Area schools will open after Labor Day to help Cedar Point

^that reminds me of that homework special alert thing I saw about the growing load of homework kids are getting these days, which is kind of crazy sometimes. If a kid gets out of school at 3, has soccer practice til 5, then has 3 hours of homework to do, what time does that leave for having a dinner with the family, or reading a book, or going outside? You pretty much have to condense all of that around homework. That actually was an exact example given, and it's sadly true with some kids. I do remember having a nice long summer which got shorter and shorter, even now they go back August 27th or something stupid like that, and get out June 11th. It's funny because I do remember 3 months summers, and sometimes in HS it seemed crazy to think of them but I now remember they DID exist lol.

*** This post was edited by P18 1/30/2008 1:55:38 AM ***

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CHILDREN are undervalued...

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What!?

My children are undervalued. Since we had to go through fertility measures to have them they both cost met about $15,000...before they were born. Of course, there has been some depreciation as they have gone from adorable newborns to middling toddlers.

So does that make teenagers worthless? ;)

^^^Come down to FL and look at the schools (or go to any public schools anywhere in the US).

Heck, how easy was it for Congress to override Bushie's veto of SCHIP? Oh, wait, they didn't? ;)

Schools have become far too interested in teacher "accountability", and left the kids by the wayside.

Basically, from my perspective of childlessness, it seems that people value THEIR children based on their experiences and viewpoints, but that OTHER people's children (and children at large), get the short end of the stick in our society.

It'll probably get too political if we keep going, so let me just say that, in general, I disagree. :)

^LOL, fair enough. In the meantime, I'll stay childless so I can keep adding a different perspective... ;)

As far as keeping the job working for programs that serve "special needs" kids....that's something I may revisit at any point... ;)

Olivia Newton John - "Let's get political...political."

I think we, as a country, undervalue education for all age groups. And we scapegoat (see, just like I'm doing right now) teachers, school boards, mass media, and everyone instead of taking responsibility as parents. And no, sending your kids to an expensive private school is NOT taking responsibility.

Now see, that's where wording gets important. I agree with that - we do undervalue education.

Never thought I'd see an educational discussion on cb, but since I am a teacher here it goes.

While I do like the time off in the summer, I find it funny that the reason schools boards and states (Mi for one) are changing school calendars because the businesses are asking for the change. I was quite young when the school year first changed to school before labor day, so I don't remember the public sentiment on it. I seem to recall that families wanted school to start after labor dat back then too, but the change wasn't made until businesses got into the mix.

As a teacher, I don't think that the general public and our parents underappreciate teachers, but I do think that the media tries to create sensational stories and the government (feds especially) try to find scapegoats for our "failing educational system." They raise standards to a point where I'm not sure if our kids are developmentaly ready for them, and then blame teachers when they don't reach those standards.

In the past few decades, I think children are increasingly thought of as "expenses" not "assets." We always see or hear reports on how much it will cost to put a kid through college, or raise a child to the age of 18. We overlook the fact that in 15-20 years, today's kids will (or should be) productive members of society. They'll be contributing their brainpower, tax dollars and spending power and other talents. Not to mention, they'll be paying for the previous generation's social security and medicare.

Then again, I think we've proven that while America spends the most per child on education, they don't necessarily receive the best education.

I'm a teacher. This year, for the first time in my career, I attempted to work at a public school. I lasted two weeks before they brought in the first round of State Mandated Standardized tests. Everyone in the school from the janitor up to the Superintendent of the District KNEW that the kids were going to fail the tests... eight days is simply not enough time to even shake off all the "summer blues" much less introduce all the topics... but I digress... the point is, these tests were mandated by state law. "Eh, it'll be good practice for them... show them where they are and what they have to learn". Yeah, getting a failing grade on a test that I'm completely unprepared for was always good for MY personal motivation... sigh.

Long story short, I returned to my previous teaching job. For the record, in Washington state (Seattle area), we start the day after Labor Day and if I recall, we're ending on June... (checks callendar) 11th.

-Rob Escher