Marion County's 'no homework' policy blasted by teachers

OCALA, Fla. (WOGX FOX 51) - It’s the policy that kids loved and parents questioned.

“I’m not really a big fan of homework,” said Lake Pfefferele  who’s going into middle school in Marion County.  “I  don’t think it should be four hours of homework every night, but half  hour to an hour of homework isn’t a bad idea to get them used to the responsibility.”

The Marion County superintendent’s controversial no homework policy for elementary schools that started last school year is now being blasted by teachers.

“Teachers overwhelming do not support this, they do not feel that this is best for students,” said Mark Avery of the Marion County Education Association.

That’s why Avery presented a survey to the school board showing 86% of the 400 teachers surveyed don’t feel the policy is best for students.

"They didn't feel that they were doing as well as they had the previous year because they didn't have the homework"  Avery said.

Statistics from the Florida Department of Education show in 2017 five elementary schools in Marion County made the list of the 300 worst performing elementary schools in the state -- getting a grade of C, D or F, this year it nearly doubled  to 11  elementary schools.

But as a whole the district that did perform better going from C to a B -- still school board member Kelly King isn’t proud of the numbers.

“That is alarming, we declined more than any other district in the state of Florida,” King said. 

The Marion School District told FOX 51, in part, “we will work together to come up with a policy meeting the needs of both teachers and parents when it comes to homework in our elementary grades.”

The issue was not on the agenda for Tuesday school board meeting, but board members say they're trying to get it on the agenda for future meetings.