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Return to traditional calendar, teachers I agree wholeheartedly with columnist Rick Badie's views on schools' starting so early. When I was growing up in Georgia in the '50s and '60s, we did just fine by starting school in late August or the first few days of September. Our teachers were excellent, and we received a great education. Nothing would have been gained by starting in early August or late July. It is ridiculous to have children sitting in classrooms at this time of year. Another firm belief of mine is that teachers should be proficient in their curriculum. It seems today that teachers major in "education" and then try to teach math, science, physics and so on. My mother and her three sisters were teachers, and very good ones. They didn't have education degrees. One taught geometry, one taught Latin, another social studies and my mother, reading. My generation was blessed with fantastic teachers and they didn't need "education" degrees to do their jobs. How to raise the bar in today's schools? First, have teachers who majored in the curriculum they will teach. Second, raise teacher salaries to compete with private business. Third, get rid of "education" courses. Fourth, get the job done from early September to late May. Let kids be kids in June, July and August. They will never be children again. JOEL ARMISTEAD Lilburn Summer cut too short for activities I agree totally with Rick Badie on this one. I have a 13-year-old daughter, and it seems like the summer lasted four weeks. It is hard to get a summer vacation in at my job with co-workers who have kids all looking to vacation within the same time frame. This has to hurt our local theme parks, etc. We have run out of so-called summer, and there was a lot we did not do. When you have summer camp , vacation, cheerleading camp, etc., that doesn't leave much time for a stay at Grandma's. We missed Six Flags and White Water this year and never went camping as planned, and we never get to go to my Aug. 15 family reunion that is out of state. I think summer vacation should be June through August like it was for me growing up. The same people coming up with this would have had a cow if they had been robbed of their summers. The first thing they do is start letting them out a day here, a day there, etc. I am contacting my school board representative. I am sure he won't care what I have to say, but I'll try anyway. T. MILES LEE Snellville Parents should question schedule Thank you so much for Rick Badie's wonderful column. He stated exactly what I and thousands of parents across this state are saying: There is no proof that taking our summers is helping our kids. I am one of the co-founders of Georgians Need Summers, and we are not alone. But we need reporters like Rick to keep asking the administrators these questions. Believe me, we have gotten the same look of surprise here in Cobb when we asked school administrators about the early school start dates. However, at least here in Cobb and other larger metro counties, parents are starting to wake up and make some noise that not only do these early start dates not benefit our children's education, but they are detrimental to our children on so many levels. Hopefully, Rick's column will wake up more of the parents in Gwinnett County. Thank you again and please continue to ask the questions. VIVIAN JACKSON Marietta Think about kids, not test scores We agree with Rick Badie 100 percent. So does the woman who presented a class I took (she's from California) who heard about the August start times on her flight to Georgia. So does our friend who teaches in Loganville. So does our friend, the school librarian in North Carolina. The list goes on. All these four-day weeks for teacher work days may benefit the teachers, but not the students. Our librarian friend in North Carolina tells us that the shortened weeks get the elementary kids out of their routine enough that they are "just wild" (her exact words). And, of course, the Monday and Tuesday before Thanksgiving are a total loss. Same with the two- or three-day week at the end of the school year. Our friend who teaches in Loganville (who started back last week) tells us her school system has eliminated the shortened weeks by consolidating breaks to be in full-week lengths (full week of Thanksgiving, etc). She says that helps, and her school system gets out in May when Gwinnett does. Classes just start in the middle of the summer's heat. The AJC just published articles about heat exhaustion and heat stroke. As a registered nurse, I can tell you that it's not smart to put a 6-year-old child on a bus for 30 minutes at 3 p.m. in August with no air conditioning or water. Recess and PE present equally dangerous situations in the August heat. Not only is dehydration dangerous, it isn't conducive to good learning. If the school board insists on a two-month summer, it needs to be July and August, not late May to late July. I would think closing schools during the hottest season would be a cost-efficient measure. Not having to fully air-condition the buildings would save on electricity. Water consumption would be decreased as well (at drinking fountains and in bathrooms). The explanation we've heard is that starting later means the second quarter can't be finished before the winter break. I am sure there is some loss of knowledge over the two weeks (winter holiday); testing in December doesn't prevent that, it just makes it invisible. Since the loss occurs after the material is tested, the numbers look better. I wish we were striving to give students lifelong knowledge/skills. I'm not naive enough to think school calendar decision-makers care about anything beyond how the test scores make them look. It's an "Oh, no! What will happen to those precious test scores if they have to remember the material over more than a weekend?" mentality. All I know is that if my instructors at Duke University had followed that philosophy, you wouldn't want me to be your nurse. We want more for our children's education than a system that looks good on paper. We want a system that cares about the student's well-being above all else and takes Georgia out of the academic bottom 49. RON AND MARGARET GALLAGHER Norcross |
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