Based on the fact that other that LISD is using the whole "other people do it" excuse I am willing to bet that the teachers will not receive any type of compensation.

Seems like LISD no longer can be an original district in thought or action. Most things installed or changed by the administration over the past few years has been guided by the "other districts do it" doctrine.

Our family will give serious thought to moving to Frenship. Come on now Karen Garza, this is Lubbock, not Houston.

It is sad that these people possess upper level degrees in education and can only muster reactive actions. The great thing about Lubbock is that we do not follow the failed policies of the larger cities in Texas. Guess we know why all of the districts around LISD are growing.

If other school districts in the area, especially those to the immediate south and southwest have more student contact time, and are drawing students from LISD, it would probably behoove LISD to try to adapt, and staunch or slow the flow of "white flight" to LCISD and FISD.

Just having a longer day isn't going to cut it without using the time wisely, though. We have kindergarteners spending the whole day filling in blanks on worksheets, while research shows that small children learn better if they are allowed to get off their behinds and play pretty regularly. I imagine that research on the rest of us would be similar. When we sit on our behinds too long, our brains go to sleep. So, maybe that extra time could be used to let children be children instead of GIGO zombies.

We bucked the trend, and transferred our youngest from one of the S/SW districts to LHS because we felt strongly that the atmosphere at LHS was superior with regard to acceptance of individual and cultural diversity, though it still has a long way to go toward including the neighborhood students in its magnet program.

Generally, I see it as a systemic situation, as well as a district problem. As long as all of the focus is on the TAKS, and the college bound, while neglecting Voc/Tech tracks, I figure that districts will be spending their time on things that won't really help large portions of their student populations.

What can I say? It seems like politicians who have no educational experience, allied with educators with political ambitions, are the ones who make all the decisions, without much input from administrators, much less the actual educators in the trenches.

So, politics and special interests trump research and data. What else is new?

I see this as a good thing! Seriously, what is the problem? That extra time makes no big difference to our daily home life, but I can see how it will make a big difference in instruction, if the time is used effectively. (and I'm with Jeff Ross, effectively for the lower elementary means give them recess time!)

For the elementary kids, just one side benefit I can think of off the top of my head: pushing the dismissal time back means that kids who go to after-school care have fewer minutes of wasted time there until their parents are off work. I bet the prices won't go down though! I'm sure many parents will appreciate a school day that is more closely inline with the work day.

You said, "As long as all of the focus is on the TAKS, and the college bound, while neglecting Voc/Tech tracks, I figure that districts will be spending their time on things that won't really help large portions of their student populations."

I couldn't agree more. Those without college ambitions should be given as much attention on honing marketable skills for the work-a-day world. That's one of the reasons I support the Byron Martin Technology Center.

Behind every successful man is an astonished mother-in-law. - K.A. Ballard

Yeah. I have respect for those who go into the electrical, plumbing, and auto repair trades, amongst others, but I don't see why they need a BS in any of those areas, and, giving students headed that way instruction on reading technical manuals and such will probably be more worthwhile for everyone concerned than trying to shove Shakespeare down their throats. And, I don't care what their scores are/were on standardized tests if they can fix what is broke.

is the worst educational waste of time ever foisted on our kids. What happened to letting teachers make lesson plans? Even bad teachers can teach to TAKS.

When does it end?

for everyone except this year's 9th graders. Starting next year all students will take STAAR exams and STAAR end of course exams.

off of the STAAR, including textbooks, curricula, and administrator and teacher training, or is it the same group adapting to the public outcry against TAKS?

Somehow, I think it's kind of like Blackwater USA/Xe Services LLP. Different name, same faces.

I am in agreement with your points. But, I'm afraid that adding a few minutes here and there every day is sorely missing the point: the fundamental structure of our K-12 public education system, which has not changed much in over 120 years, is due for a major overhaul.

We seriously need to rethink: (1) the 2 1/2 month summer recess (a holdover from a largely agrarian society); (2) the concept/paradigm of education in an internet age, i.e. more emphasis on critical thought processes than on content recall (content is literally at your fingertips now with iPads, iPhones, etc. vs. having had to run down to the library in the good 'ol days); (3) the control/funding process of education, i.e. highly decentralized vs. federally controlled, not the hybrid we now have and which is not working that well; and (4) yes...a German type model with split tracks at the secondary level for college-bound or trade-bound students.

I can see you've given our schooling system great thought. You have surfaced some great points to ponder!

If I'm not mistaken, the English (Brits) have apprenticeships for those who wish to learn a trade or skill. This is much of what I like the Byron Martin Tech Center.

Stop the idiocy now, end Daylight Savings Time! - Me

The bottom line is that the STAAR and EOC tests that students will be facing will be more rigorous. Schools need to maximize instructional time to ensure that students are prepared. We may feel that the amount of time spent testing is a waste of time, but testing is the method currently used to try to measure performance in schools.