It is no secret that American schools are in trouble. Some argue
that to fix this problem, longer time spent at school is needed. That can be
achieved by lengthening the average six hour a day schedule to eight hours,
lengthening the school year from 180 days to 200 days or more, or even
implementing both scenarios in schools across the country.
An obvious positive outcome to these solutions is more classroom
time. Students will spend more time learning the core subjects like reading and
math, but that also allows more time to enjoy art and music classes that
sometimes have to be cut due to the importance felt for other subject.
Technology, foreign languages or other classes could now be offered to students
because their day would now allow time for it. Lessons could now be longer and
go more in depth to give students a better grasp on a concept. This could lead
to higher tests scores. It also means that students are supervised for longer
periods of the day so they don't have to go home to empty houses and
potentially get into trouble. This could be a solution for costly day care that
working parents wouldn't have to pay because their children would end their day
when they do.
When discussing cost though, some feel extending the school day or
year would cost too much to pay teachers and other school personnel as well as
building utilities. They say that in a time when budgets are already so
tight from being cut, there just isn't the money to implement this. Others are
also concerned this system would interfere with sports, extracurricular
activities and family time. This could also disrupt sleep patterns if students
have to go to school earlier or get out later and still have to go to sports
practice, eat dinner and do homework before bed. Being in school longer could
eliminate the need for homework all together because students are getting more
done throughout the day. One big issue with this solution would be teacher's
unions and them agreeing to staying at school longer because contracts would
have to be changed.
Clearly there are a lot of positives and negatives to this
solution to fix America's education system. President Obama is for this and it
has been stated,"President Obama wants to increase the school year from 180 days to 200 days. The President feels that the school days should be extended as well; stating that America is no longer a nation of farmers that need to be home at the end of the day to plow the fields." For some parts of our country, that statement is very true. Some schools have already implemented a change to their school day length, so their progress has to be monitored to see if this change is worth it and is needed now in every school.
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