[hand raise]
My wife teaches "bad kids" at an inner city school for kids who are usually legally involved or have some toher reason for why they can't attend the normal urban public schools. She's exhausted by the end of the day like most teachers in her scenario, but it breaks her heart to see her students kicked out of school at 1:30PM with nowhere to go, a cold house they can't go home to, and so they end up basically being treated like homeless for 4 hours if their parents work or they don't have a grandparent or aunt who can take care of them. THey fall behind academically because there is no institutional support.
From the sounds of it, this proposal is to fund the extension of school hours not so that my public school teachers like my wife have to continue teaching, but so that schools can hire new staff or pay existing staff to keep the doors open, instead of booting kids into the street.
A warm room where a student can do his/her homework can make a big difference towards learning and outcomes. Access to a computer after 2PM can make a major difference in kids lives.
Are there challenges? Of course. FUnding, safety, curriculum, a balance of home/school life. But, for kids who are literally walking the street in the cold in December until it's dark out or parents who can't hold a stable job because they can only work 830-130, this is a first step to a solution.
(Sorry originally quoted MPrice the post above this one instead of DrFunk -- sorry for the incorrect notification!)
