Funding Run Amok: 34 Extra Days of School for California Kids

In what must be one of the most amazing education stories this year, the Los Angeles Times reports that two elementary schools in the Chino Unified School District inadvertently shortchanged their students by 5 minutes a day at one school and 10 at the other on 34 so-called minimum days. Because of this error—and even though the schools in question actually exceeded the minimum number of classroom minutes for the year—the schools will lose more than $7 million in state funds unless classes continue through July 31.

This missing time—170 minutes and 340 minutes—could easily be made up in one or two days, respectively. But if a school day runs short—even by 5 or 10 minutes—none of the time counts. Apparently this policy was instituted so districts would be less likely to skimp on students' classroom time, even by just a few minutes.

Unfortunately, the Chino students have already spent more than the yearly minimum required minutes in class, and families have already made vacation and camp plans. Although there's some hope that new emergency legislation will end this bureaucratic nightmare, the 34-day penalty is one that never should have been possible.

Instead of being bound by a rigid, punitive system with no leeway for common sense, administrators and legislators should have had alternative procedures available and in place for exploring solutions to the problem. Ironically, one of the main goals of public education is to impart critical thinking and analytical skills, yet what this situation has modeled is the exact opposite.