School Reform Bill

The governor is planning to pass a bill in school reform. I personally do not believe his choice to extend school years and lengthen school days. Extending school days and years won’t necessarily help students to get better grades. But for some students who cut the already short days; it may encourage them to skip and not participate in school more. The choice to lengthen school hours would make the New Haven Public School District much more like Achievement First. Achievement First is the owner of several charter schools where students are in school from the times of 7:30AM to 5PM at the latest. The earliest time one of their schools lets out is 4:15. If the bill of reform goes through, much of New Haven students wouldn’t be able to take the responsibility of such a long day of academics and short transition times. Being an Achievement First student gives you the upper hand because they encourage you to stay in school keep high grades and participate frequently. Another way Achievement first keeps students having good grades is by eliminating one letter grade from their grading bracket. With 69% being a failing grade students need at least a C average to pass to the next grade. If New Haven were to take on this method many students would work harder and the students who were barely passing by before would be forced to try harder. So instead of extending the days and school year, the governor could simply pass a bill to take away the letter grade D.