairly small. (BTW in our neighborhood school SACC demand actually went down the past few years.)

I believe Thirty ish Gal is correct that the early closing on Mondays was done at the same time as the elementary school day was extended for T-F. Looking back I think transportation difficulties probaably drove the decision more than the school system might want to admit.

@2 cents-Year round school might be a good idea for some kids, but for many others it would harm their educational opportunities. Education doesn't begin and end with the school day and year, and after school and summer is when many of us are educating our children on things that the school system has chosen not to, or correcting the damage done to our kid's education by the school system. It also sends out a message that education is more important that physical activity, work and developing social skills in unstructured environments, al of which I'd argue are dubious arguments.

Bill.N. Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>
> @2 cents-Year round school might be a good idea
> for some kids, but for many others it would harm
> their educational opportunities. Education
> doesn't begin and end with the school day and
> year, and after school and summer is when many of
> us are educating our children on things that the
> school system has chosen not to, or correcting the
> damage done to our kid's education by the school
> system. It also sends out a message that
> education is more important that physical
> activity, work and developing social skills in
> unstructured environments, al of which I'd argue
> are dubious arguments.

There is too much down time from mid-June until school starts back up again in September. Of course education does not begin and end with the school day, but the schools are held accountable for meeting AYP and state standards. You would still have time after school and in between sessions to "correct the damage", whatever you may perceive that to be.

I know of one family that paid for SACC for all five days for their three children, even though their children only went to SACC on Mondays. Right now the school board is considering the budget for the next school year. The proposed budget includes $5 million for “Extended learning time for students,” and $3.3 million for “Extended time for teachers.” If the school board is interested in funding these objectives, it will have to decide, as a group, how do do this. One option would be providing full-day Mondays for some or all of the elementary schools. There are different ways of providing the extra time for students while providing other planning time options for classroom teachers.
If people express their interest in this possiblity of reform, the members of the school board might take extra time to get up-to-date cost estimates from the administration.
It is encouraging to see that 2 cents says, "My wife and I teach elementary students in Fairfax County and we both would prefer doing away with the early closing Mondays. I know of quite a few colleagues who feel the same way. The student day is just too short. I'd also favor going to a modified (aka "year round") school calendar.

"Early closing" is actually more accurate than "half day". A half day would be only 3 hours and 20 min. The students are in school 4 hours and 10 min."

Curmudgeon,
Teachers don't vote for anything! Teacher's Unions? According to the definition of "union", there are no teacher unions in the state of Virginia. We do not have collective bargaining, etc. In fact--Virginia is one of five states that outlaws this. There are no unions to negotiate our contracts etc. I'm not saying that I am in favor of these things but before you tell the teachers to change things--take a look at who runs the show! We don't vote on early-release Mondays, we don't vote for teacher workdays, we don't vote to have 30 kids in a class, we don't vote for ANY policy--let alone changes to the policies in place!

At sage you're an asshole. Go drive your car off a bridge. The half day is total bullshit. Well be moving out of this shitty county to get away from it. Sorry but the world does not revolve around Fairfax county. Total crap. And od unorganized.

The half days are not the teachers doing. The multitude of meetings that the teachers are required to attend on that Monday afternoon help to justify the many administrative positions above them and those people are the real drivers of the half day off. You know---more bureaucrats needed to plan those meetings and the "content" that will be part of them . . . the teachers would be happy not to have those meetings and to teach the children in lieu of them.

My mom taught in Fairfax County (junior high, however, so they didn't have the Monday early closing) and she said the rationale the county cited for it is that grammar-school teachers do not have a planning period during the day the way junior high and high school teachers do because of the way in grammar school the one teacher has those students for the entire day except during lunch (which is also the teacher's lunch time) or a music or gym session (which isn't every day and is also a brief time). So they close early on Mondays to give the teachers a block of planning time.

Why the fuck do people have kids and then want strangers to raise them?

The other day, some cunt at work was watching her kid at daycare on her iPhone and saying how wonderful it is that they put cameras in daycare places.

Fast forward 20 years and this stupid cunt will be crying, "waahhhh, why doesn't Johnny ever visit me?"

Hey cunt, it's because Johnny is closer to the minimum-wage grunts that raised him than YOU!

The fancy SUV, granite countertops and all the other horseshit are in the junkyard now and your kid doesn't care about you. Was it worth it?

yes... lets be rude and complain about the people who help shape our children!

Sounds like this individual is in need for anger management and some wisdom. Can you say "psychological problem".

He sounds angry but I get his point. Priorities and all.

To respond to your inquiry about shortened Mondays:

1.) I know that finding child care is rough, but that comes with having kids and the supply and demand of Northern VA.

2.) Teachers still must be at school until the end of the day, even Mondays, as stated in their contracts.

3.) It is very rare teachers get time on those Mondays to plan, grade, gather resources etc. About 80% of those days are dedicated to whole school seminars, professional development and time to ensure cross curricular mapping.

4.) Imagine planning lessons for 4 subjects: Primer, Lesson, Activity, Assessment, Reflection for every day...then only having 3 hours a week for planning them and then only 20% of those Monday's to aid in that. That is 20 lessons a week and none of that time included grading, assessing, documentation, interventions, small groups or parent/public matters/inquiries to address.

5.) Then their is all the administrative things, like the 200 page teacher evaluation handbook that documents must be collected, reflected and documented for.

Before your go knocking on Mondays for inconvenience, simply ask your teacher why they think they are needed. You apparently, have never thought to.

why Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Why the fuck do people have kids and then want
> strangers to raise them?
>
> The other day, some cunt at work was watching her
> kid at daycare on her iPhone and saying how
> wonderful it is that they put cameras in daycare
> places.
>
> Fast forward 20 years and this stupid cunt will be
> crying, "waahhhh, why doesn't Johnny ever visit
> me?"
>
> Hey cunt, it's because Johnny is closer to the
> minimum-wage grunts that raised him than YOU!
>
> The fancy SUV, granite countertops and all the
> other horseshit are in the junkyard now and your
> kid doesn't care about you. Was it worth it?

This guy gets it.
+1

Quote

You apparently, have never thought to.

more thought than you give to correct comma usage, teacher.