On the Longest School Day* Initiative with the Shortest Budget

Since Chicago is about to move to the longest school day in the country here are some things that RYH would like included but have not been included in the plan by CPS:

Music for every CPS student (not just those whose parents who can fundraise to get it)

Art (visual, drama, dance) some CPS students have none (see note above about fundraising)

Integrated Technology – working computers, ipads, etc. (see note above about fundraising) *kudos to Mike Quigley for his recent contribution. It’s a good start

Daily PE – since CPS ignores the state mandate for daily PE and most kids have PE once a week (there are over 200 studies that show PE improves learning).

Foreign Language – many CPS students leave elementary school with no exposure to a second language

Recess – is on the list of guidelines from CPS. Let’s make sure a recess stipend is added to ensure that recess has adequate coverage and an appropriate student:adult ratio based on neighbhorhood needs.

Improved literacy instruction – writing workshop, inquiry based learning. There are schools that have mastered this approach. Time for CPS to figure out how to share what’s working in the district with other schools who most need it.

Reduced class size for primary grades – if the district truly wants kids to master reading and math skills, they will reduce class size in K-3 to under 20 students. Learning to read in a class of 35-40 is a challenge.

An examination and streamlining of standardized testing – How much time are our students/teachers spending on test prep and testing? RYH is creating a document to inform parents on just how many tests our children are taking every year. Stay tuned.

*While our district keeps saying we need 7.5 hours and 2 weeks added to be on par with the rest of the country, we have found no large urban district that has this length of a day across their whole district. Houston has a 7 hour day for most of their schools, Boston has a 6hr15 minute day and an extended day for 10% of their schools, Los Angeles has a 6hr30 minute day, New York has extended learning for a small percentage of their schools. Note that when Boston added time, they added $1300 per student so that it was quality time. If we apply that in CPS, we will need roughly $500 million to make this work.

If CPS could bring the above list to all students in Chicago, whom we believe deserve access to an excellent well-rounded education, we’d be shouting on the rooftops with CPS to advocate for it.  We think a day that includes  the above things would truly address the achievement gap, the 53% drop-out rate, the 7% college attendance rate, and all the other stats we keep hearing about from CPS.