Teacher proposal could shorten school day for CPS kids

Chicago's elementary school teachers are looking to add half an hour of paid preparation time at the start of their day, a proposal which could potentially shorten the school day for students.

The idea is one facet of the hotly contested teacher prep time issue in contract negotiations between the city's school district and the Chicago Teachers Union.

Teachers use their preparation periods for grading, conversations with parents and other work outside of class instruction time.

Elementary teachers currently have four one-hour prep periods per week. The city first proposed bumping down elementary teachers to two prep periods per week, and now is proposing cutting them down to three periods. High school teachers would keep their current prep time.

While bell times vary at schools, elementary students are generally in school for about 7 hours. Before 2012, students were in session for six hours or less.

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