Sen. Kamala Harris introduces bill to extend school day by 3 hours

[The Deadman]

https://www.wwlp.com/news/political-...ter_WWLP22News

(WFLA) – Senator Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) thinks the school day should look more like a workday.

The presidential hopeful introduced a bill that would extend the school day from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., Mother Jones reports. The bill has five Democratic co-sponsors.

Harris explained the reasoning behind the bill in a statement, saying it would help working parents who struggle to find childcare between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m.

The typical school day in America ends around 3 p.m., which is hours before 70 percent of parents stop working, according to Harris.

“My mother raised my sister and me while working demanding, long hours,” Harris wrote. “So, I know firsthand that, for many working parents, juggling between school schedules and work schedules is a common cause of stress and financial hardship. But, this does not have to be the case.”

The bill proposes a pilot program that would give 500 schools serving mainly low-income families five-year grants of up to $5 million to lengthen the school day, along with $1.3 billion for summer programming.

The school day would run from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. with no closures, except for weekends, federal holidays and emergencies, according to Mother Jones.

Under Harris’ plan, teachers and faculty are not required to work additional hours, and the extra time would be used for extracurricular activities. Teachers can, however, sign up for an extra shift and be paid the rate they get during normal schools hours.

The grant money will go toward “music, arts, athletics, writing and engineering,” and summer programming, Harris’ senate office told CNBC.

[Andrew NDB]

I don't know how I feel about this. There are pros and cons.

[oldmanwinters]

Most public schools I knew offered a supervised after-school service for those situations.

[IndigoErth]

Good god, for those who need it, just allow students to stay later and have a chance to get a start on their homework and whatnot.

Most typical work days don't go until 6pm, nor in most cases need time to do homework afterwards! So go home, have dinner, do homework, and got to bed? That isn't giving kids any downtime to unwind and mentally detach from the school day if what little time they have in the rest of their day is largely going to be devoted to homework (and possibly more of it because a longer school day would probably add more classes!) before going to bed and repeating the whole thing. That just doesn't bode well, no more than people who get stuck doing multiple back to back close/open shifts at a job... I know this country and its work ethic likes to think that's fine, that people should just be able to do this stuff nonstop, but most just can't do that crap long term, that would drive some of these kids bonkers just as it does many adults who can't catch any downtime either.

[Andrew NDB]

I think I'd be for it, but only if it's an optional and only if it's at the end of the day. Like, from 3 PM - 6 PM if you NEED to, you can have your kid stay at school and they can offer various activities. Or if you DON'T need to, your kid can bounce.

[IndigoErth]

Yeah, definitely if only optional, just like there are already sports and other after school activities in most schools.

Or, say, some extra advanced placement classes for kids who want to get a head start. Which would probably be primarily kids who like school anyhow and wouldn't mind staying later to get ahead.

edit: Come to think of it, a mandatory 6pm end does kind of ruin it for sports and other existing after school activities if there is no time for them at that point. (And if the server this site is hosted on does not stop dying when I want to post or edit things...>.>)

[Coola Yagami]

That sucks hard all around and makes me glad I went to school in the 80's and 90's.

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

Originally Posted by oldmanwinters

Most public schools I knew offered a supervised after-school service for those situations.

Yes, but they aren't, and were never, mandatory.

[ProphetofGanja]

Kamala Harris is an unscrupulous narc with no conscience

[Vegita-San]

Originally Posted by Coola Yagami

That sucks hard all around and makes me glad I went to school in the 80's and 90's.

agreed. we didn't have to worry about shootings, uniforms.....or healthy lunches, or any of this modern day crap.....

worst we had where bullies.

[newfan]

As others have said, optional with flexibility would not be the same thing, if it were mandatory, no, cruel.

[Coola Yagami]

Originally Posted by Vegita-San

agreed. we didn't have to worry about shootings, uniforms.....or healthy lunches, or any of this modern day crap.....

worst we had where bullies.

There were school shootings in my day. Mostly gang related and not 'emo kid getting payback'. There were metal detectors in schools waaaay before Columbine.

[vicsavage]

Originally Posted by ProphetofGanja

Kamala Harris is an unscrupulous narc with no conscience

You could've just said 'prosecutor'