Aloha Everyone,
Public schools in the United States were founded in 1635 in Boston, Massachusetts.
During COVID-19, many schools have shifted to online classrooms. Some educators including Arne Duncan, the Secretary of Education with the Obama Administration, feels that we need to overhaul the public schools system to accommodate today’s generation who grew up with computers. The K-12 school calendar based on an agrarian economy is no longer viable for today’s society.
There is no perfect education system to meet individual student’s needs. While technology have propelled some students to reach new heights of achievements, lack of accessibility, lack of funding, lack of parental support have also resulted in alarming disparities between haves and have nots.
Shifting to a year around school is an interesting concept worthwhile to explore. However, it is not an easy task. What about the teachers, school administrators and the parents? How would working a year around schedule impact their salaries? How much do they need to modify their own personal life to accommodate working year around?
Our son, Jeff, is a public school teacher, and he likes the idea. Of course, he stated that teachers would want to get compensated for the additional months that they work.
Aloha -- Cathi
