Texas Teacher Brandy Young's No-Homework Policy Goes Viral On Facebook, Parents And Students Elated

What happens when a teacher decides to ban homework for the whole entire school year? You get a ton of happy students and even happier parents.

That’s exactly what happened Monday when a Godley Elementary School second grade teacher passed out notes to parents explaining her new homework policy — or lack thereof — during “Meet the Teacher Night” at the school in northwest Texas.

In the note, Young revealed she had no plans to assign her second graders homework. However, should they not finish up their daily assigned classwork, she would allow them to take the work home to finish.

“After much research this summer, I am trying something new. Homework will only consist of work that your student did not finish during the school day. There will be no formally assigned homework this year,” the note read.

Young also said “research has been unable to prove that homework improves student performances,” so instead she asked that parents spend evenings with their children “doing things that are proven to correlate with student success,” like eating dinner “as a family,” reading together and playing.

Parents were pleasantly surprised by Young’s no-homework program. One parent, Samantha Gallagher, posted the note on her Facebook page, writing that her daughter Brooke is “loving her new teacher already!”

Shortly after the note went viral and was shared more than 65,000 times. Dozens left comments on the post, many of which were parents were just as thrilled by Young’s effort to promote more quality time between parents and students. There were a few "jealous" commenters as well.

“[Students] work hard all day. When they go home they have other things they need to learn there,” Young said to CBS. “I’m trying to develop their whole person; it’s not beneficial to go home and do pencil and paper work.”

Other teachers throughout the U.S. have also praised Young’s efforts.

During an interview with Seattle’s King 5, Sound Prep Academy teacher Glyn Jenkins, who’s been teaching for 15 years, said Young’s no-homework curriculum was “absolutely justifiable.”

“It is a great letter home to start the year that sets the expectation,” Jenkins said. “It is important that kids know that it isn’t all about work. With school work and learning, where does one end and the other begin?”