We have not specifically discussed this issue at the board table yet. But I am interested in what voters think, and I encourage you to let your school board representative know your views. I'm also interested in where you think new money should go. The one initiative that I have been pushing since last year is increased planning and preparation time for elementary school teachers. As it stands, high school and middle school teachers have designated planning time every day of about 1 hour or more.
Elementary teachers have virtually none.
This is an unfair imbalance from the start, and I think high school and middle school teachers recognize that. I opposed that because it would eliminate the only real current source of planning time for elementary teachers. Various arrangements are possible for dealing with these problems. I've asked the MCEA to survey the teachers about what solutions they would prefer. If this would provide enough planning time to allow us to decrease or eliminate early releases, then this idea would solve two problems at once.