Linda Harris, School Board president, likes the idea for what it would do for teachers, who are being asked to do more under district and state reforms despite having little time to plan how to do so. With interruptions, though, Stanford said the average teacher has just 17 minutes of free time per day. He thinks even a half-day is not enough and will push for one full day a week. That would give teachers time to visit other schools, learn new techniques, meet in teams for group planning, learn about technology, and meet with parents. If I can do this . . .
Some parents are skeptical.
Lisa Bond, who just finished a term as president of the Seattle Council PTSA, said one day a week of planning seems excessive. She has heard of teachers who use planning time for cleaning their classrooms or coming to work late. Stanford brought up his plan at a PTSA meeting, Bond said, after a parent asked about participating in her school's decision on which specialists to hire. Stanford went to a blackboard and spent 20 minutes diagramming and talking about his plan. The plan would be costly.