Kamala Harris school plan: The two hours costing US parents thousands

[nitpicker]

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-50563103

Kamala Harris school plan: The two hours costing US parents thousands

26 November 2019

Democratic presidential contender Kamala Harris has proposed new legislation to address a thorny parental problem - how to care for children whose school days end hours before the workday. Journalist Kara Voght explains why it sparked such a reaction and how this issue affects parents worldwide.

In the US, the average school day is roughly seven hours long, beginning just after 8:00 and ending around 15:00, a vestige of an earlier era when it was less likely that both parents worked outside the home.
(snip)

Since fewer than half of all elementary schools offer after-school care, most parents either have to pay for private caregivers - which costs an average of $6,600 (£5,100) per year - or scale back their working hours to make up the difference.

The professional sacrifice has typically fallen to mothers, a million of whom work less than full-time in order to provide caregiving responsibilities to elementary school-aged children.

Low-income mothers and mothers of colour, whose jobs often grant less flexibility and time off, often shoulder even greater burdens that ask them to choose between caring for their children or having a job at all.
(snip)

Harris' proposal aims to address this discrepancy. Her bill, called the Family Friendly Schools Act, is a pilot programme that would give 500 schools that serve a high proportion of low-income families up to $5m dollars in grants to develop programming for students from at least 8:00 to 18:00 Monday through Friday.

Schools would be expected to stay open every day of the school year except for weekends and federal holidays; if they want to close for any other reason, they need to provide a full day of enrichment activities for students.

The longer day wouldn't require more classroom time, however; Harris imagines that school districts would work alongside community partners to develop "high-quality, culturally relevant, linguistically accessible, developmentally appropriate academic, athletic, or enrichment opportunities for students".

In other words, this might be early, mid-day, or afternoon programming that looks more like after-school programmes that exist in some school districts now. Teachers and staff would not be expected to work more hours under Harris' vision; instead, the grant money would be used to hire additional staff or to pay teachers who volunteered to work more hours.

When the news of Harris' proposal went live, the backlash was swift, ferocious, and, surprisingly bipartisan.

Conservatives accused Harris of weakening the mandate of public education; National Review, a right-leaning magazine, took two swings at Harris' plan, asserting it would turn schools into daycare centres, destabilise community ties, and overexpose children to the exhausting social dynamics of their peers.

Liberals, meanwhile, criticised Harris for finding a solution to what they think is the wrong problem. The school day isn't too short, they argued - the work day is too long, and children shouldn't have to bear the brunt of capitalistic ambitions by staying at school for extra hours.
(snip)

[nitpicker]

1. This ignores all the latchkey children

Because the parent(s) have to work and can scarcely afford rent and food, let alone before-school/after-school/summer care fees.

Even if a McJob parent (total household income just under $20K) wanted to put their kid in such programs, in Arlington County VA it costs $100 a month a child for combined before and after school care. (If household income is over $65K, it rises to over $500 a month.)

Solution: give kids house keys!

It's legal in DC and VA (although strongly frowned on) and for home-alone kids 8 years and older in MD.

[bucolic_frolic]

2. Somebody will pay for it

Personnel, utilities, insurance, transportation, and very fatigued kids will be the only result of this policy. Will the kids learn more, be safer? Dunno. School days seemed an endless travail to me.

[nitpicker]

3. And ignores school closures for weather-related reasons

I can understand Harris not thinking about snow (representing CA), but what about closures for floods, fire, power outages, etc.?

[dsc]

4. My problem with this is that it shows no understanding of the culture of elementary schools

especially in states with weak or non existent unions. Volunteering looks very different in those kinds of schools. NC literally has language that requires us to stay at work until our duty is done not a specific set of hours.

[George II]

5. It's not a good idea. In the northern states especially, children will be leaving for school....

....shortly after sunrise and not getting home until after dark. The only sunlight they'll see is through the schoolroom window or on weekends.

This will do more harm than good.