Education letters 11/16

RLee: Educators are not babysitters. It is the teacher’s job to educate students. I am sure this decision was made based on what is best for students educationally, not because teachers want more days off.

Please explain: Someone please explain to me what exactly is so horrible about going back to school the first week of August. Seriously, I don’t feel strongly either way but the arguments against the calendar make no sense to me. Kids are still in school 180 days a year, and I know plenty of kids who work their tails off keeping up with schoolwork in this part of the county.

Damn Yankee: Okay, I know nobody wants to hear from transplanted northerners on this but does anybody realize schools up north start after Labor Day, end in June, and have much higher test scores than the South? Please explain how changing the calendar helps? Giving a week off in September and February is idiotic to say the least, when my kids know there is a week off in their future they kick it into vacation mode two days before and won’t get kick started back into school mode until two days after they get back.

Crazy People: I live in Cherokee and you Cobb parents are insane if you are up in arms over a balanced calendar. It most likely won’t influence academic achievement either way, but some of you parents seem convinced it’s the end of the world. It’s not and, honestly, I hope you don’t devote a lot of time to this issue to the detriment of important matters like school curriculum. I bet 90 percent of parents opposed just don’t like the idea of “shorter summers” for their vacation-indulged children.

Cobb Voter: I support the balanced calendar. I’m a Cobb parent and taxpayer and I don’t know of many people that are strongly opposed to it. I’m shocked that people would suggest that opposition to the balanced calendar is overwhelming in this county. Just speak for yourselves, people.

Outraged: I am outraged that a small vocal activist group has managed to grab headlines and somehow give some people the impression that Cobb parents unanimously oppose this new calendar. First of all, the meeting for the new calendar was not packed and there were still quite a few empty seats. Second of all, obviously in a low turnout affair, an activist group like Georgians Need Summers (anyone see an agenda there?) is going to make a big splash and probably make headlines.

Kim: How dare they impose this ridiculous calendar on us? I am in utter disbelief that the worst possible calendar option was chosen unless it was rigged. I have three children in the Cobb County system and I love my children. I also have a very good flexible job, but one week off every 2 months? Is the government going to subsidize the disruptive one-week breaks? Is the common Cobb county parent (who doesn’t stay at home) really going to be able to take off a week from work every two months and keep their job? What you’ll have is a bunch of kids home alone.

Sharon: As school boards throughout the South are understanding the importance of beginning school later in August, I am shocked at Cobb County moving the start of school earlier. Adding week long breaks for students throughout the year will only interfere with the momentum of the students’ learning when they return. Lastly, while I am not a parent of a young child, having to provide supervision for children while parents are working will be difficult for everyone. What was the Cobb County Board of Education thinking?

Gwinnett Mom: I wish our county would switch to this “year round” calendar. I agree with another mom who said after six weeks her kids were bored and ready to go back to school. Those last two weeks of summer are brutal. Three months is overkill and the extra weeks for breaks during the year would be wonderful.

Gary: We need to quit bickering about schedules because they are a waste of time. Our elected educational leaders need to put more pressure on administrators (who have way too much power and are too many in number) to increase student achievement. We are setting ourselves up for an underachieving future if our education practices do not pick up. For those of you who don’t agree with the calendar, put your child in private school. Most use a traditional calendar and have much great success with student achievement. The most important thing for you is to ensure a proper education for your child, no matter the cost.

I have to get out of here: Do kids really need these “mental breaks?” Hate to sound like an outsider but the amount of work my kids do in Georgia compared to the amount of work my nieces and nephews do in schools up North is embarrassing to us here in Georgia. Does supporting this decision with the “mental break” theory really make sense? We need kids working harder and should not be trying to find ways to give them extra time in front of the TV in February and September. Do you turn you car off and start it up again at every red light to give it a break or might that be counterproductive? That’s what these weeks are going to do to the kids who will lose focus.

Jason: For those parents who see this new schedule as an opportunity for ski and beach vacations, you are lucky. Most of the people who work 12 month jobs, nights and weekends will never be able to experience this luxury. Believe it or not, some places are open 24/7/365 — not exactly banker’s office hours.

I feel sorry for the single parents who will have to find child care during the “breaks” for the teachers who are so overworked. My parents were both teachers in Cobb County and did not ever complain in the manner in which I am reading on this blog. Good luck to the children and parents. I am glad to be out of Cobb.

Pity: Poor Cobb School Board Members. Reading these comments, I’m convinced no matter which way they decided on this issue, half the county would have been ready to butcher them alive.