Letter to the editor

Dear editor,
It is what it is....
A comment made by a Dodge County educator. I have been promoting the formation of an ad hock committee to vet our school calendar for its effect on student learning.
The idea is to create an unbiased committee of educators to weigh the merits of our “traditional school calendar” compared to a proposed TRIMESTER calendar. I believe that our teachers, administrators as well as our Board of Education, are unable to be objective and unbiased toward the traditional calendar we now use. Our agrarian centered calendar is well suited for the education of farmers and lay persons, many of which were without reading skills. Those days are long gone.
Our calendar should have been replaced years ago in order to accommodate today’s technology needed to put a man on Mars. However, our educators remain firmly ensconced in a traditional mind set void of a single supporting argument justifying the use of the traditional calendar. They simply say “it is what it is”.
How could today’s teachers support the use of a 150-year-old calendar that has been identified by researchers as a NEGATIVE factor in student learning? Would you rely on 150-year-old data set to support the creation of school policies and procedures without justification? It may surprise you to hear that our BOE is not required to answer that question or any other question ... it is what it is.
I have been in a unique position to experience firsthand the depth and severity of our bias toward our calendar. I have observed our BOE, our Superintendents and our teachers as they go about attempting to build a school system deserving of the substantial amount of tax dollars the citizens of Dodge County contribute. The pandemic we are experiencing can provide a window to allow us to examine the positive/negative outcomes created by our traditional calendar.
We have a rare opportunity to learn more about the research-based options available such as Johns Hopkins University’s study of Summer Learning Loss. By using an outside entity of professional educators, we can reveal the ill placed reliance on an out dated calendar that research has proven to be a NEGATIVE factor on student learning. It is what it is...
“It is what it is” was the reply made by one of our teachers when asked how can one justify keeping the traditional calendar in spite of it being a negative factor in student learning. It was said that they didn’t like the year-round trimester calendar and wanted to keep the summer break. Please understand the protracted summer holiday is the only cause of Summer Learning Loss according to Johns Hopkins Univ., and by the way, all calendars are year-round.
Actually, the desire to keep the calendar as it is, reveals an acceptance that trading student learning for personal time off is acceptable. It seems ironic that they would rather keep summer break than seek to provide a more effective, efficient and versatile calendar. And by the way all calendars are year-round and if that teacher will listen to my proposal, they will learn that the Trimester Calendar will give teachers about 179 teaching days, 92 holidays days, and 16 fewer equivalent days of discontinuities. These numbers will change as needed to provide versatility.
It is what it is...
I believe that there is a nationwide lack of responsive leadership that places greater value on keeping the establishment “quiet”. There seems to be greater concern in maximizing retirement benefits than maximizing teaching opportunities. Our BOE must provide windows of hope by legitimizing the review of all policies and procedures by unbiased professionals.
There is no shame in asking the experts for help to keep abreast on current teaching and learning strategies. Maybe one day we can proudly point to the TRI-MESTER PRORTOCOL and say ‘thank God it is what it is.
Bob Holland