More teachers’ homework may mean recess for kids

Benjamin Grove

Friday, Jan. 29, 1999 | 11:28 a.m.

Teachers may need to start sending their students home early at least one day a month, according to four Nevada Board of Education members.

Teachers need the time without kids to study newly developed academic standards that students will be expected to meet this fall.

"We have to provide ongoing professional development," state board member Bill Hanlon said.

Hanlon, along with board members Jan Biggerstaff, Frank Mathews and Gary Waters, were to announce today that they want their 11-member board to require districts to have one or two "early-release" days a month, beginning this school year.

Teachers would send their kids home 90 minutes early so the teachers could begin studying new English, math and science standards.

A state committee and teams of educators spent a year and roughly $500,000 to develop the new standards.

The standards, 246 pages of documents, set new benchmarks for what students need to know at each grade level. Recently, the standards committee has grappled with how to get new standards in the hands of teachers.

There are essentially two options:

Send kids home early, allowing teachers to study the material during their paid school day;

Or pay teachers extra money to study the material in special sessions after school, on weekends or during the summer.

Some lawmakers are reluctant to spend extra money to train teachers outside the school day, and Gov. Kenny Guinn did not approve money for additional teacher training in his budget.

Senate Finance Chairman Bill Raggio, R-Reno, this week questioned spending $22 million it would cost for two teacher training days.

"Is it fair to say they have some responsibility to prepare themselves to teach the higher standards?" Raggio said Wednesday. "Anybody who is in a position -- private or public position -- has some responsibility to keep up their expertise."

Education officials say teacher training is essential. They say it will take more than one or two sessions for teachers to absorb the new state standards.

Clark County teachers union president Sue Strand said she did not object to early-release days.

"There's got to come a point when somebody does something about teaching teachers who don't have that background," Strand said.

Still, Strand sympathizes with parents who don't want their children to lose school time.

"It's not easy for anybody," Strand said.

Parent leader Moises Denis agreed.

"I'm concerned when they take teachers out of the classroom for any reason, that means that students get less education time," said Denis, president of the Clark County area PTA. "However, I understand that they need to be trained. I would hope they could do it as fast as they could and still be trained properly."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.