Parents - Why Not Fully Opt Out Of Half Days

The opt out movement has successfully demonstrated that parents can ultimately control educational policy. While the parents rallied for their children to protest common core testing, they also rallied behind an idea strongly supported by the teacher's union. What would happen if parents rallied behind sound educational policies they themselves consider important?  Instead of relying on teachers, what if they listened to their parental instincts and began to opt out of educational policies that have similar consequences such as common core testing?

For many years now, parents have been complaining about many educational issues that have zero benefit for their children. For example, the half day of teaching has been argued for years to be of no benefit to children. Their is much evidence to support this conclusion by parents.

Here are some local examples of how inconsequential half days are for your children. At a local high school, a half day constitutes 28 minutes of learning per period. Some periods are dropped entirely from the schedule.  PM BOCES students sit in an auditorium or the library because their is no plan for their missing at half day. Elementary students have 15 min periods. Does any of this make sense from a learning perspective.

School districts have half days due to union contracts and technicalities of instruction from the State Education Department. NYS requires 180 days of instruction. School districts have to manipulate the schedule throughout the calendar year to meet SED mandate and negotiated teaching contracts. Local educational leaders understand that 2 hrs. a day of instruction counts as a full day and utilize half days to meet their mandates. How in the 21st century, did we allow this practice to continue? It makes absolutely no sense to continue half days of instruction for the convenience of mandates and teacher contract requirements.

The truth is that parents have been opting out for years of this nonsense. Absenteeism is extremely high on half days. Classrooms sit half empty. So the question begs to be asked, why do we still have them. The reason is that the
 "opt out" message is not being heard loud and clear in Albany. Albany needs to see increased rates of absenteeism in order for this practice to stop. We have learned from the opt-out crowd that civil disobedience works.  It is time for parents to opt out of half days in record numbers to get this practice to stop.