Longer School Days, Extended School Year: For or Against

[GoodWitch58]

well, actually, it says either or...

 

[Matt J]

What is this enemies list you speak of....I don't have enemies. I have a different opinion than 90%( a conservative estimate) of the posters on this board and as soon as I say anything , here comes.....You, poopy, Boob, LucySam, Geo and whoever else I forgot. I'm not sure why you're trying to make this personal...I am very aware of how to PM and use the IGNORE button but I will use them when I want to. Not because someone else wants me to....continue with your name calling. That seems to be what you are best at.

Your words:

I'll just keep this filed away...

Sounds like you've got a vendetta file somewhere.

As for name calling, it's more convincing when you take the high road if you aren't pushing boulders loose as you go.

 

[scooterbug44]

I definitely think that our education system is in need of some major changes and reform. The stories I hear from teachers, parents, and students are ridiculous.

There is absolutely no reason why kids should be able to graduate from high school in this country without a good knowledge of history, math, grammar, spelling, writing, art, and music.

I can say without a doubt that I would not be the person I am today if I had been in school all summer instead of working, going to camp, traveling with my family, or playing with my friends.

 

[Mango]

lack of family support is definitely one major problem with kids not succeeding in school.

I hope we do not increase the number of days in the school year, but if so maybe it won't be by many. I just do not see how this is going to benefit anyone unless the delivery of education improves radically. year round school sounds more effective to me (with plenty of breaks). I truly believe children and families benefit from having time for family travel and doing lots of other discovery/activities outside of school - as a family, at camp, on vacation, in the backyard woods, staying with grandma, visiting museums, staying home in your pj's watching cartoons and playing with legos, riding bikes and enjoying a wonderful summer in your bathing suit. Children need extended play breaks, imo.

I firmly believe that to improve education in our public schools we need to improve the quality of education provided. then and only then will more time in the classroom make a bit of sense. why subject children to more test teaching? doesn't make sense to me.

Oh, I agree with the quality improvements, just that 8 weeks or so is a long time off from school. and we do not necessarily need to have more testing. Wouldn't it be nice if kids can learn more about the world visiting more museums, or green technology, etc. Things some parents may not necessarily do, probably most. Kids in Europe get to travel to other Countries easily and learn about different cultures. I was just reading 30A's Newsweek article about Afghanistan and how students are oppressed from attending schools if they are not of Pakistani descent, etc. Our kids are sometimes spoiled. They never had to experience that. I bet students who don't have access to it, would kill for a longer school year.
But, i do agree that kids need to be kids and have funn, too!

 

[Blair]

Your words:



Sounds like you've got a vendetta file somewhere.

As for name calling, it's more convincing when you take the high road if you aren't pushing boulders loose as you go.

Sorry...no file anywhere. I'm not that kind of person...You're just mad because the only boulder I pushed was the one you were standing on


PEACE

 

[poppy]

It's a play off of their own names they gave themselves.....

I don't remember calling you a name and I don't remember doing this.

 

[Winnie]

well, actually, it says either or...

Yes, it does say either or, but with the goal being to extend the number of class hours. Not that he necessarily thinks year round school is better. Just that it would be one means of creating more class hours. The other is longer school days.

So, year round classes with the same total number of class hours as we have now would not meet the goals President Obama is proposing.

 

[Lynnie]

Extending the school year by 20 days will cost more.

I say extend the school day by 30 min. and use the money saved on the 20 days to increase teacher salary (ultimately attracting better) and even incent them differently......i.e. more of a sales/academic achievement overall compensation of salary + commission.

I am all for time off and stress out every year their summers are shortened. But, that's just me.......

 

[hkem1]

I say extend the school day by 30 min. and use the money saved on the 20 days to increase teacher salary (ultimately attracting better) and even incent them differently......i.e. more of a sales/academic achievement overall compensation of salary + commission.

How do you suggest "academic achievement" be determined? If you do it by grades then you will have massive grade inflation; which is already somewhat of a problem in this county. You don't want to do standardized test because thats where a lot of our problems come from as it is.

I 100% percent agree that the better teachers should get paid more it is just that I haven't seen an efficient and fair way to determine who they are.

 

[Teresa]

I definitely think that our education system is in need of some major changes and reform. The stories I hear from teachers, parents, and students are ridiculous.

There is absolutely no reason why kids should be able to graduate from high school in this country without a good knowledge of history, math, grammar, spelling, writing, art, and music.

I can say without a doubt that I would not be the person I am today if I had been in school all summer instead of working, going to camp, traveling with my family, or playing with my friends.

a great way to say that kids need summer time for many reasons - I remember when we had at least 3 months off in the summer. it was awesome! the school year has been lengthened already, and summer has been shortened considerably (by at least a month).

okay, so we have lengthened the school year by at least a month, and quality of education has declined.