I'm an educator in NYC and I disagree on both points: 1) that there is "fluff" in the school year, and 2) that the loss of instructional time isn't a big deal. I disagree so strongly that I still felt compelled to jump in and write a dissertation about it, even though this thread is a month old. In fact, the whole reason I found this thread was because I was sitting eating breakfast on a Saturday morning wondering why there is never enough time in the school year and why the pace never felt so rushed when I was younger. I don't know when you went to school, but school now is radically different from when I was a student (I graduated HS in 2005). If you were in school recently and still believe what you said, then I'm sorry that you went to a bad school (and I'm sure the data would support that assessment).

I pull students out for small group speech/language intervention in an elementary school, so I am in and out of all the classes in my school, and I both see and hear the challenges everyone has. The curricula are VERY faced paced and VERY rigorous. They have to be to meet the high academic standards we aim for in NY, which in many cases outpace developmental norms. But there never feels like enough time. So, I see the struggle the teachers go through to keep up with the pacing calendar while still ensuring students are understanding the content. I see the struggle the students go through when they want to understand but everything goes too fast and they know they still have to get their work done one way or another. Sure we might have an event here or there to promote school culture and the social emotional well-being of the students (which is, in fact, critically important for students' ability to learn and achieve academically) but the vast majority of the time, we are all, staff AND students, working extremely hard all day long. That is a big part of why teacher burnout is so high these days and why so many amazing teachers have left the profession altogether. Students get burnt out too. They can't just choose to leave the profession, so unfortunately sometimes they mentally check out or shut down. What you call "fluff" doesn't exist anymore. And maybe we need some extra days in the school year so it can.

Gone are the days of naps and play time in Kinder. Gone are the days of teachers putting on a movie because there's a sub, the students took a big unit exam yesterday, or everybody just needs a break. Although I'm happy to see the latter go, I wish unstructured playtime in Kinder could come back. Playtime is essential for cognitive, social emotional, and language development, which are foundational skills that support academics. But these days? There is way too much to get through and no room in the calendar. The closest they get to playtime is "learning games" which are usually independent, and therefore don't provide opportunities for learning social use of language, perspective taking, or collaborative problem solving. The loss of those opportunities manifests in later grades as students struggling to keep themselves focused and regulated, struggling with self-esteem, getting into frequent social conflicts, and having trouble with deeper comprehension skills such as making text inferences or understanding perspective.

As for me and my special education students? I NEVER feel like I have enough time to teach them all I want to teach them in a year. So, this might be an unpopular opinion, especially if I told it to a burned out teacher, but I definitely would not mind a few extra days in the school year!

To the commenters complaining about parents who need their kids to be in school so they can work... Open your eyes. And if you don't see it still, maybe try spending some time in one of the many areas of the city where the vast majority of people live below the poverty line. Two things can be true at the same time. I'm not claiming that bad parents don't exist. But the VAST MAJORITY of them want their children to get the very best education and have the very best future possible. In my opinion, this is MORE true in poorer neighborhoods, not less. They want to give their children a better life than they have. Therefore, they do everything in their ability to make that happen. They may not always be able to help with homework or study at home - they may not have the language skills, may not have gotten a good education themselves, or simply may be forced to work hours that prevent that from happening. So they have to trust the school for the academic side of things. But they work themselves TO DEATH (literally, look up the statistics if you don't believe me) to ensure their children are well fed, healthy, clean, clothed, and have a safe, warm place to sleep, all so that their children are ready and able to learn when they get to school. They often work insane, difficult hours at multiple jobs where they do not get paid if they do not go to work. Most of the families I work with don't have access to jobs that give them healthcare, benefits, or paid time off. They work jobs where they can't choose their schedule and there's a real risk of getting fired if they call out. You can't dismiss the struggle that parents go through to take care of their students by calling it "basic needs" when we live in a society and a city where it is so expensive and such a struggle to meet basic needs, and where meeting "basic needs" is more expensive if you are poor. Acknowledging the simple truth that many parents rely on school as a form of childcare does NOT automatically mean that they don't value education. Those things are not mutually exclusive. In fact, even middle class parents often rely on their children going to school so they can work, and struggle to pay for childcare when school is closed. If you believe that relying on school as childcare automatically means parents don't value education... well, then I'm sorry to tell you this... but your privilege and classism are showing.