Bill Would Lengthen School Day
Natalie Morgan
Staff Writer
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Most students would agree that the school day is long enough as it is. Senator Kamala Harris would disagree. On November 6th Senator Harris introduced a bill to lengthen the school day by three hours.
The bill, entitled the Family Friendly Schools Act, would target 500 elementary schools across the United States. This bill is meant to target low income households and the length of the school day would better line up with the average work schedule. Instead of school ending around 3 or 4 in the afternoon, the school day would go from 8 in the morning until 6 in the evening.
Teachers at these schools will not be asked to work extra hours but they can volunteer for an extra shift. They would be paid the same as they would during normal school hours. The affected schools will also receive grants of up to 5 million dollars. This money is meant to go towards extracurriculars and pay teachers that decide they want to work the extra hours.
During the bill's grant period surveys will be conducted with students, teachers, parents, and administrators. This will ensure that their is the maximum amount of benefit from the bill, and that all that will be affected by it will be satisfied.
Although at first glance students would be unsatisfied with the thought of a longer school day, there would be benefit to extra hours at school. The bill is intended to help low income families avoid having to pay for expensive child care services after school, and with a little work the bill can accomplish its job.