Dive Brief:
- A new report from ReadyNation contends that afternoon dismissals and long summer breaks not only hurt New York's student achievement but waste billions of dollars.
- According to the ed policy advocacy group, low-income students can lose as much as two months of knowledge each summer break, which, when added to the actual summer break, leaves them with around eight months of schooling each year.
- When the stats were applied to the state's per-pupil funding data, ReadyNation found, for example, that New York spends $19,550 per student each year, with the wasted months coming to a $3,910 loss per student. This, in turn, comes to a total of $2.3 billion lost in the state each year.
Dive Insight:
According to ReadyNation, extending the school day and school year could help mitigate these learning and financial loses. The organization also argues that this wouldn't just benefit students, but teachers as well, who could really flesh out curriculum and have more freedom with the extra time. American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten is on board with the longer school day idea, but has expressed that teachers should be paid more if they are expected to be at school more.
Just in time for this report, 94 low-performing schools in New York City will be extending their school day with the help of a $150 million plan from Mayor Bill de Blasio.
