The Chicago Teachers Union Tuesday afternoon applauded the mayor’s shift in his longer school day stance — cutting back his demand from 7.5 to 7 hours for elementary schools — but asserted the mayor has far to go on compromising.
“Once again, CTU has been proven correct. Today, the mayor moved his toe an inch from the line,” union President Karen Lewis said at a news conference at the group’s Merchandise Mart headquarters, calling the longer day a “political slogan, not an educational plan.”
“Now that the mayor is starting to listen to parents, teachers and research regarding the pitfalls of the longer school day program being pushed in school districts across the country, it is now time he used both ears to hear everything we are saying about the types of schools our children deserve,” she said. “It is not the length of time but the quality of time that truly matters here.”
Last year, CTU officials proposed a seven-hour school day modeled after the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools as a “starting point” for discussion. On Tuesday, they welcomed Emanuel’s counterproposal, but said they believed parents would still prefer a 6.5-hour day , which is closer to the statewide average. She wants to know how the city will pay for the longer day, considering the system faces big budget problems.
“The mayor still needs to tell us how he intends to pay for this. He should hold a news conference and announce how he will fund the art, music, physical education and world language instruction needed to give our students the world class education they deserve.”
No comments:
Post a Comment