For the Kids in Wisconsin - Longer School Days to Make up for Teacher Absences
By AnjaP
@Rollo1 (16679)
Boston, Massachusetts
March 14, 2011 8:26pm CST
In order to make up for lost school time in Madison, WI, Elementary school children will attend school for 20 minutes longer each day. Middle Schoolers and High Schoolers will have 12 and 15 extra minutes respectively.
All to benefit the children. Except it's the kids who have to make up their school hours that the teachers wasted out in the streets.
The school district received 1,000 sick notes from teachers but hasn't revealed how many teachers stayed out during the protests.
The School Board reached an agreement with Madison Teachers Inc. over the weekend that allowed the district to set the makeup calendar. The agreement also ensures teachers with unexcused absences will not be paid for those days and that teachers who submitted fraudulent sick notes will be suspended.
http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/education/local_schools/article_bf93a6ba-4e8e-11e0-a6eb-001cc4c03286.html?mode=story
I guess we're all lucky that high school students paid no attention to Michael Moore's call for them to "walk out" an hour early on Friday nationwide or there'd be even more time that the kids would have to make up to pay for the escapades of the adults.
All for the children?
2 people like this
6 responses
@Taskr36 (13963)
• United States
15 Mar 11
"teachers who submitted fraudulent sick notes will be suspended."
They should be fired and never be allowed to work for the state or local governments in Wisconsin again. They flat out tried to STEAL taxpayer dollars with those fraudulent notes. I think the state should press criminal charges against them.
3 people like this
@debrakcarey (19887)
• United States
15 Mar 11
If they don't do this they loose federal funding for those lost hours. That is why if your kid is sick they get real touchy cause they have to submit the number of kids physically in the building for each day to get the money for them.
And I bet that extra 20 minutes will be spent talking about how right the teachers were to go protest.
3 people like this
@Rollo1 (16679)
• Boston, Massachusetts
15 Mar 11
When summer grows nigh and weather is warm, the kids are going to get pretty antsy sitting in those seats those extra 20 minutes. Parents have to change after-school arrangements or pick up times. Pretty selfish for people doing it all for the kids.
1 person likes this
@ParaTed2k (22940)
• Sheboygan, Wisconsin
15 Mar 11
Great, 20 more minutes a day for teachers to indoctrinate the students.
1 person likes this
@dragon54u (31636)
• United States
15 Mar 11
I think we all know this wasn't "for the children". Things rarely are. In fact, when I hear that phrase I'm immediately suspicious of the person or the organization uttering it.
While there are good unions (we have some here that have made concessions so that business could continue), the WI teacher's union is despicable. They acted like bullies, showing disrespect for the law and lawmakers and students and parents. Then they denied their true purpose, which was getting more dues for the union bosses to use for political influence and personal gain. What slimeballs. 
2 people like this
