Letters: Absenteeism matters more than school hours
Extending the length of the school day in Philadelphia may seem to be a point of contention, but it shouldn't be.
In many of Philadelphia's comprehensive high schools, the attendance rate is less than 50 percent every day. Whether the school day is 7 hours or 71/2 hours, half of some schools' populations are not there anyway. You cannot educate empty seats.
There is a direct relationship between student achievement and school attendance. In schools that perform well on standardized tests, the attendance rate soars.
Will transferring teachers from those schools increase success at low-performing schools? Again, not if those effective teachers are working with fewer than half the students assigned to them. Longer days may help, but not with empty classrooms.
Also, this school year the district's calendar for students ended June 23. Grades, however, had to be completed by June 12. What kind of quality instruction can be delivered in a school district that closes out its books almost two weeks before classes end?
Marlene M. Goebig
Philadelphia
