Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
The state requires schools to provide at least 180 days of instruction in each academic year, and if public districts don’t do so, they can lose a portion of their state subsidies. That doesn’t mean exceptions can’t be made, and state education Secretary Gerald Zahorchak has the authority to grant them on a case-by-case basis.
If districts have built in extra days and can make them up easily, fine. But canceling week-long spring breaks is more problematic. What about working parents who had to schedule that week off to be home with the children and who cannot change those days because some schools may now have to be open? What about more fortunate families that have paid in advance for vacations?
When classes go too late into June, young people lose the chance to start summer jobs and internships. Then there is the anxiety of seniors who may be starting college in the summer rather than waiting for fall…
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