Mayor Emmanuel and CPS Chief Brizard have heard the calls for cutting back on the proposed 7 1/2 hour school day for elementary school children. The lengthened day was to go into effect commencing in the 2012-13 school year.
Yesterday Emmanuel said he was scaling back the increase in the school day by 30 minutes. Elementary school children will now have a 7 day while the high schools will still attend for 7 1/2 hours.
The retreat follows heavy CTU and parental pressure to cut back on the proposed 105 minute increase in the length of the day.
There were, and are, many concerns about lengthening the day, not the least of which is what to do with the added minutes, children being able to handle being at school from nine to ten hours (if there are lengthy bus rides)per day, to the issue of where the money will come from to pay for the added expenses. Remember, the district is running deeper in the red.
There's little question that this is wise move on the part of the mayor and CPS chief. I have been at a number of CPS schools this spring and it was clear that many plans had not been formulated to properly address an addition of 105 minutes to the school day.
Much work remains to be done to make good use of the extra 75 minutes. Hopefully, individual schools will be allowed to make those decisions.
Dick
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