In response to California's deepening budget crisis, administrators in more than half of the state’s 30 largest school districts are considering shortening the school year from its current level of 180 instructional days, according to a survey by California Watch.
Teachers in San Jose and San Diego have already agreed to cut one week from the school year. In Los Angeles, Superintendent Ramon Cortines is pushing to cut the school year by 5 days. The Long Beach Unified School District wants to reduce it by three days, and the San Francisco Unified by at least two.
“This is a major setback,” said State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell. “We’re reducing learning opportunities for our students, which puts California students at a competitive disadvantage relative to other states."
What worries O’Connell and other educators is that a shorter school year would put California behind at least 30 other states that offer 180 instructional days – and even further behind numerous countries ranging from the United Kingdom, South Korea and Japan, which offer many more.
"We will have a whole generation of kids who will feel the impact," said Superintendent Steven Lawrence of the Mount Diablo Unified School District in Concord.
How many of these districts actually end up with a shorter school year next fall will depend on tough negotiations with teachers unions now underway throughout the state, and final budget-cutting decisions school boards will make in coming months.
A little over a year ago, school districts were given permission by the state to reduce the school year to 175 days, but only a handful of mostly smaller school districts did so in communities such as Whittier, Camarillo and Salinas.
This year, however, officials in some of the state’s largest districts are saying they have little choice but to take drastic action – flying in the face of research that shows students do better with more time in the classroom, as well as pressures from the highest levels of government to provide a longer school year.
“I know longer school days and school years are not wildly popular ideas," President Barack Obama said a year ago in his first major speech on education after taking office. "Not with Malia and Sasha, not in my family, and probably not in yours. But the challenges of a new century demand more time in the classroom."
That was a point that U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan repeated at a congressional hearing on March 17, when asked to name one positive idea that has emerged from the charter school movement ."Time," he said. "Longer days, longer weeks, shorter summers. When good teaching happens, time matters."
Yet officials interviewed by California Watch in 16 of California’s largest 30 districts, serving over 1.3 million students, say they are considering a shorter school year.
Several districts not actively considering it have not ruled out the possibility altogether, responding with comments such as, “Everything is up for consideration,” or, “No decisions have been made.”
Teachers have a powerful incentive to go along with lopping off several days from the school year. They’re faced with having to make a choice between accepting unpaid furlough days – and a modest salary reduction – versus the prospect of more teachers being laid off entirely.
The 1611 members of the San Jose Teachers Association voted last month by an overwhelming 84 percent margin to cut five days from the school year – which will result in a pay cut of 2.5 percent. Each day eliminated from the school year translates into a half-percent salary reduction.
“My teachers don’t like taking a pay cut, but they understand the necessity,” said Janice Allen, president of the San Jose Teachers Association, and a veteran second grade teacher. “Everyone has to do their share.”
Ann Jones, San Jose Unified’s chief business officer, pointed out that cutting a week of classes will save the district $4.7 million, which she said is preferable to eliminating entire programs. “There is not much left to cut to come up with this big of a savings,” she said.
It was only a dozen years ago that California – at a time of barely remembered budget surpluses – increased the number of instructional days from 173 to 180 days.
Even with a 180-day school year, California comes nowhere close to the recommendation of the landmark 1983 report " A Nation at Risk," which pointed to “a rising tide of mediocrity” in the nation’s schools. “Compared to other nations, American students spend much less time on school work,” the commission concluded, and urged that the school year be increased to between 200 and 220 days.
Some districts, like the Clovis Unified School District, have been able to hold the line at the current school year of 180 days. “We believe that students need every instructional minute we can give them,” said district spokesperson Kelly Avants.
But State Superintendent O’Connell worries that if the state’s budget crisis persists, an ever-shrinking school year – along with larger classes – could become the norm in California. A 175-day school year and K-3 class sizes of 30 students, he fears, may soon be replaced by a 170-day school year and 40 students per class, with no floor in sight.
“This is not hyperbole,” he said. “Absent additional funding, this may only be the beginning.”
What is happening in schools in your community? Please let us know.
* Based on California Watch interviews and emails with school officials in February and March, 2010. Districts on list subject to change depending on outcome of negotiations with unions and budget decisions by school boards.
**Source: Ed-Data, 2008-09 school year.
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