LD 245 and My First Floor Debate
April 12, 2009 -
Do you remember the first time you had to speak in front of a group, all eyes upon you? Last Wednesday, April 8th, I had my first Senate floor debate about a bill that made headlines back in early January. LD 245, "An Act to Calculate the School Year by Number of Hours," would have allowed each superintendent and school board to create a school calendar based on 900 hours instead of 175 school days. Proponents gave examples such as, a school could add an extra 1 hour and 15 minutes Mondays through Thursdays and not have school on Fridays.
However, flexible school calendars are used sparingly across the country, and there is little evidence of any educational advantage to having longer school days. When I rose on the floor, I spoke on behalf of an amendment. It would grant the Commissioner of Education the authority to give schools the ability to make up for lost days by adding daily hours to their calendar instead of adhering to the currently required 175 school days. This approach fixes the existing problem, while leaving the greater debate over flexible school schedules to the Education Committee in future. A majority of Senators voted with me on this amendment.
I really appreciate all the feedback I got on this bill in late January from Portland voters, especially all of you parents!
