Honestly, at first, I was like, 'What? No homework? How will kids learn all the stuff they need to learn????' However, upon listening to my esteemed colleagues, my fears and frights dissipated. . .BECAUSE
-not all kids have home lives conducive to successful completion of homework - those are the kids who are already at risk - homework puts them MORE at risk...why would I want to contribute negatively to that?
-successful kids will remain successful by doing the homework
In sum, I believe that homework does NOT benefit kids - it feeds the gap - therefore, I no longer assign it. In my humble opinion, homework is another reason for kids to hate learning, hate school, and to turn off their true desires for knowledge.