WPBN: There are a lot of people in California who can look back on their childhood and remember spending hours after school getting stuck on homework, but there is one senator who wants to alter that for the next generation when they are out there.
During the time that students and teachers are getting ready to return to school after the holiday break in January 2025, a new law that is about to go into effect may eventually result in fewer assignments being assigned to students.
When the school bell rings and the school day is complete, the day is not even close to being over for pupils like Sofia Johnson. The student in sixth grade attributes that to the amount of time spent on homework.
“Homework is exhausting. It’s overwhelming,” Johnson stated. “It’s depressing that my whole day from when I wake up to when I go to bed is taken up doing school work.”
Assemblywoman Pilar Schiavo, who represents Santa Clara and is a member of the Democratic Party, claims that she is the author of Assembly Bill 2999, also referred to as “The Healthy Homework Act.” Governor Gavin Newsom gave his signature to the bill earlier this year, and it is scheduled to go into force in the year 2025.
However, the legislation does not prohibit homework; rather, it formally encourages local school boards and educational organizations to establish homework rules that take into consideration the effects of homework on students’ physical and mental health.
These policies should be developed with consultation from students, instructors, and school administrators.
“It’s addressing homework, which is the top stressor for kids,” Schiavo stated. It’s often number one.”
This new regulation comes as a result of a survey that was performed by Stanford University and the nonprofit organization Challenge Success, which included more than 300,000 students from the United States.
The poll indicated that forty-five percent of students cite their workload and homework as the primary sources of stress in their lives. The study was completed by 13,000 high school students in the state of California, and they reported that they had an average of 2.5 hours of homework per night.
“I just toured a school in my district where they talked about how they are trying to reduce the kids who are missing school or dropping out of school. The top reason they hear is because kids are getting behind,” Schiavo stated. “They just get into a hole when you miss homework. You have homework the next day, you are trying to catch up from the old homework – too much homework can overwhelm them.”
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In addition, according to Schiavo, the measure was crafted with equality in mind, which is something that Casy Cuny, the teacher of the year in California, considers to be of utmost importance.
She points out that kids who come from lower socioeconomic situations might not have access to resources at home, such as high-speed internet.
“A child’s grade should not be dependent on the resources they have at home to do the homework,” Cuny stated. “I truly believe the resources should be dependent on the learning that takes space in the classroom with the professional. That’s why I support this bill – because in the end, it will be what’s best for kids.”
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In accordance with the Act, the California Department of Education is required to publish rules for homework assignments on its website for the upcoming school year.
Additionally, it mandates that each school districts must formulate a policy about homework before the beginning of the 2027 school year. There is no official opposition against it.
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