California Sen. Kamala Harris Proposes Bill To Create School Activities Until 6 p.m.
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) – California Senator and Democratic presidential nominee hopeful Kamala Harris has introduced a bill that aims to help working parents by aligning school hours with the normal workday.
Right now, most schools dismiss around 3 p.m., two hours short of the usual standard full-time workday, leaving many parents in a bind.
The legislation, called the "Family Friendly Schools Act," would create school activities from at least 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sen. Harris introduced the bill on Wednesday.
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However, the bill doesn't aim to make teachers work longer hours. Instead, the law would award five-year grants of up to $5 million to schools so they can develop programs that can keep kids busy until 6 p.m. every weekday.
The bill would also push schools to either stay open for parent-teacher conferences and other professional development days or offer full-day "enrichment" activities for students, free of charge.
Schools serving a high number of low-income families are the target of the bill.
Sen. Harris' push comes amid other attempts to transform school hours. In Harris' own home state, legislation was recently signed into law that requires schools to start no earlier than 8:30 a.m.