I'm all for year around schools. You don't use it, you'll lose it. American public schools get way to much time off in a school year. The first part of the year you spend learning what you learned the following school year. The end of the school year you spend learing something new. Kids are being deprived a whole school year of fresh education. It's up to us parents to teach at home. You get what you pay for.

I'm glad I finished K-12 education back in '08!

they dont need more schooling. They need better schooling.

I am all for it your go President Obama keep on truckin.

I don't think having more school is going to do much. Not really. Just hold students to a higher standard. Then they can have fewer hours and days in school.

My opinion... The motives must NOT be to benefit the children of our country. If anyone accurately can do the Math, students have approximately 2-3 hours a day when they ARE NOT at school and/or focusing on homework. WHO in the world really believe that the school setting, teachers alone can TEACH ALL LIFE SKILLS successfully to students? I totally disagree. If we, as a nation, do not step up and hold parents accountable for at least half of the education and rearing of 'their' kids, we are in huge danger of failing them! There are beneficial stimuli in many other areas of life - other than just a school setting. Think about it for a moment, everyone.... 1- How many of you actually have 'learned' to be a productive, successful student JUST from what you learned in k-12 school setting? 2- As apposed to question number 1, how many of you have learned more real-world experiences from.... uh, the 'real world'? Yes.... students need their basics (Reading, Writing, Math, Social Skills, etc.)... but nothing takes the place of real values instilled in the home, positive real world experiences, etc. WE are setting them up to fall flat on their faces if we think we can do it ALL in a classroom setting. GEEZ.... again, how many of us actually learned how to be an adult from the classroom??????? Obama, dear.... do you teach your kids at home in conjunction with the classroom, or only insist they spend more hours in a classroom….where they 'share' their time with many other students. Do your kids value YOU as a teacher far more than the one they have for 9 months? Hmmm!

Don't care I dropped out and look at me.

Our public schools are a joke, and no extension on the amount of time spent in them is going to fix that. A fundamental overhaul of the CONTENT, not length, of school is needed, and politicians, whether liberal or conservative, need to stay out.

He also proposed shortening summer vacation...

Still... it is simple. Hold parents accountable for the lives they bring into the world. We, as teachers, will enhance the learning, assist in molding them to be young, productive and responsible citizens. Schools CANNOT fix poor parenting. By the time many teachers get a student in their classroom, a kid has developed YEARS of issues.... multiply that by 30 kids in a room. Do you get it? I'm not sure who you are, but how does one adult do all of that?? People who have raised 2,3,4+ kids know the difficult task. Toss in another 25 kids, NO contact with the children from birth until they reached the about the age of 12. Get to know them in one year... and teach them everything you should. Job's Done! Then Bingo! You have solved the problem... and yes, I will vote for you!!! Really!!!

I think it's a good idea. School days have historically been shorter because most kids used to walk to school. Now, only kids who live really close to school do that. Shorter school days also mean that parents often have to pay exorbitant rates for before-and-after school day care. Longer days would eliminate that expense. There was also no school during the summer so kids could help work on the farm. Very few kids still work on farms these days (as a general rule), so that's no longer a very valid not to have school during the summer. Many teachers will tell you that much of what they teach during a 9-month academic year is forgotten over the summer and they have to do extensive reviews the following year to remind kids of what they've already been taught. It's a waste of valuable time. My recommendation would be to add several hours to the school day and only take a one-month summer break for a real vacation with the family. That way, kids would have more academic time and we might start catching up to the kids in other countries who are doing better than our kids in school, especially in the math and science courses.

Sorry - family and parenting responsibilities are far greater than 'a summer vacation'. People just don't get it. Suggestion to those commenting.... Go to college, major in education, teach at least 10-15 years... Then, get back with me, and we'll talk!

That will reduce after school child care expenses for working couples and single parents, but who will pay for this extra expense at the schools. Most teachers need the remainder of the day to grade papers and prepare tomorrows lessons. They cannot handle another hour of school. Unless an effective self study system is invented (one where teachers are not needed only aids) I think Obama is wasting oxygen.

If other countries can do it, why can't we?

No. 8 hrs a day is enough for the kids.

The American school day is really short.. From what I read, it averages around 6 hours? That's a little crazy. My school day (UK) was 8 hours 15mins, longer if you stayed behind for sports. We coped with that just fine, had enough time after school for sports, family, activities and homework. The teachers seem to cope with it just fine (underpaid, but that's another issue). I obviously don't know if there are more appropriate ways to deal with the failures in the American school system, perhaps other things need to be addressed first, but increasing school hours would be do no harm from my POV, and would lead to more time for core subjects and material to be covered properly.

My 5yr old daughter is in school 6 and a half hours a day here in the uk. I don't know how many hours are in the american school day.

I think it's a great idea. We also need to improve the quality of the education they get, but both in conjunction would see a huge turn around in the slowly flagging numbers of American students who have no real knowledge base. And keep politics out of schools.

Many people here seem to be in favor of making the school day longer, and I have to say I respectfully disagree. Sure, learning is important...but kids need time to just be kids. That is equally important! Plus, you will learn PLENTY after you graduate and are sent into the real world. Two years after graduating high school, I'd done more learning on my own than I ever had all the way through elementary and high school. If they want to lengthen something, they should lengthen English class. Having a strong command of one's language will benefit an idividual more than anything else!

I do not like Obama, however I do not doubt this is another statement just to put more ppl against the man. I do not agree with it, if its true!

Our kids are falling behind other countries in the world, especially in the sciences. For decades, we've masked that fact by encouraging the huge numbers of foreign students who come here to study at our elite colleges and universities to stay after they graduate. Now, with the combination of continually signalling to immigrants that they aren't welcome here anymore and the fact that the economies in India and China (the two biggest sources of these talented foreign students) booming, those folks are deciding to go back home after they finish school. We've always filled in our gaps in trained professionals by encouraging immigration. Now that we've stopped doing that, our native-born kids are just going to have to pick up the slack.

It's not the length of the school day or year, it's whether or not the students want to learn. We are behind other countries because some kids don't connect success with education, they connect it to money. In America, you don't have to be educated to be rich. I think the summer vacation should remain as is. Kids can get jobs, travel, and families can reconnect.

I understand where he is coming from, but there are several things about this that confuse me: 1. Primarily, why have the feds in recent years decided that school is any of their business when it was decided back in the day that the states were responsible for it? 2. Why do politicians think they know how to fix everything (really everything, not just talking about schools here)? The people who make decisions about education should be experts in education. If politicians are concerned, they should hire experts so they don't inadvertently make things worse. 3. How does he intend to fund this when the schools (and nation, for that matter) are already broke? 4. Good teachers (not all) already work crazy hours during the school year. The school day itself is nearly a full day's work, then they have many meetings to attend, often they are required to lead various extra-curricular activities, and planning good lessons and grading well take up significant time at home. Given that they already have low salaries compared to most professionals, it hardly seems fair to make them do more. Even with adequate monetary compensation, it would likely end up stretching teachers too thin. 5. This in no way answers our biggest problem - many parents don't pay attention to their kids and don't really care about how they do in school. Almost all of the children who do well have parents that invest in them. As long as kids are left to monitor their own education, nothing the schools do is going to fix the problem. No matter how much teachers try to motivate them, most kids are not going to put in the effort required to learn if their parents are not pushing them. No amount of school reform is going to fix America's problems in the home. I absolutely understand the need for school reform, but in many ways we end up treating the symptoms rather than the disease. 6. He was slightly dishonest with his presenting of data. Yes, the countries that outscore us on standardized tests have longer school years in days, but they also have shorter years in instructional hours. Perhaps longer days aren't the deciding factor? Perhaps a culture that truly values education, parental involvement, and a sense of familial responsibility that outweighs individualism make a significant difference. 7. Before adding time to school, shouldn't we learn to use the time we have? Right now, we spend excessive time in the fall reviewing everything the students forgot over summer break. Even for kids that love learning, three months is a long time to go without using something, so we have to reteach it before we can move on with the next year's material. Year-round school would make a world of difference. They could have the same amount of time in school, but it would be spaced in a much more logical manner. They would get regular breaks, which would help with those that feel overwhelmed at the idea of going to school for a few months straight. They also would not have a break that was long enough for them to forget everything they learned, so teachers would be able to pick up where they left off rather than reviewing. This would add at least a couple weeks of instructional time because they wouldn't be teaching the same thing twice.

I strongly agree that students are not receiving the education they should. However, I strongly disagree with adding to the school day/year. I have taught for several years and completely agree with previous comments. By adding to the school day you are causing more work for teachers (i.e. grading, preparing, and revaluating). It would also create more work for students, in turn causing more of them to do poorly because of missed assignments, overworked etc. You are also taking time away from sports, extra-curricular activities, rehearsals, etc. When would you have practices or games? I also disagree with adding to the school year for a reason I haven’t seen posted yet. How will schools deal with the summer temperature? A large percentage of schools do not have air conditioning and the potential cost of developing cooling systems in those schools would be tremendous. We don’t need to extend the school calendar; we need to strengthen the quality of education students receive.

Add bars on the school windows to make the idea attractive to conservatives.

That might work for the Chicago thugs that don't go to school, but in the area that I live in it don't matter when the President says that kids should be in school. When the crops are due for harvest the kids will stay home. I was under the impression that this was a State decision. Is this another example of Obama over reaching his powers?

Well looking at our test scores and the fact that alot of kids dont even know that george washington is the first president of the United states, i would say we need to do something, what i am not sure, i doubt making school longer would change this.

On the surface, it appears this is going to upset a lot of applecarts with babysitting and babysitters. Whats the object here?

I oppose that. However I am for year around school. They have a school like that here. The kids get 3 weeks off for major holidays and a few weeks in the summer. This way they aren't confused and restless coming back to school. They weren't gone THAT long. Makes perfect since to me.

For what? No one is learning anything now. What is that going to do? How about new techniques and methods of teaching. How about new systems to learn? How about family values number one? How about how to make it in life by making intelligent choices and honoring integrity, respect and honor?

Honestly? I think this would be a blessing to working parents, but a detriment to children unless it were really really well thought-out.

I think it should quality over quantity here.

i propose he leave it the way its always been....but then that will serve the agenda once all parents are educated and working to pay taxes ...the government will be taking care of the kids in OUR SCHOOLS so moms can earn a wage and pay taxes too....they'll have control of kids and parents then....bringing them up to WORK for them... family life and a free life is more important than EDUCATION of any kind.... and his CRAP centers on the bad students with bad family life rather than the 'good' students with good family's.....that don't need more school and have done well , the way it is.....education is up to a kid and his family....and many, in history , have done and still do quite WELL , AS IT IS.....

Most people put in an 8 hour day, 5 days a week, 50 weeks a year. What makes teachers so special?

Obviously, since the MAJORITY of "learning" takes place at HOME (by way of homework), I think it would be a waste of time. Also, judging by the vast amount of spelling and grammatical errors here on AB, maybe he should lengthen the HOME day and HOME year!!!!

I think it should be legislated as a "test" run. A final decision should be made after we see the results of this change. Anything that may improve our ability to educate children is worth consideration, no matter what your politics are. +4

It's an idea - I prefer the individual states continuing to set the length of the school year in their state and not Washington however.