Parents are fighting for their child's right to rest across the country. Twenty-three elementary schools in Orange County, Florida, have been cutting back on rest, and even canceling it to increase class time. In a recent Orange County School Board meeting, parents demanded that rest time be carried out in all local schools for all students. Angela Browning, a parent in the area, said that schools' rest is ranging from zero to 30 minutes per day. "Five-year-olds not getting rest means abuse," said Browning, whose twins in the second grade benefit from taking a break and learn better. The main reason for reducing the rest time is Common Core exams including math, language arts and literacy, where the students' performance often controls teachers' pay and sometimes teachers may lose their jobs. Many teachers are using that extra 20 minutes that would have been spent on the schools' scores, everybody is stressful," said Diana Moore, president of the Orange County Classroom Teachers Association. The decision of whether reducing rest takes place, and for how long is up to each school's rule. "Florida law requires that districts provide 900 teaching hours during the school year," Florida's Department of Education press secretary Cheryl Etters said in a statement. "Whether test is part of the school day is a decision made by the school board." Reducing test also can take away an opportunity for children to learn social skills, according to many experts. "In society, who cares if you have straight A's and you get a scholarship to Harvard if you lack social skills?" said Mallet, a mother of two children. What's the main idea of the text?
The government is to order schools to increase rest time. Students expect to get more time to play in school. Parents struggle for the rest right for their kids in school. Teachers' pay is related to their performance in teaching.