Walsh Proposes 40 Minute Increase in School Days

At a cost of 12.5 million dollars, Mayor Martin J. Walsh, along with Boston Public Schools and the Boston Teacher’s Union have negotiated a proposal to permanently add 40 minutes of learning time to the city’s school day.

Nearly 23,000 elementary and middle schools will be affected, including the Eliot School in the North End.

The additional time is the equivalent of one month of instruction for elementary students. In addition the proposal, if enacted, nearly doubles the amount of teacher planning and development time that educators received.

“We know that when students have more time to learn, they have a better chance of succeeding,” Mayor Walsh said in a prepared press release.

Elementary school students are in class six hours a day. Middle school students are in class six hours and ten minutes a day.

Elementary, Middle and K-8 schools that currently do not have an extended day would lengthen school days by 40 minutes, five days a week.

Plans to roll out the proposal would take three years, beginning with approximately 20 schools in the 2015-2016 school year.

Reportedly, the extension will help students by offering well-planned, school-based instruction that promotes teaching and learning while allowing for increased participation in a variety of under-served subject areas such as art, music, drama and foreign language.

 High Schools, that currently have a six hour and thirty minute days are not included in the proposal.