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Today the Department of Education introduced new school hours that will give extra time for students who need tutoring. Parents and pundits are wonderig why the new changes are happening in the middle of a semester, versus the calendar year or a new school years, but this just seems like the usual DoE wackiness. Plus the DoE decided that the extra school period should be 37.5 minutes long, which makes Gothamist wonder if DoE doesn't like to round up. (It's actually because the DoE is using 150 minutes a week, over four days, to devote to the tutoring.)
This made us think about ways we could help kids. NY Cares has some great volunteer opportunities. For instance:
Join a book club for youth, ages 12 to 15, at Lincoln Square Neighborhood Center, a community center on the Upper West Side. Participants and volunteers will read one young adult book a semester and discuss, analyze, and write on topics related to the book. (7pm - 8pm: 7 vols.; weekly commitment through May.)This gig would start in March and actually sounds fun.
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This time change is actually insane.
At many schools (since schools were allowed to exercise some discretion over the alotted time) some children are mandated to come early, while others report at the old time. And others must stay later for test prep, while some dismiss earlier. So, a child might be starting school at 8 or 8:30 and ending at 3 or 4. If you have more than one child, this could be a disaster. It also messes up childcare arrangements for both parents and teachers. The DOE thought they were winning something by getting teachers to concede this time. Really, they just made it harder for everybody.
And, by the way, with all the juggling of students and personnel that has to be done (in order to maintain the agreed upon 'no more than 10 students'), no one is really getting 37 minutes more of instruction.
Will the extra hours help the Gothamist with spelling?