Florida, North Carolina, Delaware, California and Washington are only a few of the states that are struggling with their school budgets this year. These districts are trying to find ways to make things work and one of them is cutting the summer school programs. The federal stimulus law is giving $100 billion dollars to public education and many educational leaders are urging schools to use that money to keep schools open in the summer. Not all school districts are in the “hurt bag.” Some schools are using the stimulus money to fund full-day summer school at the low performing schools. During these days the kids do math and reading but also are exposed to science, gym, and outdoor activities. When school districts are looking to cut programs many districts see summer school as a “frill.” Let’s hope this budget cut does not come to haunt these districts when they see their assessment results in the fall.After reading this article I was very surprised to see that some districts have to cut programs completely. Currently, I am teaching summer school at a school that has a program that is not necessarily for low achieving students but anyone who is interested in maintaining skills over the summer. In the past, this program has been very fun and hands on as far as learning. Teachers now say they are disgusted because it is getting to be more paper and pencil. This year our school district took some of the federal stimulus money and bought an actual summer school reading curriculum for us to use. It is a very nice program but I also feel that it is a little too intense for summer school. The kids have been really great about it and have not complained. The feeling from our district was that they wanted to see test scores improve and to do that they wanted to see if the kids who were in summer school will improve more than the kids who were not exposed to this reading curriculum. Personally, I think that by cutting programs completely you are opening up a new can of worms. Many students who would normally come to summer school will receive little if any education this summer and regression will take place. I hope I am wrong but I think the answer here is to cut back time or funds instead of cutting completely.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/02/education/02school.html?_r=1&ref=education
Greta-- Our school has high school summer school and in the past, all four years of English were offered. Some of us English teacher were really concerned about this. Can students really take in all the material and have time to process it? Another point is that instead of three months before the next class, you had to wait nine months. Summer school can really be invaluable, but a lot of thought has to go into making it succeed.
ReplyDeleteI'm a "year round school year" type so on one level I think this is terrible. However I have taught summer school and I know how little some kids get out of it (don't want to be there, distracted by the weather, etc). So my reaction is a little mixed. As I said, I think the real solution is to totally scrap summer school and just go to a full year schedule - 2 monts on, 1 week off or something close - all year long. You keep the kids learning, there is no loss or lapse over the summer, and you completely remove the need and expense of summer school.
ReplyDeleteAs students are at home during summer Holidays with nothing to keep them busy and no one to supervise them, they will join bad groups and this will increase the crime rate threatening the peace of the community. Many of them will be arrested and sent to correctional facility and while there will learn a lot of bad behavior that they will bring in to the school system. The decision to cut down on summer school programs and recreational activities is a high risk that will affect many people. The best option is to keep the program and not to destroy the well being of the community, teachers, students and parent. They should look for another option like all year school with some brakes in between.
ReplyDeleteI say, if it is a last resort, cut it. Meaning, if a school has cut programs, definitely sports, and they are still in need of money, then cut summer school. Kids are given a free education by law, this does not include summer school. Students are owed nothing during the summer. Is it so wrong to expect that parents will continue with the education of their children during the summer? Why is it up to the schools to keep these students out of trouble?
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, if these schools still have intramural extra-curricular activities, then this is one of the sickest things that I have ever read.
I too have mixed feelings on this issue. As educators we often end up taking summer courses to further our education and gain insight into teaching methods to aide in coming years. This si often by chioce and our paretns or teachers are not forcing us to attend. Students, on the other hand, do not have this choice and often have a hard time concentrating in the summer months. The curriculum has to be bare bones because of the short time allotted and there is probably not enough time to teach students using the strategies such as those in our text. I think summer school should still be offered- not so much to keep students out of trouble, but to gain a deeper understanding of subject matter or get through course difficulties students may have had in the regular class during the school year. We should give students an alternative to failing- especially in the upper grades. I agree-other things should be cut before nixing the summer school program!
ReplyDeleteReading this, it makes me wonder if their sports programs have been touched or if those programs are their "last resort". I find it scary that summer school has been cut as there are many students who need those programs in order to succeed. With regards to AYP, it will be interesting to see how those schools assess in the future after summer school is cut. It may turn out that losing this program could be detrimental to the future of not only the students who need the assistance, but also the school.
ReplyDeleteWow, I can't believe those states would even consider dropping summer school. I looked up some of the states unemployment rates and all of them except Delaware are in the top 10. I think this has a drastic affect on states not having the funding for summer school. Not only does it take up money for unemployment on one hand, but it also is loosing out on educating our youth so they have opportunities to have jobs. I think we need to put this all into check and really think twice about not having summer school. Summer school is a great tool for teachers and school districts throughout the U.S. It allows students to gain extra help on areas they need to work on and open doors for them to take more non core classes during the actual school year. Our youth is our greatest answer to the deficit we see today. Spending money on them now, will allow for us to get a great return on it later.
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