School Deficiencies and Strengths

* Re Jenny Bioche’s March 4 column, “Students Can’t Take In Much if School’s Out”:

As an educator I am in agreement that there are many disruptions, disguised as holidays, to the academic calendar. I would also like to see a longer school day, and would be more than willing to work one if it meant more one-on-one time with my students. However, Bioche needs to get the facts straight before accusing any school of stealing valuable time from its students.

All schools are required to provide their students with the same amount of instructional minutes, depending on their grade level. For example, all first-, second- and third-graders across the state will be attending school for the same amount of time this year. So a school that chooses to take an extra week off for “Presidents Week” must make up those lost minutes somewhere else in the year.

Also mentioned is a very popular practice of having an early-dismissal or late-arrival day. This does not result in “four hours a month of missed classroom time” because students actually attend school for a longer amount of time during the other four days than they would if they did not have an early day. This practice provides teachers with valuable time to meet with grade-level colleagues for planning, preparation and training that they wouldn’t get otherwise.

As for the “bonus day off” on the Wednesday of parent-teacher conferences, most teachers spend this day doing exactly what it’s designed for: conferencing with parents. It is one of the most difficult working days of the entire year.

Yes, there may be flaws in the instructional calendar, but all students attend school for the same number of minutes during the year no matter how much it “resembles a piece of Swiss cheese.”

KERI KANGAS

Irvine

* Jenny Bioche addresses an issue that is no doubt discussed extensively but has yet to be resolved in our educational system.

It is hardly a wonder why American youngsters fare disappointingly in the academic arena relative to the rest of the world, considering the faulty school system that lets our children fall through the cracks. Apart from reevaluating teaching methods and curriculum agenda, unnecessary holidays during the school year, which only provide for distraction, must be replaced with lost class time.

Students find it challenging enough to retain information over the summer holidays without being further stagnated by unnecessary intermittent days off during semesters. No doubt the philosophy of success must be instilled in the young generation primarily on the home front if any changes are to be effectively implemented.

Parents need to take a stand on children who are lacking the basic skills, motivation and inspiration needed to ensure the exploitation of their potential. A much-needed prescription to society would be to set our grossly mismanaged priorities straight.

HUMERA MUFTI

Saddleback College

Rancho Santa Margarita