Question...am I being unreasonable by thinking a 10 hr. school day is

[dolo amber]

a bit much??

My 13 yr old catches the bus at 6:53 AM (the school doors aren't even OPEN until 7:55...), then gets home at 4:45 (school is out at 3:20.)

:wtf:

I realize most schools are pathetically underfunded and all, but this one is by comparison doing QUITE well. Same school system, last year...the bus ran between say...7:20 AM and whenever, if it ran at all. You just went to the bus stop and hoped for the best. Millions of calls to these people have been to no avail. It seems pretty obvious this isn't going to change, I just think it's utterly ridiculous. :grr:

[HEyHEY]

1. That is stupid, kids aren't allowed to enjoy their youth anymore

[Fenris]

2. No. It's asinine.

Fuck school.

[Downtown Hound]

3. It's the Bush education plan

More hours, less intelligence. Kind of like their work plan, more hours, less pay.

[cheezus]

4. 8-3:20 doesn't sound bad

but the bus ride... ouch.

still 8am is WAAAY to early... especially for high schoolers who are going to stay up late regardless of how early they have to get up

[wildeyed]

13. I read a news story

recently (sorry can't remember where) and it talked about a high school that had changed it's start time from 7 to 9AM. EVERYTHING got better. Lower drop out rate, higher test scores, fewer disciplinary problems. So here is a simple way to improve public schooling; a later start time for high schools. I hope school districts act on it.

[cheezus]

14. I remember when they had 7:30 am classes

which was later changed to 8:30, which was a LOT better (tho still bad). I could never be functional until after lunch. I was pretty much on autopilot in the mornings.

[flamingyouth]

5. I'm trying to remember...

I think I caught the bus at 7:10, school started at 7:45 (after we drove aimlessly around North Seattle - finally, I just got my dad to drive me to school, so we could leave at 7:30...). School got out at 2:15, so I was usually home by three. That sounds pretty ridiculous to me.

[jedicord]

6. I'm DREADING the school year starting!

More so than when I went to school - my son will be in 6th grade and there's no telling what we're going to have to deal with this year.

"No let school interfere with your education" - my man Mark Twain.

Amen.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

7. I was in school 4h a day for 8 years. Then 5h a day for 2 years.

Then came the 3rd year of HS, in which students here (me included) burn themselves for the college admission exams. Even so, school hours were never more than 6.

And I daresay I was well educated.

[dolo amber]

9. I assume you weren't educated in the States

In which case, I daresay you're right. ;)

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

11. Correct. Private, non-fundie school in Petrópolis, Rio State, Brazil. (nt)

[xcmt]

8. I don't think it's unreasonable.

From 7th grade (12 years old) through high school, I got on the bus (or left for school) at roughly the same time, and I didn't get home until 5:30 at the earliest. Yeah, sometimes it was a hassle, like when I walked off the bus in pitch-blackness, but I had plenty of play and personal time.

Maybe I grew accustomed to it.

[cheezus]

15. ug. that sucked. no light for me

I live in ND, way up north where the winters are long. It would be dark when I got to school in the morning, and dark again when I left after debate practice.

kind depressing, especially since <1/2 of the classrooms were on the outside walls and thus had windows.

[elperromagico]

10. The New Bush Philosophy:

The rich figure out how to dodge paying taxes, so we shouldn't tax them.

Therefore, since children often skip school, school should be abolished.

Thanks for your kind attention.

[Xithras]

12. How far do you live from the school?

Can you buy him/her a bike?

School busses are one of the most expensive things a school district can buy. Depending on the type and size, one bus purchase can equal the yearly salary of several teachers, insurance is typically horrendous, the districts have to pay for mechanics and drivers, and the maintenance costs are astronomical. Since many school districts consider bussing a "non-core" cost (i.e. it doesn't actually contribute to the education of the student) it tends to get the short end of the shaft when budgets are being drawn up.

My uncle was a mechanic for a few months at a local school district, and from what he told me I'd never put any of my kids on their busses (like his boss ordering him to back off the adjusters in one brakedrum to eliminate the brakes squeal, because they didn't have the money to actually replace the worn out brake pads that quarter). He finally quit the job because he was worried that he'd be held liable when when one of them broke.

[dolo amber]

21. Much too far for that

It's a good 20 min. drive...

That's not very reassuring, the story about your uncle. It's just another one of those things I assume, being horridly cynical, but hope to never have confirmed. x(

[Moonbeam_Starlight]

16. So it sounds like

2-3 hours of that time is transportation and waiting for school to start.

That's not that unusual. If it bothers you a lot, is there anyway you can take your child and pick her up? If you do that, of course, that will save her a couple of hours at school a day. Otherwise...

My fourth grader walks to school with two other friends. They take off at 7:40, get to school around 7:55 (they walk slowly, it really isn't that far) and the kids are let into the classroom at 8:10. Then she goes to the YMCA after school program on campus after school gets out at 3:20 and I pick her up anytime between 4:30 and 6:30 (depending on my work day).

So it doesn't sound that unusual to me, but maybe that's just me.

[Magrittes Pipe]

17. To her benefit...

...those are hours she doesn't have to spend with someone like you. :evilgrin:

[dolo amber]

20. That's funny...

That's the same thing she said...:cry:


:P

[Magrittes Pipe]

22. Aw...

:hug:

[Kali]

18. Same here

Kids have to get up at 5 or 5:30 Bus (a mile and half drive) at 7:20. school out at 3 home by 4:30. The bus ride is less of a problem to me than the wasted time at school "preparing to get ready to learn about what they are going to do" instead of spending a few hours on academics they waste so much time attending "programs" like just rat on your parents, er I mean Just Say No to Drugs, getting the rules explained ad nauseum, career days every other week that only host military recruiters etc, etc.

[Celeborn Skywalker]

19. horrible

I'd keep complaining and bugging them until they crack.

[neverborn]

23. Go go public schooling.

[JVS]

24. If they shorten it many parents will complain that they need daycare

Whether we like it or not schools are being used by many as a place to park their kids while they are working. By keeping these kids occupied for a time longer than the workday, these schools keep kids from being unsupervised. In many cases it is either this or latchkeys.