Education Law

Summer vacation?

June is here, and in the immortal words of Alice Cooper, "school's out for summer." But what does that mean for teachers, administrators and school board members? If you're thinking long walks on the beach, road trips to Disney World, and lazy afternoons by the pool, think again! According to this article that came to BoardBuzz through the Gazette (Maryland), teachers' work doesn't always end when the school year does.

According to the most recent survey from the National Education Association on how teachers spend personal time, about 35 percent of teachers surveyed nationwide in 2003 said they were participating in courses and activities sponsored by their school systems in the summertime.

??Many of them take professional development courses because that?s easier to do in the summer,? said Daniel Kaufman, a spokesman for the Maryland State Teachers Association, a group associated with the National Education Association. ??It needs to be said that most teachers during the school year work much more than just the usual daily schedule. ... They?re usually in the 60-hour per week range.?

And it's not just teachers either. According to our friends over at the Leading Source blog, school board members don't hang it up when summer comes either. Naomi Dillon, of ASBJ, reports that,

One school board I covered as a beat reporter always went on board retreats in July. And during a multi-year capital improvement project, district officials used the summer as a time to do renovations and additions to existing buildings.

Freed from the day-to-day distractions that occur during the school year, district officials can focus on the big picture, on things that may not be critical but matter nonetheless.

So . . . that leads BoardBuzz to ask the eternal question, how are you going to spend your summer vacation?

Full post as published by BoardBuzz: NSBA's Daily Weblog on June 27, 2008 (boomark / email).