Schools may get longer day or year

The State Board of Education wants to look more closely at a task force's recommendation to nip the teacher shortage in the bud — including possibly piloting an extended day or school year.

The board on Thursday discussed recommendations that a task force of the state K-16 alliance of government and education officials presented last March. Recommendations include more pay for teachers; more scholarships and loans for teachers-to-be; expanding colleges of education; boosting flexibility in teacher licensing and hiring; and extending the school day or year to maximize the current teaching force.

Public schools are expected to grow by 14,000 new students every year for the next decade. About 700 teachers would be needed each year to keep up with that growth. That, while college enrollments are expected to remain flat, and numbers of new teachers decline.

The State Board of Education is creating a ProExcel program to address teacher quality and shortages in math, science and special education, including salary hikes and differential pay. It is starting to look at how the K-16 task force recommendations might shape ProExcel's future direction. It unsuccessfully sought $50 million from the 2007 Legislature for the plan.

Board member Debra Roberts supported most recommendations but worried how parents might react to extending the school year.

"Time after time in having a year-round schedule is the parents don't want it and will do everything in their power to overcome it," she said.

She questioned whether money would be available to extend teacher contracts — a mid-1990s state pilot program wilted when the cash stopped flowing — and whether rural schools would have to close to realize such efficiencies, among other concerns.

Perhaps a small pilot program could gauge if the concept will yield benefits, she said.

David Sperry, chairman of the teacher task force and scholar in residence for the System of Higher Education, noted a year-round model is but one way to boost efficiency. Alpine School District staggers middle school students' arrival times by an hour and added an extra class, and about $5,000, to teacher contracts, he said. The program also better utilizes crowded buildings.

Another possibility: high school math and science classes — for which teachers are in short supply — could be offered in the summer, maximizing the teaching force, Sperry said.

Board member Dixie Allen says such models work.

"We're holding on to our farming model (in school scheduling), which doesn't fit anymore," she said.

---

E-mail: jtcook@desnews.com