New Acting Secretary of Education: John B. King Jr.
President Obama's pick to succeed Arne Duncan as the US Secretary of Education has been called one of the most polarizing figures in education. Given that Secretary Duncan was a vocal supporter of later start times, we hope that will continue on King's watch. King said that his top priority is “moving forward with the ambitious agenda that Arne and the president have laid out,” Washington Post article here.
Great News in Seattle!
Our Seattle Chapter is seeing some results! Middle and high school students in Seattle Public Schools could start their days later and elementary students earlier under a recommendation from Superintendent Larry Nyland. Nyland recommends that, starting next September, high schools and most middle schools start at 8:50 a.m., most elementary schools start at 8 a.m., and K-8 schools start at 8 a.m., 8:50 a.m. or 9:40 a.m. Start School Later Seattle's leader Cindy Jatul says in a Press Release, "While not perfect, the current proposal before the board represents a significant improvement and we strongly advocate for its passage". The School Board will vote November 4th. Seattle Times article.
Call To Action: Take a few minutes
The Department of Health & Human Services is accepting public comment to propose new objectives under existing areas of focus in the Healthy People 2020 initiative. Under "Sleep Health" we should all propose an objective relating to later school start times. Follow this link to impact public policy!
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College Students: Call for Videos
How much coffee should I drink?
Is pulling an all-nighter a good idea?
How many hours of sleep do I really need?
We want to know your questions about sleep in college for a national sleep education course we are developing. Submit a short video of you asking us a short question about sleep like the ones above, and we might include it in our course.
Or, tell us a story about how sleep deprivation, sleep drugs/aids, early classes, etc. have affected your academic performance, health, and your college life in general.
Some of the topics we are particularly interested in include the following:
- How have your roommates affected your sleep?
- How do your sleep habits differ between the weekdays and the weekends?
- Describe your caffeine consumption habits.
- How do students on your campus use drugs like Adderall to stay awake?
- How has your workload/schedule gotten in the way of your sleep?
- Have you ever fallen asleep at the wheel? Please describe.
- Are you sleeping better or worse in college than you did in high school? In what way?
- How do you determine if it is worth staying up all night to finish a paper or to cram for an exam?
- Have you ever experienced serious consequences from not sleeping enough? Please describe.
Recordings can be as short as a few seconds and as long as a minute. No editing is necessary – just a brief clip recorded on your phone or laptop camera is fine.
Please email all submissions to terra@startschoollater.net and include your name, expected date of graduation, and the name of your college.
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