9101 W. 131st Court

Overland Park, KS 66213

December 8, 2009

President Barack Obama                                                     

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue

Washington D.C. 20500

                                Dear Sir,

                I feel very strongly about your opinion to change the length of the school year to be an all year around school year.  I strongly disagree with your opinion on an all year school year.  I know I may not be able to fully alter your opinion but I would absolutely be honored if you would take the time to hear what I have to say on the matter.  Hopefully once you hear the opinion of someone that is in school it will help to make you decision.  My hope is that I can change your opinion on this or at least make you reconsider.

                My name is Collin Vossman and I am an eighth grader at Harmony Middle School in Overland Park, Kansas.  I have been going to school most of my life and it has always the same length of days.  I do not fell any need to change the school year now; just about everyone my age would also disagree to the idea of an all year school year.  Other students my age really enjoy their long breaks in the winter and the summer.  Many people use them to go away to camps like scout camps, or sports camps.  A lot of people even use their summers to go to classes and learn more and get ahead of others.  I agree with the idea of an all year school year for the purpose of improving our countries overall intellectual level so that we can open up many more opportunities in the future.  With an all year school we would not forget near as much as we do over the long summer and winter breaks as we would during the shorter breaks balanced throughout the year.  Eventually the U.S. could catch up to the other countries in the intellectual race.  There are many other solutions to increase the intellect of the average American without changing the school year.  Tax dollars could be relocated to school programs.  School could also encourage great grades by paying for college so they do not have to save up all the money to pay for college if they receive great grades.  By doing this we can get students into their studies and hopefully make them determined to get good grades in school as to go to college for free.  While students are getting into their studies tax dollars can be used to enhance school programs so that learning opportunities can be improved and students have a greater chance to become much more educated.

My hope is that you could consider some of my suggestions and ideas, or at least look into other options that do not tamper with the school year and the length of the average school day. Thank you for giving me the time of day and hearing what I have to say.

Sincerely,

Collin Vossman

Let’s look at some background first, in order to put all this into context (oh so important context). On October 23, 2009, the first of these furloughs began. No longer is it “Aloha Friday,” it is now “Furlough Friday.” Hawaii’s public school teachers and 170,000 students were forced to take seventeen fridays off throughout the whole year. This has given Hawaii students the shortest school year in the nation. All of this, because of a nearly 1 billion dollar budget deficit in our state. In an attempt to patch up the leaky faucet, a 7.9% pay cut and these furlough days was proposed by the governor. It was ratified by teachers. This has ignited a flurry of protest from concerned parents, teachers, and even students. But, the fact is, that it as necessary. Everyone has been hit hard by the recession. Everyone from regular families such as mine to the big monolithic, overbearing government. Not doing these furloughs would have pulled our state further into the pit.

Along with these protest, there have a been a number of proposed alternatives to these furloughs. There have been ideas to take funds from other areas, to extended school hours, and taking less waiver or planning and collaboration days (which is probably an excellent idea seeing as we have a ton of these). There have even been lawsuits filed against furloughs. Quite hilariously, in a discussion in class about furloughs, our ultra left-wing teacher (pardon me for saying that) suggested to the class that the government should’ve “taken away money from the garbage men.” And being the amazing brain-washer that he is, the whole class agreed. That’s accounted for by our gullibility, I would guess. But, on the more serious side, I do firmly believe if the public outcry is loud enough and a feasible solution was proposed, these furloughs will go away. However, somewhere else is going to have to take the hit eventually.

As for the actual impacts on learning of these furloughs, I myself do not seeing that as being too much of a problem. I myself, as a student find my teachers rather than stagnating and doing nothing about this, increasing the pace at which class goes as well as the work load. I feel as if I still learn a substantial amount in all of my classes and that if there were no furloughs at all we’d still be learning the exact same things. The important thing is preparation. You have to go into your classes with the mindset of learning something and not goofing off. So many of my friends and classmates around me LOVE the furloughs simply for the fact that they don’t have to go to school. And yet, they still go into classes with the intent to learn (myself included). Surprisingly, others HATE the furloughs, as they do believe that they’d get a lower education. Yet, these people are the same people who consistently slack off in class and tend to goof off. Some even attended a protest against the furloughs, but can’t attend an after-school study session. These are the kids that would most likely be affected by the furloughs. One upside of the furloughs is that they make all of our students all that more determined to do better in school and work harder. However, as a collective whole you shouldn’t have to worry about kids learning any less than they would otherwise, whether it be a lot or more.  However, it is true that we as a state, do rank extremely low in the national standings, but where we’re concerned, our students will not be learning any more or any less. Added work and nudging from our teachers as well as the (newly created) open-mindedness of our students to learn, especially now with the furloughs will make sure of that.

In conclusion, while some people may protest the furloughs, nothing will happen until either the lawmakers step in to do anything, spurred on the by the public, or if lawsuits stop the furloughs by declaring them unlawful. In the meantime, we’ve gone through two furloughs so far, and I don’t think much has been affected. Furloughs tomorrow, followed by a slew of holidays, and planning and collaboration days, resulting in a three day weekend and a three day weekday (at the time of this article). How enlightening… In the meantime, I’d like a quarter cup of math supplements mixed with some fresh english boosters, thank you very much. On the serious side however, our education isn’t going anywhere as long as we’re going to fight for and work hard for it. The question is where will the future take us, as the furloughs are slated for two years. One can only hope.