NY school district eliminates homework for elementary students

A school district in New York announced Thursday that its teachers will no longer be assigning homework to elementary school students starting this fall.

The Long Beach School District sent home a letter to parents saying that “beginning in September we will be eliminating ‘traditional’ elementary homework. Instead we are asking every child and every family to WraP every night: WONDER, READ and PLAY,” according to Newsday.

Superintendent Jennifer Gallagher cited research saying that homework doesn’t have much of an effect on lower-grade-level students in the note to parents. 

{mosads}“What DOES help elementary students is to read at home, but many students are sacrificing reading time because they’re too tired by the time they finish their homework,” she wrote in the letter.

“In addition, we have heard the call of parents to give students more time for another key aspect of child development, PLAY.”

Gallagher added that should any students wish to do math or science work at home they can, but she advised parents to make sure the priority is “reading” and not spending more time watching television or playing video games.

Last month, another New York school district announced they were considering getting rid of homework after a petition from elementary school students. 

The Rockland County School District said they were mulling a proposal from a pair of fifth-graders who started a petition and presented it to the district, citing stress from homework.