Take Our Kids Out of School Day?

Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day is a day better spent in the classroom. So say many NEA member-educators. I’ve heard from some of them. “Though the concept is positive,” concedes Carolyn Melius of Indian Head, MD, she, like other members are concerned about the counterproductive effect on many students who can ill afford to miss a day of school. “Why couldn't this be held during school breaks?” Melius asks.

The event’s organizers see the day as an opportunity for parents, businesses, and the community to support educators in the difficult work of teaching kids. Carolyn McKecuen, president of the Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Foundation, told me that ideally, students are taught lessons about the workplace on Wednesday, experience the workplace on Thursday, and come back to class on Friday to share the experience with their classmates. “If this was done in the summer, you’d be teaching one child, not bringing that knowledge back to the classroom,” said McKecuen, herself a former teacher.

Research the foundation commissioned six years ago suggests that what was then Take Our Daughters to Work Day “increased girls' interest in education, influenced their decision to go to college or professional school, and broadened girls' thinking about their goals and aspirations with reference to work opportunities.”

But do girls and boys have to miss a day of classes to reap these benefits? I must say—and not just because I work for them—that our members have a point. Why not have kids go to work with their parents in the summer when it won’t disrupt school? While we by no means support all the high- stakes testing done as a result of the No Child Left Behind law, testing remains a reality. Kids have their own work to do. And at this time of year, a lost day of class work can impact students’ preparedness and confidence.

I’ve no doubt educators appreciate the efforts to support their work. Can we find ways to do it that don’t shorten learning time in class?