Students' Lazy Days of Summer in Danger

(AP)  Students beware: The summer vacation you just enjoyed could be sharply curtailed if President Barack Obama gets his way.

Mr. Obama says American kids spend too little time in school, putting them at a disadvantage with other students around the globe.

"Now, I know longer school days and school years are not wildly popular ideas," the president said earlier this year. "Not with Malia and Sasha, not in my family, and probably not in yours. But the challenges of a new century demand more time in the classroom."

The president, who has a sixth-grader and a third-grader, wants schools to add time to classes, to stay open late and to let kids in on weekends so they have a safe place to go.

"Our school calendar is based upon the agrarian economy and not too many of our kids are working the fields today," Education Secretary Arne Duncan said in a recent interview with The Associated Press.

Fifth-grader Nakany Camara is of two minds. She likes the four-week summer program at her school, Brookhaven Elementary School in Rockville, Md. Nakany enjoys seeing her friends there and thinks summer school helped boost her grades from two Cs to the honor roll.

But she doesn't want a longer school day. "I would walk straight out the door," she said.

Domonique Toombs felt the same way when she learned she would stay for an extra three hours each day in sixth grade at Boston's Clarence R. Edwards Middle School.

"I was like, `Wow, are you serious?"' she said. "That's three more hours I won't be able to chill with my friends after school."

Her school is part of a 3-year-old state initiative to add 300 hours of school time in nearly two dozen schools. Early results are positive. Even reluctant Domonique, who just started ninth grade, feels differently now. "I've learned a lot," she said.

Does Mr. Obama want every kid to do these things? School until dinnertime? Summer school? And what about the idea that kids today are overscheduled and need more time to play?

Mr. Obama and Duncan say kids in the United States need more school because kids in other nations have more school.

"Young people in other countries are going to school 25, 30 percent longer than our students here," Duncan told the AP. "I want to just level the playing field."

While it is true that kids in many other countries have more school days, it's not true they all spend more time in school.

Kids in the U.S. spend more hours in school (1,146 instructional hours per year) than do kids in the Asian countries that persistently outscore the U.S. on math and science tests - Singapore (903), Taiwan (1,050), Japan (1,005) and Hong Kong (1,013). That is despite the fact that Taiwan, Japan and Hong Kong have longer school years (190 to 201 days) than does the U.S. (180 days).

Regardless, there is a strong case for adding time to the school day.

Researcher Tom Loveless of the Brookings Institution looked at math scores in countries that added math instruction time. Scores rose significantly, especially in countries that added minutes to the day, rather than days to the year.

"Ten minutes sounds trivial to a school day, but don't forget, these math periods in the U.S. average 45 minutes," Loveless said. "Percentage-wise, that's a pretty healthy increase."

In the U.S., there are many examples of gains when time is added to the school day.

Charter schools are known for having longer school days or weeks or years. For example, kids in the KIPP network of 82 charter schools across the country go to school from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., more than three hours longer than the typical day. They go to school every other Saturday and for three weeks in the summer. KIPP eighth-grade classes exceed their school district averages on state tests.

In Massachusetts' expanded learning time initiative, early results indicate that kids in some schools do better on state tests than do kids at regular public schools. The extra time, which schools can add as hours or days, is for three things: core academics - kids struggling in English, for example, get an extra English class; more time for teachers; and enrichment time for kids.

Regular public schools are adding time, too, though it is optional and not usually part of the regular school day. Their calendar is pretty much set in stone. Most states set the minimum number of school days at 180 days, though a few require 175 to 179 days.

Several schools are going year-round by shortening summer vacation and lengthening other breaks.

Many schools are going beyond the traditional summer school model, in which schools give remedial help to kids who flunked or fell behind.

Summer is a crucial time for kids, especially poorer kids, because poverty is linked to problems that interfere with learning, such as hunger and less involvement by their parents.

That makes poor children almost totally dependent on their learning experience at school, said Karl Alexander, a sociology professor at Baltimore's Johns Hopkins University, home of the National Center for Summer Learning.

Disadvantaged kids, on the whole, make no progress in the summer, Alexander said. Some studies suggest they actually fall back. Wealthier kids have parents who read to them, have strong language skills and go to great lengths to give them learning opportunities such as computers, summer camp, vacations, music lessons, or playing on sports teams.

"If your parents are high school dropouts with low literacy levels and reading for pleasure is not hard-wired, it's hard to be a good role model for your children, even if you really want to be," Alexander said.

Extra time is not cheap. The Massachusetts program costs an extra $1,300 per student, or 12 percent to 15 percent more than regular per-student spending, said Jennifer Davis, a founder of the program. It received more than $17.5 million from the state Legislature last year.

The Montgomery County, Md., summer program, which includes Brookhaven, received $1.6 million in federal stimulus dollars to operate this year and next, but it runs for only 20 days.

Aside from improving academic performance, Education Secretary Duncan has a vision of schools as the heart of the community. Duncan, who was Chicago's schools chief, grew up studying alongside poor kids on the city's South Side as part of the tutoring program his mother still runs.

"Those hours from 3 o'clock to 7 o'clock are times of high anxiety for parents," Duncan said. "They want their children safe. Families are working one and two and three jobs now to make ends meet and to keep food on the table."

[artteacherva]

I teach in a title 1 (extremly poor)school district in Virginia (high school). I have several thoughts on this issue.First the students already spend 7 hours/day in school and you can ask any teacher, the students can't handle any more instructional time. They need time to get their energy out to have a healthy mind and body. Second as far as giving the poor kids some place to be and good role models to have in their life, teachers are not babysitters. Maybe the government should provide programs during the summer for these kids to attend free of charge to enrich their lives in other ways besides academics. 90% of my students will never leave the county they live in. Let's get them out in the world, kids can grow just as much from experiance as being in a classroom. And, schools do not have money as of now. We run out of paper before spring break what would we do if we had to go all year. Teachers are WAY underpaid! I can't afford a mortgage on my teaching job alone so if we are going to spend all summer in the classroom are we going to get paid more so we don't have to rely on our summer jobs? And how can we compare our academics to other countries when our morals/values are not the same. Asian and Middle Eastern Cultures value education more than Americans do, it's a fact. You would have to change the values of all Americans to get Americans to value education.

[Starlaughter]

I agree kids need time to relax but prefer a longer school year. I also agree with some of yall more thingshappen during the summer and yes kmost do turn to the streets and don't finish school. My solution to that is to send those who drop out of school to job corps. There they can get the education and at the same time learn a trade. Taking summer would improve the nation score. Students like myselwolud not mind having just spring, thanksgiving, and chrismas break cause summer is really not needed. It just prolong days out of school and why we need so many holidays to be out for. i know i would have came out better with an over seas eduaction. but im over here and learn so much from everbody that around me. would like one day when i have a child to go to college like his or her parent.

[mthollowell]

In the article the reader is led to believe that students in the United States are inferior to students in other country. If the writer would be honest he would have included the fact that students in other countried are weeded out around the age of 14. In the United States this does not happen, and it has a profound impact on our entire education system.

[scotts398]

I think all of the egotistic morons wasting time commenting and arguing with other people calling them uneducated, and telling others they should be ashamed of themselves need a very serious reality check. I'm a high school senior where I begin joint enrollment at 7:30 AM and continue school until 3:39 with a 25 minute break for lunch. TWENTY FIVE MINUTES is the break we get in the day. With 3 AP classes and 2 college classes, adding three hours to many students' days would cause a rather rampage throughout schools. Do you really think that most students will continute to come to school if we would be going for three extra hours and another day a week? This will lead to a higher drop out rate and failure rate due to students having no motivation to come to school because they don't even have time to breath. The brain excercises all parts of the mind, NOT ALL OF IT HAS TO DO WITH SCHOOL. Also, making students go to school longer is in sort wasting education. Making students who could care less about their opportunities when they grow older come to school longer is wasting time of teachers and their own. They could instead be practicing something that they could be good at. PLENTY of people have been successful without an extended school year! All you morons out there commenting on this most have done something right, or maybe you're just that pathetic that you're unsuccessful and commenting on this saying, "Student's need longer school days because I'm such a screw up I didn't know how to do anything right in High School." Along with that, when are students supposed to get their homework done, because THERE WILL ALWAYS BE HOMEWORK! Are they suppossed to do it in their sleep? Is this going to cancel out all clubs/sports/school events? When was the last time YOU were in school? I'm pretty sure your reaction would not have been, "I think I should be at school longer because it will further my education." Why don't you people think about some of the things you're saying and evaluate the situation, with "competition for jobs," and "other schools in other countries go for longer," SOME OF US ALREADY HAVE "FULL YEAR" SCHOOL. Longer school days would decrease motivation even with people with success in their future, think about reality and the fact that the world is not just a box. It's a gift from God and we aren't supposed to be in a classroom for all of our lives.

[mariatalk]

If you think our Public School System with its? high illiteracy rate and ever rising drop-out rate is a good example of a Government run agency then you are probably FOR Government run health care!
Now, more than ever, is the time for School Vouchers! This Economical Crisis, the worse economy since the Great Depression, calls for immediate action! Time is of the essence.
Tax Payers currently pay $10,700.00 per year to educate each K-12 student. Private school at the elementary level averages $5,500.00 per child per year and 6th grade thru 12th grade averages $7,000.00 per year per child.
If the government issued Education Vouchers worth $6,700.00 per year per child (Education Savings Account) ? Tax Payers would save $4,000.00 per child per year = $4k x 55 Million Students = $220,000,000,000 Savings!
Even if you take another $20 Billion Dollars to assists families with special needs and fund after school programs - Tax Payers Save $200 Billion Dollars per year!!
Every Property Tax payer can receive a 30% reduction in their public school property tax!
It Just Makes Sense! Parents want to pick their Childs? school based on:
Quality of Education ? Parents Want to be confident with the teachers ability, academic program and method of teaching.
Shared Beliefs/Views ? Parents Wants to be comfortable with the Mission of the School and Values of the teachers along with acceptable disciplinary policy.
School Location ? With the need for Single Parents and/or Both parents to work. Many parents would like to choose a school close to their work instead of their home so they can meet with teachers, attend presentations, care for their child in case of illness, make it to pick-up on time, etc., etc.
School Pre/Post programs ? Parents want to pick their school based on their needs. Working parents can choose schools that offer pre-school and post-school care, sports programs and clubs.
As Private Schools Open across the United States, many may be opened by present administrators of public schools with the assistance of a SBA loan, many job opportunities will be created - instead of Tax Dollars being spent ? Private Industry will create revenue!!!
Public schools will have to function within the budget of the Vouchers! As the need for Public Schools declines, no longer needed schools can be sold to private industry or used as local branches of state colleges. More students would attend college if the schools were more accessible to work and home.
Smaller, more efficiently run schools chosen by the parents are less likely to contradict the parents? authority and values which leads to greater satisfaction and family harmony. Schools that fit our individual hectic lives lessen the stress of working parents and their children.
Allowing Parents to purchase their child?s education forces schools to treat parents as the Customer Again! We need to end the ?It?s my way or the Highway? attitude of schools! Gee, kind of like if individuals purchased their health care directly.
Plus!!!! It costs $200,000,000,000Less! Two Hundred Billion Dollars! Better Education for our children, Better School/Parent/Child Relationship! More Children will go onto attend College! Why haven?t we done this yet??????
Answer: 1. The Teachers Union 2. Government Loves Control over its? people!!!
The Public School Bureaucracy has become a money hungry, inefficient Monster! It?s out dated and the progressive group must allow our education system to evolve into a more ?Customer Friendly?, ?Result Driven?, ?Fiscally Responsible? industry. IT?S A STATE ISSUE!!

[Starlaughter]

there is really no need for longer school hours just a longer school year

[wasrinrime]

Longer school days no 7.5 hrs. of schooling for children is enough. Now having said that, I do agreee that extending the school year would be beneficial for students. For those parents and children that would find this a problem are probably the same parents and children who's grades and parenting skills suffer and are lax. They do this in AZ and have for some time and it works out fine. I'm sure many teachers would relish the paychecks for a longer peroid of time instead.

[Constitionalist]

The extra school time should be used to teach our kids to place their faith in government and just how wonderful BHO is. Then they can be good litle servants of the USSA(yes the extra S is on purpose). Then as they toil for the good of the people they can ponder why they wasted their lives in school.

[hungry1968-16]

by ffoulkes-2009 September 28, 2009 2:01 AM EDT

...so your suggestion is that we should spend more of this greatest gift sitting in a classroom being indoctrinated with more and more social engineering? I'll pass for my kids' sake.







Translation: "Ain't no one gonna be teachin' mah kids, with none of that fancy pants "public education! Mah kids can get their education off the street, like I did!!"

[hungry1968-16]

by owlgal September 28, 2009 7:47 AM EDT
Classic case of trying to do "everything" and doing nothing well.







Yet ANOTHER conservative opposing education for our nation's children.

Sadly, it's not surprising.

[hungry1968-16]

by HaroldR1074 September 28, 2009 1:40 AM EDT
Kids, you only need to learn one phrase for the future: "Want to super-size that?" It's the only job you'll get so long as Odumbo is in office.







And you can seriously say that after Bush URGED and ENCOURAGED companies to move their manufacturing (aka "high paying jobs") offshore, to help the "global economy"?!?!

You're clueless!