Parents question amount of homework

PHOENIXVILLE » While it might not be hard to find middle and high school students complaining they have too much homework, in Phoenixville some of their parents are saying the same thing.

The issue came up during a Thursday work session of the Phoenixville area school board.

Kevin Pattinson, the chairman of the curriculum committee, said parents have begun to express concern to committee members about the volume of homework with which their children are burdened.

It’s part of the price paid for being a “higher achieving district,” he said.

Board member Lori Broker said some studies show diminishing returns on homework after one

hour’s work.

“We have to pursue balance in our student’s lives, make sure there is time for family,” she said. David Goldberg agrees. He is one of the parents who have raised the issue and he told the board Thursday night that within 24 hours of creating a Facebook page dedicated to “Phoenixville Homework Reform,” he had 15 members and 14 emails wanting to know what’s next.

On it he wrote, “This new page was created out of frustration with the standardized testing and increasingly oppressive amount of homework PAMS and PAHS students have been receiving over the last two years.”

He said his daughter, who is a student at Phoenixville Area High School, “is now averaging 3.5 hours per night and my sixthgrade daughter is creeping up to 1.75. hours a night. And this does not include the 1-2 hours nearly every weekend. After speaking to dozens of other concerned parents, I’ve realized this is increasingly common.”

“Studies and books have overwhelmingly shown that all this homework is ineffective and actually counterproductive. I can attest to this, as my daughter is chronically exhausted, and has recently indicated she is not enjoying school as she once did. Perhaps most upsetting are the extracurricular activities she has had to curtail to make time for homework, including Martial Arts, violin lessons, book club, Reading Olympics, and community volunteering. And forget evenings together as a family ... other than the 25 minutes she spares for dinner, she is a ghost in our house,” Goldberg wrote. “She only has three years before she is out of the house (perhaps forever), and we want that time to be enjoyed together.”

Board member Jessely Soto said too much homework can burn students out.

A Spanish speaker, Soto also translated concerns from a parent, Jenny Mars, who said her inability to speak English was hampering her ability to help her children with their homework, “especially math.”

Several other parents have expressed similar concerns. They want to be involved in their children’s education. Perhaps there is a need for an organization for fourth grade and up, Mars suggested.

Parent Mark Gerner, with two ninth-graders, agreed that it is time to have a discussion about homework, although he noted that “time spent doing it, varies greatly from family to family and student to student.”

Superintendent Alan Fegley was open to the idea.

He suggested the curriculum committee work with the administration on an overview study of homework, its purpose and the cumulative impact on student’s life and education.