MANY state lawmakers know that the proposed House budget doesn't satisfy the need for longer school days. Tough times require limits on new spending, but not in the one area of education reform that is getting students, teachers, and parents to sit up and pay attention.
This week, state Representative Vincent Pedone of Worcester and more than 60 co-signers will be fighting for an amendment to the $28 billion House budget that would double - to $26 million - the funds available to support longer school days. House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi says that it pains him that he couldn't set aside more than $15.5 million for the coming school year. But the upcoming budget debate gives him a chance to feel better.
In fall 2006, a $6.5 million pilot program allowed 10 elementary and middle schools in Fall River, Boston, Malden, and elsewhere to lengthen the school day by about 90 minutes. It was an opportunity both to provide more time on core subjects and offer the art and enrichment programs that are often lost to the demands of the standard six-hour school day. Students benefited almost immediately. So did teachers who had a chance not only to earn more but to connect unhurriedly with their classes.
Last year, Governor Patrick and the Legislature agreed to double the funding to $13 million, enough to support 18 schools. Patrick wanted to double capacity again. But the House balked, providing only enough money to add a few more schools from a list of 16 already approved by the state Department of Education. That sends exactly the wrong message to the dozens of additional schools that are in various stages of planning for a longer school day.
Alert urban educators recognize that expanding learning time allows them to close the achievement gap between minority and white students.
A study by Massachusetts 2020, a nonprofit organization that promotes the longer school day, showed big improvements in the MCAS scores of students in schools with longer hours.
In Washington, Senator Edward Kennedy is using Massachusetts as a model to build the longer school day into the reauthorization of the federal No Child Left Behind law. Teachers unions are also embracing the change. And even state lawmakers who rarely focus on classroom performance see the public safety value of keeping middle school kids off the streets during the trouble-prone late-afternoon hours, and the political value in helping constituents save some money on extracurricular or child-care expenses.
DiMasi and House leaders should take a longer look at the extended school day.
