Doing School in Summer the Wrong Way

A mountain of research suggests that students perform better when they get more time in school. A longer school year would help. So California children should have to spend more time in school during the summer.

But the Los Angeles Unified School District's proposal to use more of the summer for school, as reported in the Los Angeles Times, doesn't make any sense. LAUSD is merely proposing to shift the school year into the summer so that important tests can be given before the Christmas holiday. The district won't make the school year longer. To the contrary, the district will end school in the spring earlier -- and, in the likely event of additional budget cuts, may have to shorten the overall year further than it already has.

If school children are going to have to sweat out August in class, we should be giving them more of an education.

Contact Us