The Case Against Summer Vacation

The Case Against Summer Vacation

As a teacher, I hear this kind of argument a lot. And the case for year round school does make some sense--I have days where I am for it and days where I am not. Allow me to rant a little:

I take offense when someone like David Von Drehle spouts off about education when he has never worked in the field. Doing a little research, it looks like he mostly writes about politics. He's written about the 2000 presidential election recount in FL, Watergate and the death penalty. This is one of the large problems I see with the way our educational system is run. The policy makers often never set foot in a classroom (As a teacher) or if they did it was so long ago that they have lost touch. And yet they think they know what we teachers "should" be doing. (Which is why we have to deal with BS initiatives like being told we need to spend 1 class every week on "goal setting" with 9th graders whose goal is to be an NFL player and not fail next weeks test). Even worse is when the policy makers volunteer at the school. They perform menial tasks (read: the ones teachers actually trust them not to screw up) and then think they know what it's like to be a teacher. Teachers are not treated with the professional respect they deserve--we know our field and our kids much better than some guy sitting in a cushy DC office or a journalist with a masters in literature. Yet, since most everyone in this county goes to public school, everyone thinks they know what it means to be a teacher and thus should be listened to just because of that.

I work with an extremely talented group of educators--and professionals--with Masters in Education from many prestigious schools. In the English department alone, we have teachers with degrees from Harvard, Brown, Columbia and the University of Pennsylvania. All respected Ivy League schools. So why isn't our expertise in education valued by society? A teacher's opinion is almost never asked for by policy makers, and if it is it isn't really influential in any way. Instead, I find that most people seem to think we are a lazy bunch who took the job just because we get summers off and get out earlier in the day. When I tell people I am a teacher, I often have to deal with jokes like this. And I have to restrain from slapping the person.

Which brings me back to Von Drehle's article on why summer vacation should be eradicated. Yes, we are no longer an agrarian society and the students aren't working on the farm during summer months. But our society has evolved in other ways and there is still a value to summer vacation. One thing that people like Von Drehle never consider is that many of the low income students they discuss have to work in the summer. At my school, there is a large population of lower income students who work to help bring much needed income to their families. Take away summer, and you take away the livelihood of these families. Another thing that I see a lot at my school is pregnant students or students with children. Keep school going year round and what happens with these children?
Also, students today are under more pressure than ever. Almost everyone I teach expects to go to college and the competition is fierce. Students are taking multiple IB and honors courses, heavily involved in extracurriculars, have a job outside school and try to have a social life as well. They get pressure to do better from parents, teachers, counselors, other students and themselves. This past year alone, I had to help 3 suicidal students who weren't dealing well with the pressure. This is extremely serious and something that is not being addressed much by those all-knowing policy makers. Summer is a much needed respite for all teens. Sure, they shouldn't be sitting around playing video games--but, as I often say, parents need to be parents. You cannot expect the public school system to raise your children for you. If you don't want them sitting around idle, don't let them.

And then there are the teachers. My profession has one of the highest burnout rates. After 5 years, about half of the nation's teachers leave the profession. (See this article). And the good teachers burnout the fastest--the ones who care deeply about their students and work longer hours to create fun, creative lesson plans that demand critical thinking. These are the teachers we are losing. We are grossly underpaid (tell me another profession where breaking up fist fights, counseling pregnant teens, and being yelled at/demeaned by misguided parents is par for the course) and grossly overworked. In truth, we should be paid on par with lawyers and doctors. Instead we get a fraction of that and are expected to do so much.
I do love my job and it is very rewarding and challenging. But it is physically (you are standing and running around all day), emotionally and intellectually draining. By the time June rolls around, I am frazzled and at my wits end. I need the two measly months of relaxation to recoup so that I can return in September as the best teacher I can be. Even if two week breaks were worked into a year round system, it would NOT be a break. Hell, summer isn't even really a break. I'm still lesson planning and answering emails from students. But if I knew school was in 2 weeks, the students would probably be working on a project and I would probably be grading, planning and contacting students/parents. Many of the teachers would still be going into the school building (which we also do over summer). Some break.
Summer sure does have it's problems, but there are also many reasons for it to stick around. People need to start asking students and teachers what they think. We are the ones it affects and we are the experts on this--yet for many unfair reasons our opinions are not taken into account.

Rant over. For now.