The Boston Teachers Union last week voted overwhelmingly to support a proposal to lengthen the school day by 40 minutes for students in the city’s elementary and middle schools to help boost student achievement.
Under a tentative agreement, about 1,900 teachers at some 60 schools will each receive a pay increase of $4,464 a year for the extra hours, which include 75 minutes a week for teacher planning, development, and collaboration.
Each school will decide how to use the additional time, although the agreement reached by the union, the district, and the city strongly recommends that schools focus on boosting academic achievement and offering a range of enrichment activities, such as in the arts, computer coding, science, and foreign languages. The plan goes to the school board for a vote later this month.
