Obama: More School

More hours in the school day? More school days?

Obama wants America's children spending more time in school.

Of course, he does.

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

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.

...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).

"Level the playing field"?

American kids already spend significantly more hours per year in school than high-performing kids in Asian countries.

If Obama and Duncan want to level to playing the field, they should look at how the hours in U.S. schools are being spent.

How much time is devoted to math and science, reading and writing?

How much time is devoted to exercises that don't produce results?

It seems that American students aren't falling behind because of the amount of time they're in the classroom. It's how that time is being spent.

It appears that what American kids are not getting is quality time.

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."

It's not necessary to add time to the school day.

The time needs to be used more efficiently.

Hours could be added to the school day. More days could be added to the school year.

That's a waste if what's being taught is a waste and the methods being used to teach are ineffective.

What good will legislating more school hours accomplish when many kids aren't showing up in the first place?

Furthermore, additional time in school doesn't address the matter of lack of parental involvement and the important role that plays in kids' academic success.

American schools are producing millions of high-achievers right now. Lots of kids and parents are getting it right.

Just being in the school building has nothing to do with students' success. Studying and being disciplined and having teachers committed to upholding standards of excellence are what matters. The current trends of dumbing down the curriculum and lowering expectations are obstacles to achievement.

There is no point in subjecting to kids to more of what's not working.

...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."

Duncan wants the schools to be the heart of the community. (Weren't churches the heart of the community at one time?)

It sounds like he wants schools to serve as surrogate parents, especially between the hours of 3:00 PM and 7:00 PM.

In effect, we're talking about childcare, not more time spent on learning math and science.

This sounds like a governmental intervention. Since the determination has been made that parents aren't willing to pull their weight in raising their children or they are unable to devote the time necessary, the solution is to give the government more control over young minds.

That's a scary thought.

Bottom line: It's not how much time is spent in school. It's how that time is spent.

Parents need to emphasize the importance of education, set expectations for their children, and provide the support and supervision needed to achieve educational goals. Passing off that responsibility to the government is not the answer.

Another thing--

With a lengthened school day, what would that do to participation in extracurricular activities? The demands required of student athletes and those involved in music and drama activities are already extreme.

I think Obama needs to acknowledge the real problem: a lack of personal responsibility on the part of students and parents; and an inadequate curriculum.

Maybe Obama and Duncan should study the fundamental lessons and teaching methods employed by Vince Lombardi.