Waiting for Superman - Part III

As I suggested yesterday, it is impractical to simply shut down tens of thousands of schools nationwide and to replace them with something new. Yes, reforms need to take place but not at the expense of dismantling the entire public school sector. To be sure, whether intended or not, that is the impression one is left with after viewing Waiting for Superman.

Let me offer some thoughts on some reforms that educators, not for-profit enterprises, ought to consider implementing. This is not a point to take lightly. The vast number of superb educators in this country are capable of making such decisions without non-educator assistance. To wit, when is the last time you heard of educators lecturing lawyers about reforms in the area of law? On the same point, I have never heard of teachers telling the fire department how to run their affairs.

As educators we ought to go to our district and building administrations and ask for fewer interuptions to the school day. Late starts, partial day institutes, and teacher improvement sessions, during the regular school day, pull teachers out of their classes. The vast number of teachers I work with don't like this and want to be with their students in the classroom. Disruptions to the normal five-day week are common and need to be eliminated. Students would be better served in such a scenario.

Students would prosper with a 7 1/2 hour school day. Too many schools have less than seven hours of instruction. Quite simply, 6, 6 1/2 or 7 hours is not enough time to give students the optimum classroom time. To go beyond 7 1/2 hours would be detrimental to the overall educational experience (activities, jobs, athletics, etc) that students currently enjoy.

I also believe that having a school year of 190 to 192 classroom instruction days would be wise. Notice I said that these are instruction days and not days devoted to the assorted tasks which government bodies and school districts set aside for other sorts of activities.

In terms of teachers who don't get the job done, and some of them are out there, it is better left to each school to deal with this issue. If a private law firm, farm, or 'mom and pop' store has a poor employee it is left to them, as it should be, to determine the employee's fate. Each school (and school district) has to determine the point at which remediation and retention should occur. There is no need for a state or federal law enforcement agency to jump in and oversee how to handle a poor instructor. There are plenty of good school administrators who can, and do, handle this effectively.

I believe the above changes can take place and would be useful in terms of improving the quality of instruction in the vast number of American public schools.

I am hopeful that teachers, local teacher associations, and school administrative personnel will be the forces to enact such changes. State and national education associations would be well served, in my view, to move forward on this front.

Dick Flesher