CPS released a school calendar that, when combined with the longer day, will be the longest school year in the country. This relentless schedule will produce student burnout and lacks appropriate professional development time for staff.
Let's tell CPS that the calendar should reflect what is best for kids, not political talking points.
Wednesday, March 28
9 AM - 11 AM
CPS Monthly School Board Meeting
125 S. Clark St.
Arrive at 6 AM to sign up to speak.
Among the specific problems with the new calendar:
* Report card pickups will now conflict with work hours for parents and will leave only three hours for teachers to meet with up to 200 sets of parents.
* The calendar provides for no Professional Development days between the first day of student attendance in September and the last day on June 17. This is particularly egregious at a time when new district initiatives including the Common Core State Standards, a new evaluation system and a longer day will require planning and collaboration.
* By eliminating the federal holiday, Columbus Day, the school year begins with nine uninterrupted weeks of school.
* Track E—comprised of at least 240 schools—will lose a week of spring break and still gets no relief from sweltering school conditions in August.
Since state law was changed in 1995, the appointed Chicago Board of Education has had the right to impose the academic calendar without bargaining with the union.
This calendar represents an example of what the Chicago school board will do when it doesn’t listen to the voices of the teachers, parents, and others who will be directly affected by their policies.