Posts by Paul Davis2

stormymarlin22 said:The sixth period runs until about 1:05 PM. Electives, supplements, or extra credits aren't mandatory. That’s kind of the whole point—if you don't want to take them, you don't have to. My kid never had to deal with afternoon classes back in elementary school. They'd be home by 1:30, and by the time they would've been getting out now, around 3:00 or 3:30, they'd already eaten and chilled out for a bit. 🤷

In my town, your kid would actually get reprimanded for skipping gym, and let's face it—nobody is skipping computer science in the 21st century. Honestly, it sounds like you hit the jackpot having such a great school with an on-site gym and a schedule that fits perfectly. You're lucky. And clearly, they managed to eat, too.

hiddendriver34 said:In my neck of the woods, kids get to follow a split-shift schedule, which actually gives them a ton of freedom and plenty of downtime. Honestly, I’m just relieved that even the younger ones will be heading into high school by the time this nightmare—if they actually push through with this blunt-force implementation—becomes the norm.

Glad you're feeling all empathetic and cozy in your little bubble.

hiddendriver34 said:Oh boy, here we go again with the "blah blah blah." 🤦 Look, nobody’s saying the system shouldn't be overhauled. But demanding that every single kid has to be stuck in a classroom for at least 7.5 hours of daylight just because that’s what you personally want for your child is... well, it's pretty heartless, if you ask me.

E: What kind of schedule ends at 1:30 PM?

The sixth period—if you count both small and large breaks—not to mention pre-periods and post-periods. Then there's tutoring, extra credit, and electives. It’s morning, it’s afternoon, and usually without access to a gym or even a free hot meal.
Let's get real here: kids today are basically living at school. They deal with rotating shifts and the obligation to show up for the opposite session whenever the schedule flips.

hiddendriver34 said:Look, I totally get wanting to make sure your kids are looked after while you're at work. Nobody wants their little ones sitting home alone. But what I just can't wrap my head around is why you're backing this proposal that every single child has to be supervised—basically locked up in school—regardless of whether the parents or even the kids actually want them there. Seriously, wouldn't offering free after-school programs be a much better solution for everyone involved?

Locked up? Prisoners? A punishment?
My kid is on a split schedule—morning shifts mostly, but then they have elective computer science in the afternoon during seventh grade, and PE too. So, they're at school from 8:00 to 1:30 most days, plus those afternoon classes twice a week—meaning four days out of five they're stuck in that cycle.
Who exactly is trying to "lock up" my child? Who are these villains looking to wreck a happy childhood?
And honestly, when they're in school during the afternoons, I don't even see them half the time. I just catch them for a kiss before bed.
There’s no hot meal provided, the school day is one of the shortest in Europe, and their test scores are lagging behind global averages. Plus, they're being taught by overworked teachers who feel underpaid and just aren't all about the job.
The system shouldn't be messed with.

hiddendriver34 said:Is it just you, or do some people literally just plug their ears and sing "la la la" whenever someone tries to make a point? Honestly, no biggie, but I’d rather know now so we don't waste our breath typing away at nothing. 👍

So, are you really grinding 8 to 9 hours a day? And if so, where are your kids while you're busy doing that?

Sarah Hall53 said:Honestly, every kid like him in the schools I worked at was screaming from 1st through 8th grade. They had aides from start to finish, and the parents? They flat-out refused to even consider that their kids might not belong in a mainstream classroom. And look, if you don't have the parents on your side, you're basically screwed.
I remember this one student, Peric, who had an intellectual disability and was supposed to follow a specialized curriculum, but his parents fought tooth and nail against moving him to a school with dedicated special education departments. So, we ended up with our completely untrained teachers trying to "work" with him... sort of. Meanwhile, he’s just lying under a desk, whimpering. And that went on for eight years.

As for those A2 prep sessions, come on—show me where in the documentation it actually specifies exactly how many hours of prep time are credited to teachers for A2. ☕

It's 40 minus 25. So, that leaves 15 hours for administration and prep.

hiddendriver34 said:Oh, please. They aren't "poor things"—this is actually a total win for them. 🙄

These clueless parents, for instance, don't realize their kids just hit the jackpot. Honestly, they're being completely ridiculous.

I'm with you there. We need to shorten the school day, boost actual learning and student happiness, cut back the paperwork, move special education programs elsewhere, and—most importantly—raise teacher salaries.

Sarah Hall53 said:Nobody is going to sit there and tutor them in chemistry because this "enrichment" program only happens once a month—and even then, it’s just one crowded classroom with 20 kids packed in together. You've got Ivy, who's on the autism spectrum, screaming and slamming his hands on the desk for the last two hours because everything is just too much for him, and his aide isn't even scheduled to stay past noon. Then you've got Mark just throwing crumpled paper everywhere because he couldn't care less about chemistry, Anna and Mia are constantly giggling in the back, and Tea is always interrupting with random questions...
and the teacher doesn't get paid a single cent extra to prepare for "chemistry tutoring" with a group of 20 students, so they're basically a fool if they try to prep anything at all. So, sorry kids, just finish your worksheets while I click through checkboxes and fill out spreadsheets. ☕

What do you mean it's not paid?
An 8th grader on the autism spectrum doesn't just spend his day screaming. Besides, Ivy doesn't even have an aide anymore—he hasn't had one since 6th grade because he functions just fine. That's my take based on knowing Ivy personally; clearly, your experience has been much rougher. If he couldn't handle things, he wouldn't be in this class to begin with.

Sarah Hall53 said:I mean, it really depends on where you were working. Saying "outside the US" covers basically the entire rest of the world—it's too broad. I know people who worked in an elementary school in England and they ran for the hills as fast as they could. Then again, I know folks working in Germany or Austria who are doing just fine. I even know people who moved to Sweden and would genuinely rather be cleaning stairwells or digging ditches than deal with teaching—and they're fully qualified! They tell me they feel more respected as sanitation workers than as educators. But then there are those working in France or Belgium who have absolutely zero intention of ever coming back.

Well, I don't speak French, so I guess I'll pass on the "digging ditches" option.

hiddendriver34 said:If the folks over at the Department had actually used their heads and started by investing in school infrastructure—you know, making sure buildings are actually functional, providing decent hot meals, and offering after-school programs for any student whose parents want them—they would have actually won people over. They might have even earned some public trust. And if, *after* doing all that heavy lifting, they had actually sat down with teachers to bake their input into the full-day school proposal, this whole thing wouldn't be such an absolute train wreck. It might have actually worked in some capacity! But instead, they’re trying to build a house starting with the roof. It’s just not going to fly. Any school smart enough to join this pilot program will grab that funding and use it to upgrade their facilities, which is great. But unfortunately, the students—who end up feeling more like prisoners than kids—are the ones who'll pay the price.

How exactly is an 8th grader going to "pay the price"? They'll be stuck at school until 3:00 PM instead of leaving at 1:30 PM—plus having to deal with PE or computer lab in a different shift. They'll be forced to eat a free hot meal and then a snack. What, is someone going to sit there and tutor them in chemistry? Poor kids, really.

Kenneth Garcia9 said:In the area, 6.2 miles there will be 15 openings for elementary teachers? Are that many actually retiring?

Yeah—within the 6.2 miles district alone, there are 50 elementary schools, and if you look at the broader 19 miles region, there are another 10 (so we’re talking over 60 total). Every single school needs at least two, three, or four teachers—just do the math. You'll see more than 15 teachers cycling through the system every year. If those jobs weren't being filled, education programs would be shutting down entirely.

Sarah Hall53 said:They aren't exactly running wild, but that duty time they spend monitoring hallways does count toward their official working hours.
And here's the kicker—during breaks, they aren't even required to be on campus, and nobody’s really gone out of their way to "design meaningful tasks" for those eleven weeks of downtime.

Look, I've worked in an American elementary school, and what you're describing sounds like a bit of an idealized version of how things work elsewhere. It's the old cliché—the grass always looks greener on the other side.

jadetinker85 said:Look, the math is simple. As an accountant, you should see that. They only have mandatory classes in 5th and 6th grade; everything else is elective stuff filling the schedule from 1st through 8th grade. If you cut just one hour from those electives, their entire teaching load disappears.

Poor IT guys—they're basically fighting for scraps at this point.

jadetinker85 said:So you’re fine with IT staff and after-school program workers getting laid off while elementary teachers are stuck on an 8 to 3:30 grind? You think it's okay that things like classroom management, extra stipends, and prep time are just lumped under "miscellaneous duties," or that monitoring duty during lunch breaks counts for absolutely nothing?
And don't even get me started on music academies, sports clubs, or the kids whose parents are working the afternoon shifts.

IT staff getting fired? In which school? In my town, there are only five schools out of thirty that even offer an after-school program. We’re talking about maybe fifteen teachers total who all get assigned to schools within a ten-mile radius in the same year.
Go check how teaching hours are calculated in New York City versus the rest of Europe—is it really just 45 plus 15? And yeah, sure, everything is "great" out there. Those people make five times the salary, they don't deal with the endless paperwork, and they don't have kids jumping through the hallways without any supervision—unless, of course, we’ve hired little green aliens to watch them.

Kenneth Garcia9 said:What do you mean, "your school"? Like, are we talking about where your kids go, or are you actually teaching, counseling, or running the place as a principal?

I actually worked at that school before, and now my kids go there. I’m working at a different one currently—so, naturally, there are differences from one school to the next.

Sarah Hall53 said:Yeah, okay—I "hate" my job because I can't stand all the pointless paperwork that seems to exist just for the sake of existing... which, by the way, doesn't mean I shouldn't be working in a classroom with students. 😍
I totally see where you're coming from, though. Your logic is perfectly clear. 😵

Maybe you just need a change of scenery—maybe it’s the principal at your school. In mine, teachers basically just plug in generic grades provided by the textbook publishers, occasionally throwing in some baseless commentary about a kid's "potential" just for fun. Even the lesson plans are just cookie-cutter stuff from the publishers. The kids end up carrying around their own
permission slips at the start of the year, with a note saying one signature covers every single project, research assignment, and art class.

Sarah Hall53 said:I’ve honestly had to stop myself a few times lately and think, "Steve, is that really you?"

Classic Steve.

jadetinker85 said:How can you be so well-versed in this reform and defend it so stubbornly?

I've read the document myself.

Sarah Hall53 said:I think you're missing the point here—I specifically said there isn't any admin work left. Sure, they prep for class, but there aren't those endless spreadsheets to fill out just to customize lesson plans, or clicking through boxes to log absences, or checking off excuses, or archiving consent forms, or writing and filing Markov's descriptive comments for three years... (honestly, there AREN'T even grades, period. It's just feedback sent to parents four times a year, and then the actual grades go to external evaluators annually)...

Honestly, if you hate your job this much, maybe working in education isn't the right path for you.

Sarah Hall53 said:I mean, does anyone else remember that other public debate in the States where we got flooded with like 3,000 comments, and maybe—if you’re being really generous—like 0.1% of them were actually positive?

Great. Next up: double salaries, shorter hours for teachers, segregating all kids with special needs into separate facilities, and banning parents from even getting close. I bet we'd still see 3,000 supportive comments.