I think longer school days are an awful idea. Children spend so much of their time in school (away from their parents) that they miss out on important non-academic experiences. I think schools just need to improve the management of the time they already have.

But I like merit pay and the fact that 'career training' was encouraged.

we used to be at school from 7.30am till 3pm and that was all classes then from 3pm to 5pm it was sports and club activities at school. It kept us occupied and children here are at school at 9am leave by 3pm and by the looks of things in my university classes don't learn much at all

I think that we need to value education more as a nation. And offer an equal standard of education to every citizen. I agree with the merit pay, but would like to hear more on how it is determined that a teacher has failed/succeded. I also agree with the Pre-K education. I think from 3 years old on children should be in some type of formal program a few times a week. If for nothing else than to prepare them for the classroom setting.

longer school days does nothing for the kids they will be burnt out by the end and its a waste of money.

I'm with him until longer school days - kids need time to be kids.

I think a universally longer school day for all ages may be a bit harsh, since young kids do need more time to be kids. But I think increasing the length of the school day incrementally as children get older could be effective, even if it's to add in built in study time that can't be spent in front of the television or doing chores for their parents. They are going to have to sit still and work 8 hour days once they get out in the real world, I see no reason why older students can't handle this. Plus, it would provide more time for school activities that round out an education like art classes and music classes and even sports. I think it could be an effective way to increase the quality of the education that older students are getting.

Longer school days for older kids may also help to cut down on youth deliquency by not providing those idle hours between 2:30 and 5:30 when their parents get home from work.

I was a latch-key kid, but I was taught good values and respect and didnt turn into a deliquent, most kids dont. Lets not punish the many for a few being bad eggs.

Instead of longer school days, I think more states need to implement year-round schooling. That huge summer break that most kids get usually ends up helping them to forget everything they've learned, and have a hard time getting back into good school habits. With year-round schooling you could give them big breaks to go on vacation with their families and relax, but they'd still be learning on a regular basis.

Good for you CG. I don't see that offering enriching after school programs through the school as punishment.

I'm a firm believer in allowing a kid to hang out and just 'be' - not at the mall, and not in front of stupid t.v., but kids need to spend time figuring out who they are without a teacher or parent or boss scheduling their activities.
If they can't be at home then sure, supervised after school activities must be available.
But I also see the time my daughter spends sitting on her bedroom floor practicing how to draw anime eyes because she wants to as time well spent.

Well said, Roarman. Not everyone sees school as punishment.

oh no, i never thought i would see ye olde "good for you" statement on here....wow blast from the past!

School isnt a punishment, longer days to keep bad kids occupied is, after school programs arent what we were talking about. so thats a moot point. I am all for after school programs, used to run them for the Y, I am not for longer days just cause the koreans do it.

Glad to provide a bit of nostalgia, CG. After school programs such as sports and arts were mentioned in two posts, so it is what we were talking about. Not exactly what Obama proposes though.

How on earth could CG have known you were talking about after school programs when the topic is "longer school days"? Doesn't "after school" imply that the school day has ended?

As I phrased my post, I was saying that with a longer school day, there would be more time for more enrichment activities like the arts to be folded into the regular school day, rather than being "after school" activities. When sports and arts programs are moved outside the school system, less people take part in them either due to accessibility or cost. By incorporating them into a longer day for older students, more students would take part in them, something I think would to be to the benefit of many kids.

I agree with some of it, but I'm against longer school days. There's only so much work you can do in a day before you want to kill yourself. As to merit pay it would have to depend on how it works. If it depends on how much education the teachers have themselves I'm for it but if it depends on how students do on standardized tests I don't think it will help because what teacher is going to work somewhere when they know the students aren't gonna do good? The school districts that are doing bad need good teachers but good teachers are going to go to schools that are already doing well so they get paid more. So we'll have to see how that works out.

CG may not have known, but I was pointing out that it was not moot as it was brought up in previous posts by KS and Nya.

"Instead of longer school days, I think more states need to implement year-round schooling"

Agreed. I'd be much more supportive of that than I would of longer schools days. The end result is still more learning!

Well said kscincotta and Roarman

My sister is already burned out from school and extracurricular activities .... and now there's a chance she might have to do it all for longer periods of time. The poor child is burned out at 13 ... what is she going to do when she gets to college or starts a full-time job?????

and Roar, I am not a comment magician to know what was talked about previously.....

I have mixed feelings about the longer school days. Some of the teachers I know say it's hard to cram everything in that they are required to cover. A longer day would help. Since testing has become the biggest measure of learning classes have become overly structured. Recess has been chopped done to about 15 minutes.

liliblue, it seems like block schedules help. When you go to four classes a day for a longer amount of time, you get more teaching time since you lose less time to transitions between classes, taking attendance, etc.

I'm all for taking teachers who don't perform out of the classroom. When I was an ed major, I shadowed several teachers who told me point blank that some students weren't worth teaching. They weren't going to get it, and don't waste your time trying. I couldn't believe it, since she taught 6th grade.

I agree Modus..I had a block schedule in high school...longer days are not a good idea.

Modus what about elementary school children? Certain subjects have to be taught for a certain amount of time. Teachers can get into trouble for deviating from the approved cirriculum. That leaves less time for questions and one on one help. I think teachers should have more freedom in the classroom. But NCLB has put an end to that.

Hmmm. Elementary schools don't typically lose that time, because normally you're in the same classroom all day.

Longer school days wouldn't help - I spend 6 hours in class and another four on homework a day (high school) and that is plenty. Year round school would help me learn more, but it would take away the long, homework-free break - in year round school, the teachers can assign homework over the break. Ugh.

We need to hold teachers responsible for thier actions. I had and now have at least 2 completely incompetent teachers with tenure - as in, my SCIENCE teacher yelled at our class becuase he couldn't turn on his computer during a power outage. During our electricity unit. And he taught us, almost every day, multiple things that were flat-out wrong. He had so many complaints, but they did no good.

I had friends in elementary school who had to sue their teacher for abuse (think racism, physical abuse, etc.), and it wasn't even the first lawsuit, and it took serious, serious accusations to finally get her let go.

I go to the best schools in my public school district - prestigious, well-known, successful schools. In a large city.

Oh, and NCLB has done nothing but harm to my school, and others. My teachers must teach to the test, quite a bit. Lucky I got a perfect on the test when taking it a year early.

I can only speak for Kindergarten (my mom teaches), but having a full day of school for them has been incredibly beneficial for both the students and the teachers. The kids get more play time (which is just as important as the things they learn), and the teachers have more time to teach. I've never understood why most K days are only half days. It doesn't seem like enough time to do anything!

We only have 1/2 day K where I live and it's like 2.5 hours. 1.5 of those hours are spent coming in, getting ready to leave, potty, snack and recess. Leaving 1 hour for learning.

Our prek and K are all day here. That's pretty bad when you only get 1 hour for learning. What's the point?

My mom's school is actually one of the only ones in town that does full day Kindergarten. And she had a pretty big part in changing it to full day. It doesn't make sense to me either Dave, especially since Kindergarten is such an important year!

The answer lies in vouchers, but look, they are eliminating them in DC, despite the fact it is a proven success.

Obama girls will lose two class mates, when the vouchers go.

As a teacher, I firmly disagree with merit pay for teachers. We are doing SO MUCH as it is. Students are already being tested to death on material that is way beyond their developmental levels. Of course test scores are going to be low. So "holding teachers accountable" for this is the answer? I don't think so.

I am, however, all for longer school days. Where I teach (Hawaii), some days students are only in school for 4 hours! They are released at 12:30. Factor in lunch, recess and transition times, that leaves less than three hours of "learning" time. Extend the day so students can do more than reading and math and test prep all day long!

Taking funding away from public schools to fund vouchers for students to attend private schools does a disservice to those attending the public school system. The money needs to go to funding the public school system and getting those schools up to par. You should not being receiving a better education based on the school you go to. All schools should teach our children to the same level. It is my opinion that private schools should be there for those parents that want religion taught to their children.

Wow, since we're talking about education, grammatical errors galore, anyone? Sorry...

Pre K here is all day because it is private, more of daycare setting you pay weekly for. I believe Pre K should be mandatory, like a grade before kindergarten. I agree that vouchers are not the way to go. Instead of fixing the problem, we are offering a solution to steer away from it. Quality education should be free.

Wouldn't vouchers still make education free?

I want to know about the basis for merit pay. Do they take into consideration learning disabilities and ADHD? Do they consider that some kids' parents send them to tutoring while others' can't afford it? Are they going to introduce yet another test for teachers to teach to instead of just teaching general information?
Starting in third grade in my state, the teachers are forced to prepare students for the state-wide test. That's all they learn! Ridiculous and sad. They have recess twice a week and PE twice a week...but only if it doesn't rain.
I fully expect to see another stimulus package to pay for the extended day plan, and another stimulus package to pay for the extra meals that the school will need to serve when the kids are still there at 6 p.m. Yeesh. When does it end?

Yes, I'm ranting...and breathless because of it.

I think we should check into corporate schools. I've seen shows about them. Need to do more research, though.

Vouchers give help towards private education based on income. So it would not be free for everyone only the really poor.

Some form of merit pay needs to be instituted... not tied to test scores, but there needs to be a way to reward excellent educators.

And a longer school day will never be introduced- we value sports and other extracurriculars too much in this country.