State Budget Woes Could Lead to Shorter School Year

Can't let this happen

I am an elementary teacher who works at an overseas international school. We cannot let our school year be shortened. After teaching overseas for several years I've realized how our fully developed country off sub par education. 180 school days is already a minimum amount compared to countries in Asia.

And finally.................

In the last year Washington High School in L.A. had: one murder on campus, over 300 felonious assaults involving weapons, prostitution rings run by various gangs busted as they operated out of the top floor, student drug cartels run by various gangs busted and extra tall fences installed in an attempt to secure the campus. And these stats don't include hundreds of misdemeanors and thousands of non criminal but inappropriate acts committed by students. And society wonders why test scores are low and dropout rates are high? The conditions these students were raised under need to be addressed. Only then will schools regain their effectiveness.

This documentary says it all........

WIDE OPEN: INSIDE THE WORLD OF HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL is a documentary which aired on A & E hosted by Bill Kurtis. EVERYONE CONCERNED ABOUT EDUCATION IN LOS ANGELES NEEDS TO WATCH THIS DOCUMENTARY. The program compares two high schools: Jefferson High in L.A. and Stephenville High in TX. One school has students fending for themselves lacking family or community foundations and the other has students showered in parental and community support. One school has 5,000 students on a campus built for 2,000 in which violence and despair abound while the other has state of the art equipment for everything students might need. Watch this documentary and you will fully understand that we are facing a societal problem not an educational one. This program CLEARLY shows that there is no substitute for a loving and caring family and a community that cares for its children.

LAUSD 50 %+ Dropout rate proves Mike correct

Good efforts and taxpayer money wasted on children not our own

have only provided free day care centers for the children

of people who are here illegally!

Now LAUSD finally fessing up for years of lies!!!

state budget woes cuts days from school year

extend by a few minutes the school day for students to cut five days from the school year. this would save the district money by cutting out five work days for classified employees who only support the infrastructure of a school. you cant eat your cake and have it, too. office, custodian, nursing, school bus drivers and other ancillary services should take the cuts not the teachers and students

Number of school days shouldn't matter---but

The latest world wide statistics show countries with the most school days (180) have the world's best at least high school graduates outcome (80+%), well above the U.S. average.

Hi Mike

That is true, unless you teach in a private institution. You are right, however, that teaching in L.A. public school classrooms is more than a challenge. In addition to what you say about the students' backgrounds you also have to deal with that fact that there are too many students per class or classroom. It is discouraging. That's not to say that keeping them off campus for five days is the right thing to do in the name of saving our state. Here is an idea for our governor. Why don't we just close our schools altogether. That ought to put us back in black numbers. But let's see what would be the consequences of a brilliant idea of that this magnitude. After all it seems to me that when it comes to education, green matters more morality. Balance the budget at whatever cost.

Sal of Cal

My stats came from various LA Times articles read over the last year. It’s interesting how the Times generally prints articles that focus on one narrow issue. If they would simply take a look at a compilation of articles their own newspaper has published, they’d see the situation much more clearly and accurately. And I think the overwhelming proof of the problem being societal not educational is to look at teacher turnover rates in LAUSD. 50% of new LAUSD teachers are out of teaching within the first 5 years. And this after spending on the average $20,000.00 to obtain a teaching credential. I challenge ANYBODY to teach in an urban middle or high school. Only then can you see what teachers have to deal with and what students' lives are like coming from poor homes, broken families, and crime infested neighborhoods.

Dear Mike

I understand you perfectly. But the one thing for sure is that we cannot allow less school days in California. I am not a member of any unions, nor am I an advocate or an activist in this area, nonetheless, I am a firm believer in education. We can not sacrifice our future by not exposing our children to classroom instruction that they deserve, regardless of their social background. I know it's a complex issue and as you say ignorance abounds on this topic. But while the geniuses in Sacramento figure out what to do, the one thing we must not allow is experiment more with our kids. It's atrocious. By the way, your stats are great. What's your source?

Mike

Ignorance abounds on this topic. 1) Charter schools 'look better' because they can hand pick their students eliminating underperforming and behavior problem students who then get dumped on 'regular' public schools. 2) 1 in 5... that's 20% of all LAUSD students Live in foster homes, 3) 55% live in one parent households, 4) 80% of LAUSD students are title one (below the poverty level) 5) the only people not being held accountable at this juncture are parents and students, 6) teachers in most LAUSD schools must teach in hostile work environments....behavior that would get adults fired in "the real world" is excused on school campuses as the offenders are juveniles 7) LAUSD is for the most part serving children of poverty with no parents or one parent (not to mention the 3000 LASUD students are classified as homeless) and this fact more than anything produces the present results. One does not see the problems facing LAUSD in affluent suburbs as the districts have money to spend and parents who care.