Now is the Time to Extend the School Day at Morton West

District 201 is currently in negotiations with the Teachers' union, along with several other unions, for a new contract. This is an excellent opportunity to make sweeping changes! And a great time to revisit a blog post from about a year ago that focused on the priorities of District 201. In that post, the goal of increasing the graduation rate was explored in this advice to the District 201 School Board:

Increase graduation rate. The current graduation rate is 69.4%. In addition to setting this goal, consider negotiating a longer school day (+50 minutes) for all students when the next teacher contract is negotiated. Though our students are held to the same standards as all others in the state in terms of how many credits are needed to graduate, they have less opportunity as they are only able to earn a total of 24 credits over the 4 years in the regular school day. While we have one of the shortest school days in the state, our neighboring districts give the opportunity for students to take one extra class each day (4 extra credits over 4 years). Extending the school day would be the most effective way to boost the graduation rate and every student in the district would benefit. The bottom line is that Morton students can take 6 classes per day, while OPRF, RB, LT and most other districts require their students to take 7.

I believe that Morton West's graduation rate of 69.4% reflects the number of students that are able to graduate in 4 years. I wonder about the other 30.6 % of students. How many do ultimately graduate by paying for an extra summer school class that in another district would have been free as a part of their regular school day? How many are too poor to afford that summer school class and, therefore, wait until the regular school year begins to finish up, even though that may mean ridicule from others for being a "5th year student"? How many young people, just a credit or two away from that diploma, just give up?

The formula for figuring out the graduation rate is complicated and varies from state to state, though Secretary of Education, Margaret Spellings, aims to change that with a federal formula. No matter what the formula, I believe that extending the school day will make a difference for some students in terms of their ability to graduate on time. It will make a huge difference for ALL students in terms of increasing their opportunities to learn...be it in an advanced math class for seniors (see this blog post) or an English class taken for the 2nd time to make up a lost credit.

Please urge the District 201 School Board and administration to consider negotiating a longer school day for students in any new union contracts. I once analyzed beginning teacher salaries for Morton West teachers compared to surrounding districts and found that they are, indeed, underpaid. Our teachers are paid about 7%less than beginning teachers at other districts, however our school day is about 15% shorter.

Our teachers deserve a raise. Our students deserve a chance!