I am definitely against this. For one, where is the money going to come from? Public schools aren't exactly rolling in the dough as is, and I can't imagine how they would manage to pay for all of the extra days. I also think that adding more classroom time doesn't necessarily mean that students will learn more. Kids need time off to decompress in order to keep learning! We don't need burnt out 4th graders.

I'm all for more school time if it's done right and if the funding is provided. I don't think going more hours in a day is right though. I'd like to see a more year round type of school year where the kids get more like 1 month off during the summer so there's less time for them to forget what they're learning, but give them more breaks throughout the year! If we stop trying to cramn so much into their minds everyday, they'd be able to retain a lot more of it! It would also help if more parents would back off and not over schedule their kids with activities! Sue kids need to be involved in things, but 1 activity at a time and no more then 3 times a week-including weekends!

I think that, like most of Obama's babbling, this is a really stupid idea. Funding, scheduling, pressure, etc. This would make me turn to homeschooling in a heartbaet.

A heartbeat even. And there's a great example of how I'd be such an awful homeschooler, but still better than this idea. lol

LOL Anon.

I don't think this is a good idea either. I have no problem with children learning, but I'd much rather see quality learning than quantity. Schools are losing funding for things every day, two of our children's schools have lost 3 teaching positions each this year alone.

Also the idea of schools being opened on the weekends so children have safe places to go, would cause more problems than solutions.

Why not just work on actual safe places? Make our parks safer, make community centers safe and accessible.

I agree that we need to focus on quality long before increasing the quantity.

What works in one country will not necessarily work in another. All the examples used are Asian countries where the cultural differences with the USA are huge.
And if they want to look at statistics, why not look at the country that ranks first year after year on the PISA tests? Kids in Finland start primary school at the age of 7, with only a very light schedule in the first years. I don't think more hours in school will make the kids more educated. They should focus on the quality of the education rather than on the quantity.

Finn put it perfectly.

Agree Finn!

As for schools being open on weekends so kids have a safe place? I think some parents will start dumping off their kids for the free babysitting service.

As a high school English teacher, I already put in over 40 hours a week. I think the administration will find it difficult to retain teachers, unless it plans on doubling the number of teachers and dividing teaching responsibilities between them. However, many districts are unable to hire enough teachers as it is.

I believe it is stupid. I remember when I went to school you started after Labor Day and got out before Memorial Day. That's the way it should be. Period! I can say I will home school if this should happens.

As a student teacher, I have gotten scared and almost turned off of the profession. If not for the connections I have with my students, I would run the other way back to Library Science.

Most students can barely pay attention for the time they're in class, why add more? However, I do think that children could benefit from enrichment programs after school, on weekends, and in the summer.

There is so much loss of information retention that we're spending almost the whole first semester on review (of last year).

I don't agree at ALL. The budget just isn't in there. Most schools have virutally no after school activities as it is, how exactly are they going to deal with longer hours and less summer time off? If they are going to change anything, a change to year round would be better in my opinion, as well as making our community areas safer. I'm looking forward to moving because our local parks, the 3 near us, have taken a drastic turn for the worse in the last few months. Constantly dirty, and with large amounts of lurking men and gang banger types. I watched a blatant drug exchange twice the other day at the park, it was ridiculous. They used to have police drive up and down the neighborhoods, but i haven't seen one in ages.

I attended a year round school several times in elementery and we actually REALLY loved it. You didn't care about a shorter summer becuase you got entire months off a couple times a year. It was spectacular. We were even happier to land on the right track to have the entire month of December off each time we were in year round, in snowy climates, so we spent the whole month playing in the snow, visiting the mountains, celebrating christmas early - making xmas presents, home made decorations, tons of baking.

The month off is long enough to really have good downtime, but not long enough to start feeling rusty when you go back.

I agree that kids do NOT need to stay in school longer! My kids has a busy schedule and they still can't finish homework or can't visit friends and family it's hard for them to get good grades. So yeah, i disagree with Obama.

I DON'T THINK THEY SHOULD KEEP USE IN SCHOOL LONGER

I am against this too. i am a high school student and school is to long as it is. We have been like this for years . we need to stay the same or change to shorter hours and shorter days and more summer.