On the clock, calendar -- How long have Chicago students spent in school?
On the clock, calendar -- How long have Chicago students spent in school?
News clips from the Tribune archives on the issue of the length of the school day and the school year. (For a Webliography on this issue, click here) Do any of you with long memories recall other changes?
Feb. 11, 1954: Supt. Benjamin C. Willis told the board of education he will recommend at its meeting Feb. 24 that the grade school day be extended from 9 a.m. to 3:15 pm., 15 minutes longer….Willis also said he will propose adding 30 minutes to the elementary teacher’s day, making it 8:30 a.m. to 3:15 p.m. It now begins at 8:45 a.m. and ends at 3 p.m. This would equalize the elementary teachers’ hours with those of the high schools. The extra time for teachers, he said, can be used for parent interviews, pupil counseling and staff meetings. The extra 15 minutes for pupils will be classroom time. … Willis said the proposal results from …a survey made several years ago (that) indicated the proposal would bring Chicago grade school hours in line with those of other major cities.
Sept. 10, 1957: Elementary school teachers have been flooding the board of education with letters, telegrams and telephone calls protesting a proposal to lengthen their school day from 6 hours 45 minutes to 7 hours….John M. Fewkes, president of the Chicago Teachers Union, said he had proposed that the high school teachers’ day be shortened by 15 minutes since they receive the same pay as elementary teachers….(Supt. Benjamin C.) Willis) said that by reporting 15 minutes earlier, elementary teachers would have extra time for parent interviews, preparation of classwork, and corridor supervision.
Sept. 26, 1974: In elementary schools the length of the usual teacher work day is 8:30 a.m. to 3:15 p.m., with a 45-minute lunch period, that’s a six hour work day. The school year is 39 weeks. There are 180 classroom days in which students are present. Three times a week they get from 8:30 to 9 for prep three times they get from 9 to to 9:40 for preparation. In high schools, the work day is 8 a.m. to 2:45 p.m. with a 40 minute lunch period.. and a 40 minute prep period each day.
August 28, 1977 One of the technical but substantial issues sure to arise in the negotiation of the next contract between the Chiago Board of Education and the Chicago Teachers Union is the length of the school year. Should it be 185 or 180 days? In an advertisement in our Perspective section, Robert M. Healey, president of the CTU, argued vigorously for the figure of 180. Illinois school law states 180 as the minimum figure for eligibility for full state aid
July 24, 1979 Cook County School Supt. Richard Martwick …proposed a four-day, winter school week, and the shutdown of schools from Jan 1 to Feb 14 as two ways of countering a potential energy crisis this winter.
Sept. 16, 1980 – (Editorial): The controversy about “closed” or “open” public schools in Chiago has a number of facets. ….Supt. Angela P. Caruso advocates extending the lunch break from 20 minutes to an hour, which would delay afternoon classes…..Teachers, whose contractual lunch hour is 45 minutes, might be able to contribute something to lunch hour supervision….Dr. Caruso contends…that there will be more learning in the afternoons if children are allowed more than a 20-minute intermission at midday.
May 11, 1983 – Children could be attending school only four days a week under a bill passed by the Illinois House. Local school districts would have the option of changing the school calendar to eliminate one day of school each week but adding an extra hour to each school day….The bill would reduce the minimum number of school days from 185 to 154 a year, but increase the number of hours children attend school from 880 to 882.
August 30, 1993: Negotiators for the Chicago Teachers Union and school officials met for almost eight hours Sunday.... Most of the discussion Sunday centered on the length of the school day...The board has proposed extending the school day from 200 minutes to 280
November 7, 2003 :The Chicago Teachers Union on Thursday rejected the school district's first proposal since contract mediation resumed last month...Union officials said they were glad to see that the district's proposal addressed two of their greatest areas of concern--increased health-care costs and the length of the school day--but it didn't go far enough....The proposal ...suggested extending the school day by 15 minutes rather than 20, as called for in the initial tentative agreement
August 30, 2007: Chicago teachers and school officials reached a tentative contract agreement, staving off the threat of a strike with a pact that sources said Wednesday will give teachers a 4 percent wage increase in each of the next five years....Mayor Richard Daley indicated that the proposed contract will not extend the school day, as he and school officials had sought.....Daley lamented the failure to provide for a longer school day but said he was not going to let that stand in the way of an agreement on the eve of the new school year....He added, "We are going to be still talking to the teachers union about that because six hours a day ... is not much." Teachers signed a four-year contract in 2003 that gave them a base salary increase of 4 percent per year but that also added 15 minutes to the school day.
February 27, 2011 (Editorial): Extend the length of school day and year. Right now, Chicago has one of the shortest school days (about five hours) and years (170 days) in the nation. A 2008 study by the Center for American Progress, a Washington think tank, pegged the length of school days in the nation's 10 largest urban districts. Chicago placed ... 10th. Many Chicago teachers tell us they would welcome more time in the school day. They, and we, know that kids can't learn if they're not in the classroom. Right now, the school day is negotiated by the Chicago Public Schools with the teachers union. The Illinois Legislature is considering a proposal that would let the Chicago Board of Education determine the length of the school day and year without negotiation. We strongly support that change.
March 3, 2011: Saying he was pleased but not satisfied with the progress of Chicago Public Schools during his tenure, Daley recounted asking city teachers to spend 15 more minutes to teach to help disadvantaged students, but the union refused without additional pay. “Our teachers work six hours a day. Six hours a day. What do you think of that? Thirty hours a week,” Daley said. “I’m not condemning all the teachers, but you know, there has to be a time and place for everybody to have to give to the less fortunate. … Unions have to understand, that you have a responsibility. It’s not just a paycheck.”
