Blog #9: Can I work 4 days too?

Most of you have heard people say how easy teachers have it because most do not work in the summer, but can you image the grief the teachers in Hawaii are getting for voting in favor of a four day work week? I can’t. The teachers union in Hawaii recently passed with 81% in favor of shorting the school year to 163 days, instead of the regular 180.
The reason for this school day shortage is money. Big surprise! The economy is hurting Hawaii which according the AP, “More than a quarter of the state's general budget goes to the state Department of Education”. The governor, “withheld 14% from estimated salaries, or $227 million,” the article from USA Today stated.
The teachers union, “ probably wouldn't have voted for the contract if they had to work the same amount for less pay, paving the way for the shorter school year, said Hawaii State Teachers Association President Wil Okabe. He also said the state couldn't get the necessary savings if teacher furlough days were scheduled for holidays — or workdays with schools kept open. By accepting the shorten days the teachers also accepted concurrent pay reduction and postponed layoffs and random drug testing for two years.
So my first question to my classmates is, “would you have voted in favor of this?”

It is a very tough call because you have a feed yourself and your family. Nobody wants to be laid off and no one wants to take a pay cut. I can’t image being put in a situation like this. On one hand you are thinking of yourself and on the other you are thinking of the educational opportunities the students will be missing by the shorten school year.

Students and parents in Hawaii are voicing their thoughts on the issues. "It's just not enough time for the kids to learn," said Valerie Sonoda, president of the Hawaii State Parent Teacher Student Association. "I'm getting hundreds of calls and e-mails. They all have the same underlying concern, and that is the educational hours of the kids." The article does mention that some parents concerns were along the lines of not finding daycare for younger children and parents of special needs children not finding the proper services.

The state Hawaii has some other problems that many of you are familiar with, the No Child Left Behind Act. The Act set standards that states must meet in order to continue to receive federal funding. Hawaii is, “already ranked 47th in the nation in eighth-grade reading and math, according to 2007 National Assessment of Educational Progress test scores.” This is a real problem and by cutting more learning time how can Hawaii ever catch-up to other states? It won’t and might fall to last place which might take years or decades to recover from.
Since Hawaii is all one district the chance that this problem will go away is limited. I think the state is doing what it thinks is best for the budget, so we don’t have another California on our hands. I think the teachers are taking cuts to keep their jobs. What I wonder is what is the federal government doing? We are being pushed to nationalize healthcare which will cost at some estimates $860 billion dollars but the federal government isn’t concerned that the young people will be missing out on an education. Ironic, since Hawaii is the President’s home state don’t you think?

I am not taking a political jab, I am frustrated becasue students are going to suffer and some tend to have no problem bailing out GM or investors, then why not give the state short term loans to keep the schools open?

Blog #5: Dress For Success at Public Schools

Does the term dress for success mean anything anymore? The current lawsuit filed by the Cheyenne Sioux tribe against the public school in Eagle Butte, South Dakota is another attempt by lawyers to waste taxpayers’ money on an issue that has proven successful in other districts. According Carol Moran, whose daughter attends the school, she and, “other parents have joined the tribe in a federal lawsuit seeking to block the school district from enforcing the dress code, which requires students to wear black, white or tan shirts, pants, skirts or shorts”.




The school district insists that the school has a gang problem and many of the students wear gang colors to school, “daily”. Many educators may think of a gang as something they see on TV or in the movies but according to the School Safety and Security Services a youth gang can be considered young adults who:

• interact frequently

• are frequently and deliberately involved in illegal activities

• share a common collective identity

• and typically adopt certain methods of identification and/or claim control over certain areas



I would assume that the teachers and administrators at Eagle Butte have seen these behaviors for some time and decided to take action. They didn’t do it overnight. They sent letters home explaining the new dress code and published the rules in the local paper over the summer explaining the reasoning behind it. The district, which has failed to meet the standards from No Child Left Behind has stated, “we hope that an increase in safety will increase our academics for all students." Can you blame them for trying something new?



An example that this policy does work is Long Beach, California. Since 1994 the school has kept records and the stats have shown that school crime has dropped 76%, while attendance has reached an all time high.



Other positive things that uniforms bring to the table stated on a public school parent website are:

1. Eliminates opportunities for the ridicule of less popular or less fortunate students based on attire.

2. Decreases theft and violence

3. Help students resist peer pressure

4. Help officials recognize intruders



I have visited Eagle Butte and have been in their high school within the last year. The town of Eagle Butte is poor and when I was there the atmosphere just seemed depressing. For those of you not familiar with the reservation in SD it is very similar to the ghetto in a large city. There are buildings that need fixing, a swimming pool with no water, basketball courts with no nets, and individuals just hanging out. The school is nice but run down in areas such as maintenance and grounds. It was summer when I visited so no students were there but I did meet some staff members that were very positive and hardworking. It must be somewhat disappointing to see youth gangs and violence increasing in your district and not being able to do much to curve it. That is why they passed a school dress code policy. They needed to act quickly and take stand in the one place students should feel safe…the school. Good for them.

I understand the cost of new uniforms will be difficult for some families but I am sure if there is a way to tie it to NCLB and success rate maybe a discount can be offered. I also understand the claim of civil liberties and freedom of expression should be allowed in a public schools and it can be, at sporting events, school clubs, and dances. I would ask any parent in Eagle Butte if they have a better idea of stopping the gangs in the schools then they should step forward and speak up.