President Obama Angers School Kidsby Michele Cheplic | More from this Blogger 30 Sep 2009 08:11 AM I suppose I would be irate too if was a school-hating 10-year-old who just learned that the President of the United States was trying to institute a law that would essentially eliminate summer vacation. Forget about three months of free time to swim and snooze in the sun. According to reports, President Obama and Education Secretary Arne Duncan want longer school days and a move toward a "balanced" or year round calendar for school kids. Translation: If Obama gets his way, summer vacation would be dramatically reduced and endless nights of firefly catching and smore making will be a thing of the past. According to President Obama, American kids spend too little time in school, which puts them at a disadvantage with other students around the globe. Despite his legitimate reasons for wanting to amend the school calendar, the dad of a sixth-grader and a third-grader realizes his proposal is not going to sit well with everyone. "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's proposal includes having schools add time to classes (roughly three hours per day to eliminate the number of latchkey kids running around) and letting 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. "Young people in other countries are going to school 25, 30 percent longer than our students here, and I want to just level the playing field." There are strong arguments for adding time to the school day, but they're not coming from students. In fact, the same students who helped Obama win school-sponsored mock presidential elections last fall are the very ones who are now bemoaning the president's proposal. Ah, irony at its best... or worst. What do you think of Obama's push for year round school and longer days in class? It's not the first time the idea has been tossed around, but this time it could become reality. Related Articles: Unexpected School: A Student's Worst Nightmare How Long is Too Long for Kindergarten? Teachers Speak Out About Obama Inauguration Learn more about Michele Cheplic  Michele Cheplic was born and raised in Hilo, Hawaii, but now lives in Wisconsin. Michele graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a degree in Journalism. Relevanteducation tags User Comments  Cat-Mom-of-3 (180) 16 Oct 2009 08:48 AMI would love to see the school day extended if and only if the amount of homework was either eliminated or reduced significantly. It is just incredible the amount of work my kids do each day. After spending over 7 hours at school and another 2-3 on homework they have no time to help around the house and learn life skills. I do realize our American students are far bahind their counterparts across the world and could benefit from additional instruction time, but please incorporate the homework into the school day!  Michele Cheplic |
Education categories |
