Running Out of Time

Our traditional K-12 school system’s inability to be more flexible when it comes to when and where learning happens is becoming a major concern.

As EducationWeek reported last week (3/17/26), more and more school districts are shortening their school calendars, primarily due to financial reasons, while many of our K-12 districts are still suffering from post-pandemic chronic absenteeism on the part of their student bodies.

“In Oregon, persistent student absenteeism is closing an already narrow window for learning, and advocates say teachers in the state literally don’t have time to catch students up because of its unusually short school year.”

“The state ranked below or well below the national average in math and reading for 4^th grade and math in 8^th grade on the 2024 National Assessment of Education Progress. Low student achievement prompted the state to overhaul its school accountability system in the past year, requiring districts to report and set goals for kindergarten attendance, 3^rd grade English/language arts and 8^th grade math proficiency, as well as the share of 9^th graders on track to graduate and those who ultimately earn their diplomas.”

“But teachers and leaders say the state’s relatively short academic time mandates and chronically high absenteeism hamstring efforts to improve student learning. Oregon’s data suggest that shortening official instructional time may exacerbate the effects of student absenteeism on student achievement.”

“ECONorthwest, an economic policy research group in the state…, analyzed school calendar and student attendance data from 165 school districts in Oregon (enrolling about 93 percent of the state’s K-12 public schoolchildren) in the summer of 2025 and January 2026. Researchers found Oregon school districts average 165 days per school year compared to the typical 180-day year nationwide – and districts that follow four-day-week schedules average as few as 135 days a year.”

“The study also found that about 1 in 3 Oregon students were chronically absent in 2023-24, meaning they missed 10 percent or more of school days, far more than the roughly 1 in 4 students who were chronically absent nationwide, according to ECONorthwest.”

“All that missing time adds up. In a separate 2024 study, Brown University economist Matthew Kraft found that over their K-12 education, students in Oregon attend 1.4 fewer years of school than students in states like Illinois and Kansas, whose school years range from 181-186 days.”

“Seventy-five teachers from the state’s Springfield district signed a formal complaint to the state this school year, arguing there was not enough time available to teach subjects like science and social studies in ways the state recommended. For example, an elementary teacher might only be able to teach 15 to 30 minutes of science or social studies or health per week, noted Mikell Harshbarger, a 5^th grade teacher at Springfield’s Elizabeth Page Elementary School.”

“A state investigation into the complaint found the district complied with state curriculum standards, but has not reported on the potential effects of the state’s short academic year on instructional time; the teachers have appealed.”

“So far though, declining enrollments and budget pressures have given little impetus to extend requirements for the school day or year. While Governor Tina Kotek this month signed a new law requiring quarterly district updates on student attendance and warnings to parents whose students miss class regularly, the only extended-time proposals have focused on summer instruction.”

“It would take an additional $3 million per day to extend the 171 instructional days in Salem-Keizer, based on salary, transportation, and operating expenses, [a district spokesperson] said.”

Oregon, and other states with similar “time on task” challenges, are examples of traditional school systems that do not understand the importance of changing how their instructional learning time is set up, and, more importantly, because of their bureaucratic natures, cannot change, even if they wanted to.

Too many states have trapped young learners into a trap of not being afforded the necessary time to learn, and therefore they have created an additional challenge when kids “vote with their feet” and stop coming to traditional school.

What is required, in Oregon and other states, is a new model of learning – one built on time assigned based on the learning plan created by the young learner themselves, their family, and a well-trained adult learning leader.

It’s time to use time differently, to the advantage of the young learner. Cutting learning time, within the traditional K-12 system, is just cheating our young learners from the opportunity to become smarter and stronger when it comes to improving their reading, writing, problem-solving, and character development skills.

Til tomorrow. SVB