Urging a longer Summer Vacation

The MANY is on a mission to deliver a strong message of change in the way Chancellor Klein, the Panel on Education Policy and the Tweed administrators at the Department of Education deal with parents and our demands to be included in policy making.

Like countless decisions made under mayoral control, we are in direct opposition to the date set to begin the first day of school after this summer vacation ends. Once again, all the petition signatures and emails to the DoE and the Chancellor have been for naught since public schools are still MANDATED to begin the fall term on Wednesday, September 8th, 2010.

Obvious to every mom, dad and guardian, we’re responsible for helping our children transition from their summer vacation frames of minds to the routines and positive habits required by the seriousness of school, study and homework.

Opening school for just one day on September 8th, then closing them again in observance of the Jewish holidays (Thursday, September 9th & Friday, September 10th) only makes our jobs harder!

Following months of vacation, starting then stopping school over four days, destroys parental efforts to initiate routines and causes added stress and anxiety for everyone concerned. We highlight the added expense on working parents who scramble to arrange for a single afternoon of mid-week childcare, the kindergartner starting school for the first time, the non-English speaking immigrant child in a new school surrounding, and the ninth-grader newly traveling to high school in a distant borough or neighborhood. Finally, we consider what one day of school means for every teacher in NYC will be stressed to repeat what they said and did, four days later. The September 8th mandate does nothing to benefit those who really matter. It will be a real life version of the movie, “Ground Hog Day.”

Since the Chancellor is now blaming the UFT about the school schedule and his Tweed clones see nothing wrong with that policy, The Mothers’ Agenda NY is calling on all parents to stand together in protest on September 8th. Obviously, these guys need a strong reminder of the power that parents united, hold.

Plus, they need to know straight away that mothers have the moral authority to establish workable routines for our families.

We are calling on the parents in NYC public schools to extend their children’s summer vacations until it makes sense for school to begin on Monday, September 13th.