Obama Calls for Longer School Days and School Years - Video 3/10/09
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President Barack Obama spoke today to the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and unveiled some of his plans for future education reforms in America. Obama called for longer school days and longer school years, noting that children in South Korea are in school a month longer than American children (see the 20:10 mark of the video). He also called for higher pay for the best teachers, a move long opposed by Teachers Unions.
In opening remarks, Obama also made it clear he will not scale back his aggressive agenda, saying that it is possible to do more than one thing at a time. Some critics, even among Democrats, have suggested recently that Obama is trying to do too much, too fast.
52 comments:
So all the energy savings he proposed in his stimulus sales pitch by fixing up our crumbling classrooms to make them energy efficient will be offset by the cost of extended hours?
Wow! You've missed the point. Congratulations.
welcome to the new world order
It sounds better than what we had...as far as education goes.
I'm an elementary teacher, project-based learning philosophy, 14 years in the classroom, and I love being in the midst of learning: Longer days will have exactly no effect on student achievement other than raising the drop out rate and stretching an already overstretched attention span of kids weary of drilling for tests. What makes anyone think think that kids want to spend more time study how to take tests? Kids love to learn when interesting experiences are made available to them. Hello...will someone ask the kids?
TSmith,
Thanks for the excellent and informative comment. You are in a position to know. I think what you say is exactly right. This move by Obama would essentially transform the schools into "daycare" operations, providing childcare for the full workday. I think that is exactly what it is intended to do.
I, too, am a teacher, and I am highly opposed to extended school days and school years. In Texas several years ago, the Legislature decided to add five days to the school year. 185 days makes no difference over the standard 180. And I already work almost 60 hours a week for take-home pay of less than $2000 per month. Teachers are exhausted, and students are ready to spring free by 4:00 each day. How will states fund the suggested increase in hours? And where will schools find the additional help that will certainly be needed? We are already being mandated to do more and more as teachers with no additional resources. If it weren't for Christmas break, spring break, and summer, there would be no teachers . . .because we would all die of exhaustion!
One more thing . . .I'm really tired of everyone blaming teachers for the decline in America's educational system. Where is parental responsibility? I met with a 14-year old student just yesterday whose mother "parties all night" and leaves him to care for his 11 and 5 year old brothers. His mother can never be contacted by the school, and there apparently is no father in his life.
More and more, teachers are having to deal with all the ills of society in addition to trying to teach our subject areas. Fix the home - take responsibility for your own children - and the education system will fix itself.
Alison - you are so on the mark. Children did not cause the social ills of this country, and longer school days and more testing will not fix any of it, nor, in my opinion, will merit pay for higher test scores. If the new president has any real intelligence, he will look beyond Arne Duncan and strive for better classroom times, less administrators drawing large salaries to do nothing except political data gathering tasks. The kids need real experiences with real people in their their school day. As I have said before, kids really do want to learn - it is a natural condition that we can take advantage of or we can snuff out with political agendas.
Alison, TSmith,
Wow! Thanks so much for sharing your insights on this issue. It is great to hear from the teacher's perspective. I don't know how you all do what you do with the breakdown in the American family. The problems you describe really are the heart of the matter, problems longer school days will not solve. Thanks again for opening our eyes!
I feel that this is a plan worth trying. In the area in which I live, too many young children simply don't recieve the early education they need. It might not necessarily be due to neglectful parents, but ignorant parents. This NEEDS to be addressed. It's not that parents don't care about their kids-- most parents DO-- but it is that no one has taught them to help their kids.
As a far as longer school days, if it works in other countries, it is worth trying. Educators should be willing to try anything that shows evidence of it helping their students. Since South Korean students are high achievers, possibly because they go to school longer, American Education should take on the role of the paragon student and look up to their global role model teahcers. If teachers are going to complain about going at their job longer, then they probably should not be teachers. The reasons for being teachers ARE NOT JUNE, JULY, and AUGUST. That includes Christmas and Spring Breaks.
As for higher pay for high achieving teachers, it really is time to weed out the teachers (who probably only teach because of summer break)that are mediocre. Do better or get out. These are future citizens in your classroom! I do not believe that this will cause competition over collegiality amongst fellow teachers. Good teachers know they NEED to be collaborative with their coworks to be the effective teachers that President Obama is calling for. Those who begin to compete will be the ones weeded out anyway.
To Anonymous - the Korean and Asian model is hardly anything we want to duplicate in the USA. They spend even more time training to take tests than US kids do. Please see this link from a teacher who is in Korea. The outcome is not learning.
http://education.change.org/blog/view/pres_obama_korea_is_no_argument_for_longer_school_hours
The amount of time spent by teachers in their professions is far more than most people realize. Day after day with kids can be more exhausting both physically and mentally. I love it, but having a break means that teachers come back refreshed and most often have spent summer time taking courses or preparing for the next year.
I suppose I did not mean to model the South Korean or Asian model completely. Rather, I believe that the United States should at least try this to see if it works.
I KNOW teachers speand a lot of their time at school-- I AM a teahcer. But I, like the others in this discussion, take my job seriously. I can see how one extra month can alleviate the pressure I feel when I have to administer tests like the ACT as well as state achievement tests, while covering the material that needs to be taught, and finally all the while teaching my students how to learn. A little extra time is probably a good way to alleviate that exact pressure that is put on me, and also my students.
My lessons rarely involve JUST sitting and studying for tests. My students are very active. With a little bit more time in our days and in our year, we certainly could have a more fullfilling learning experience. As long as teachers and schools organize the day appropriately, I don't think that a few longer hours whill take the grand toll some might expect.
Thanks for the link, though! Very interesting.
Anonymous - You are probably right. I've already almost lost my husband and family over the hours I commit to teaching . . .So if we move to a longer day/longer year, it will certainly weed me out.
I give all I've got every day for almost ten months. I AM a good teacher. I love my students. And believe it or not, I love being in the classroom watching students learn/interacting with students.
But . . .something's got to give. And I choose for that not to be my own family.
Hire more help. Don't just mandate without funding or people to meet the mandate.
All valid points, of course! However, I don't think the federal government or state governments intend to increase school hours by an earth-shattering amount. Also, they are probably targeting districts such as the one I work in that has suffered school hour CUTBACKS, because they cannot pay for our students to go to school for eight hours a day. This is probably why I feel that an hour increase would help my students out. We have suffered so many cutbacks in our school, district, and area. Myself and my collegues are jumping at the bit to advocate an increase of anything that could help our students.
If your school already has the luxury of having a full day, it is entirely possible that your school is the paragon that the President and those working on these propositions want to hold up for the rest of the country.
Where I am, it is just impossible to get enough done in six hours. They cut two of our hours out of the day-- and we still have planning periods and lunch. I teach four hours a day. It's just not enough time to learn. Then, some of my students who get out at 2:30 p.m. have the time to go and join their gangs after school.
Of course you love your job and students. I am sorry that I implied you didn't (now is probably not the time to implicate fellow teachers!). I am sure you are not like some of the teachers who work in my building who apparently come to work for their paychecks.
I simply wanted to add in my and my collegues' desperate voice into the mix. We're ready to try almost anything. If that means one more hour a day, then that is what has to happen. Our area's education can't afford anything less. But, like I said, if your district holds school for a full day, already, then your state probably will not require you to increase by very much at all. Where I am, we really need it.
Personally, I think that year-round school is better, not necessarily more days overall. Second, in many European nations, kids do not go to school as many hours a day as do ours, but do attend year-round. Also, their school system is based on performance...if you do not make the grade, you go to a lower high school. Better grades mean a high school that leads to a tech school, and the best go to a high school followed by government supported college.
This is not to say that I am for government supported college, but certainly allowing kids to actually "achieve" or "fail" has some merit!
Anonymous - you are quite eloquent but dead wrong... and if Obama's plan for FREE DAYCARE is achieved I and many others will pull our kids out of school and choose to homeschool. I don't care if the kids in S. Korea are smarter than mine - my child is happy, well-rounded, and yes, well-educated. Do you know what the teen suicide rate in S. Korea is? A "full" school day IS 6 HOURS, not 8 and that's wonderful that you are so willing to invest all of your life into your career, but it is not your responsibility or your place to be your students mother and father. Sadly, many parents don't care and many parents don't support their children in any way - you could work with your students for 12 hours a day, but you will never ever fill the void of their parents and I very much doubt the almighty test scores would even improve. Thanks for being so dedicated, but please quit advocating for Obama's Nanny State.
I admit it is a time for change, but not at the expense of the children, I know kids need to learn too, but the summer time is meant for the children not the teacher. This is the only time in their life that summer break or any kind of a break has no repercussion, such as money, lack of. Losing a spouse or a job, this is where the get to be a KID!!!
As most teachers know not all kids come a perfect home, the summer is the only time available for them to see the other parent or grandparents.
Also could someone please help me understand how he intend to make the days longer and, extend the year when states are cutting their budget by billions of dollars. So then next year it will be 1 teacher to 32-40 kids 45 min lunch and 1 restroom break for 8or 9 hours for eleven months for the less pay, that sounds GREAT, where do I sign up?
This is a horrible thing. If he keeps children longer in school kids won't be able to burn off calories. kids won't have time for games and personal time with friends and family. plus with no after school activities kids will get fatter making us the fattest country in the world.
I'm a high school student and i thought i would comment on this because what people are forgetting is outside of school activities and extra curricular activities through the school. as a high school student these activities are counted on because they look great on collage applications and are also just plain fun. how are we supposed to find time to do sports with this program?! i am in a sport that requires be to practice for 1 to 3 hours a day and most of the time this is after school. With practice, dinner, and lots of homework because i am in AP classes i wont have any time at all. i already find it hard to get all of my homework done because it seems that right after school I'M off to practice then its our family dinner and i still have to get to bed a decent time or else school in the morning will be useless. i just thought i would talk about this because it seems everyone it talking about relax time for t here kids and as a high school student i already don't have any. There are possibilities of scholarships through the sport I'm in and if the school day was any longer then i would have to quit this sport. I'm a dedicated student and actually like school but i cant afford any more time there. Maybe the real answer is making better use of the time we already spend in class i have classes that for at least half of the time we are just sitting there because we have finished our work and the teacher has nothing more to give. I also have teachers that spend half of the time just telling stories of the good old days when they should be teaching. The real answer it to put higher standards on the teachers and actually make them teach us.
I too am a highschool student and I agree fully with the person above me. I'm currently taking 4 AP classes, in cross country, and don't even have the time to sleep. Colleges expect A LOT from us, we are pressured to extremes that most adults don't understand considering it's a different generation. Straight A's is no longer enough, star athlete is no longer enough, National Honor Society president is no longer enough, you need all of the above. We are expected to be superhumans if we wish to get into good colleges. Already most of my friends and I pull about one all-nighter a week just to remain slightly on task with all the homework. If MORE time is taken away from our day, one of the following two options will happen: either we become the living dead, or we simply give up and drop out. There's only so much pressure you can put on a student. Yes this might be a good plan for students who don't try hard enough [MAYBE] but for those of us who are AP students...honestly all they're doing is killing out this nation's future leaders. The best of the best can only accept being asked for so much for so long until they give up.
You are an AP student and all that bullshit you said above, and you think the students who dont try are going to thrive and become better than the students who are shining now. That makes COMPLETE sense. you know what if thats the case then maybe you shouldnt be considered our nations future leaders. Nobody expects anything from you selfish kids, you expect that from yourself, and what you put in, is what you get out. as for j coleman , your comment was just plain ignorant. the reason why there is such a high dropout rate is because schools are not strict about anything. you all just need to stop complaining and do what you have to do. most of you kids are born with a silver spoon in your mouth and you still complain about everything.
I think many of you are missing some of the different opportunities a proposal such as this could present. Personally, I have a daughter in middle school who spends (wife and I both work) much of her time at school when you include the after school program. Part of that program includes reviewing topics, homework, AND social activities with her fellow schoolmates, and she's doing great. We review the homework together later and have more time to spend together as a family when we all get home after work. When all is said and done, she spends approximately a full (work) day at school due to the necessities of our lives.
I think there is an instant assumption that more official time in school instantly means more work. Those who have posted that they already do x amount in y time and are super special taking z classes etc, should stop to consider that just perhaps you're ALREADY surpassing the model being proposed. Honestly I do not see anywhere where sports activities or honor programs or other types of "electives" couldn't be part of the official school day. It would make it much easier for MORE kids to take advantage of such activities in areas where the funding just isn't there.
I'm not going to say this is a great idea or a bad idea, but I am going to say it is an idea and one which may very well be worth investigating to seeing how we can all benefit from it. Don't be close minded and dismiss things out of hand making assumptions and accusations which, to me, sound unfounded until more details are known.
Upon hearing of Barack Obama's ideology for pushing for longer school days/year I was immediately troubled. I have many thoughts about this and the underlying motives for such a push. My son just started PreK and that day was harder on me than him. I love my son. The evenings I get to spend with him are already short enough. If my son gets home from school at 7 PM, I'll get to spend 2 hours with him before he goes to bed. TWO HOURS?! I am his mother!! This may be a bit of an emotional rant, but if I wanted the government raising my son I would have placed him in foster care!! One argument I read in favor of this agenda was "parents are working more and want their kids to be safe". Are kids really safe at school anymore?! There is a hidden agenda behind this push--be assured of it! The less the parents can influence their children, the more the government can. Let your voice be heard today!!
Adding more days and spending more tax dollars on a broken system will yield nothing. Americans, all Americans, not just the rich (e.g. Kennedy, Clinton, Obama) deserve quality choice in education for their children. Read more at: http://conservativetm.blogspot.com/2009/02/21-phoenix-rising.html
My son is ADHD and is so overstimulated by 3:30 that he is about to burst; not to mention his teachers who work extrememly hard. I think longer school hours is absolutely ridiculous. This is just one more area in which the government will take over our lives.
R
I am a teacher and a parent. I think quality over quantity is the issue here. If students are getting QUALITY time in the classroom, there is no need for a quantity increase. I give my students 100% during the time in which I work with them. That is what makes a difference.
Additionally,the government is failing to mention that student scores projected in South Korea are their very best students, ones who are all going on to higher education. The US scores are all students, regardless of future prospects or ambition.
Students are overloaded, overworked and overstressed. My child that is in school plays outside sports that take up his time as well. He comes home from school, does his homework, goes to practive, eats, bathes and goes to bed. I want to spend time with my own children in the late afternoons and evenings. They have been at daycare or school all day. They need time with their parents after that. My husband coaches and I teach. We work harder than any other people in this country. So, as far as the ridiculous comment, teachers like their jobs because of June, July and August, you are ignorant and have no clue what I do on a day to day basis.
I don't think the government can ask more of me, and additionally, I don't think they can ask more of MOST students.
When President Obama addressed our children on September 8th, I knew he had an agenda. He orginally wanted to ask the students how they couldn't "help" the president. Well, I guess now we know what he was really after. More time in the classroom. The big question is why? Obama talks about how students in other countries go for longer hours during the day but American students actually spend more time instructionaly than kids in other countries do. According to the Associated Press:
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).
So if its not actually instructional time in the classroom that has Asian students outscoring American students what could it be...maybe a lack of discipline in American schools today or a lack of parents doing their job in raising their children. You decide
I am a high school teacher, and I LOVE it. I connect with kids each day, and help with school activities and clubs after school. I voted for Obama. If he extends the school day by even two hours, I am quitting my job and not voting for him again.
I don't want my child in school longer! If we need more after school programs, so be it. But I don't want to give up more time with my only child an "honor roll" student! She works hard enough. This sounds like day care paid for by the tax payers through increase school property taxes. I think it would be better to find ways to help parents spend more time and get more involve than to extend face time with teachers that may or may not share your values.
I thought parents were suppose to be the best teachers.
What's the point of families, then, if we're going to just dump kids into an institution for the entire day, come home at night from work, eat, and go to bed? As for people who have to work and need schools to care for the kids until they can pick them up: The government is not SUPPOSED to solve the problems of individual families! Individuals are supposed to have the liberty to solve their own problems. I feel like this is a big step toward Brave New World.
And do we really want to be like South Korea anyway?
Alison/TSmith
I completely agree with you - teachers should not be held responsible for the current state of the educational system. That blame should fall on the parents of younger children, and on the students themselves when they are older.
I attend a magnet school that runs from 8:30-4, because travel time prevents it from starting earlier. By the time I am finished with my sports practice and arrive home, it's about 7:30. With 4-5 hours of homework assigned on average, I barely get 5.5 hours of sleep. Not trying to make this a woe-is-me situation; on the contrary, I would just like to point out that extending school days would put ALL students in a similar situation, not to mention extended class time merits leads to more class work, which can lead to an increase in the potential amount of homework. This really cuts out time for sports and other activites...it's no wonder colleges are searching desperately for well-rounded students: we're running out of time to be well-rounded!
What it really comes down to is the students' parents/guardians encouraging them everyday after school. I understand this is very difficult for working parents, but even the smallest bit of help in a spare moment goes a long way. Teachers encourage students during the school - it is up to the household to maintain the idea of a good work ethic!
Like many here, I also voted for Mr. Obama, but I'm extremely disappointed by this turn of events. Longer school days or extended the school calendar is not the issue. Kids are burning out on school. I am a teacher, a highly qualified one who has taken on teaching as a second career, and I'm about ready to quit. Already 50% of new teachers don't make it past their 5th year because this is such a stressful job. The biggest problem I see is that there are too many cooks in the kitchen. Qualifications for teachers are extremely high, yet our assessments matter little. All that matters is the all-might standardized test, and the ridiculous tests/programs invented by "experts" and "research." Let the teachers teach! The more "programs" and "interventions" we attempt, the farther behind we fall. It's painful to be a public school teacher and see how convoluted and ridiculous the system has become. If anything, I think shorter classes to match the kids' attention spans would help.
I don't feel that longer and more school days will do any good at all. The difference between us and other countries is, as parents, the emphasis that we put on the importance of education. I admit that I am just as guilty of this as other parents are. Sure, I told my kids that they need to get good grades to get into a good college. They needed not to fail a class or they will have to go to summer school. I told them how important school was but how much did I actually drill it into their heads?
In so many other countries, education of the children is put first and foremost. Parents will put themselves in debt to make sure that their child has the best education possible. The children know that it will be a disappointment to the entire family if they don’t get good grades. They are pushed to be the best in school and the parents make it their jobs to stay on top of the child’s education. Sometimes to an extreme and not always in the best interest of the children. Sometimes these kids never even have a childhood.
I think we need to find a happy medium here. One where the parents are more involved in the kid’s education but were the kids still get to enjoy the pleasure of being a kid. I remember when my kids were in elementary school, they would bring a folder home every week that had all their homework assignments they had done with all the grades on them, any upcoming things I needed to be aware of and any concerns the teachers had about my child at that time. I then had to sign the folder and send it back for the next week. As the kids get older and move to middle school and then high school, this communication between the parents and teachers seems to fade. A lot of schools have adopted websites where homework and grades are posted. The problem we have is many parents don’t check it and many teachers don’t keep it updated.
Going back to the original topic, longer and more days in school isn’t going to help because I feel the only way for our children to succeed is us as parents start stepping up and working with the teachers, start questioning the teachers that won’t work with you and get involved daily with your kids education. If the kids don’t think it’s important to you, then why would you think it would be important to them?
I'm a teacher, and I'm also a mother of a preschooler. Am I to sacrifice my own child at this point. NO! She's already missed too much "mommy time" because I'm working late to meet with parents, get lesson plans in, post RTI assessments,... I love my job, and I'm good at my job. I am totally dedicated to my students, but I also need to be dedicated to my family. Requiring teachers to work more is going to cause a lot of REALLY good teachers to quit and either work in private schools or leave the profession altogether. In addition, as it's already been stated, the kids are in school long enough as it is. Extending the school day is only going to cause children to resent school and drop out as soon as they are able. Is that what we want for our children? NO! I like to stimulate and excite learning, not kill it. Maybe before the President makes such rash decisions he should consult those who are in the "front lines" of education: the teachers and the students.
I have great respect for Obama, but I feel that this is a silly idea. Start by making schools better, not longer. The issue isn't so much that there isn't enough school, its that American schools are underfunded, inefficient, and populated by children with no incentive to learn. Having longer school days and years, in the long run, will do little to heighten our economic standing in the world. Free time is only a bad thing for those of economic disadvantage who have no home to go to and no interests to pursue. For middle class children, free time leads to finding interests and opportunity.
This is ridiculous. Having students stay longer is only going to wear them out and break down their spirits. My cousin is in 3rd grade and never remember coming home with that many books. If you make the days longer for them there is a good chance that they will not be coming home until after dark because of sports and homework. You are going to have to start treating young children for stress and anxiety, things that only adults should be treated for. I feel that Obama is making too many changes to the way that this government has been for years and years. Instead of making the youth of America stressed out we should be encouraging them with the time that they do spend in school.
Everyone needs to realize that the issue is not about the quantity of schooling, its about the quality of the teaching-and the effort on the part of the student that counts. I pray that this country will find more dedicated teachers that aren't afraid to have strict classroom rules. I say this as a junior in highschool that wants to see reform.
Very well put. I agree that children are under tremendous pressure in our society. This plan would only add to that stress.
OnePurplePerson,
Thanks for sharing. You are exactly right. Longer school days does not mean better schools. Schools that are more effective at teaching kids what they need to know is the objective - or is it? I'm not sure it is for some.
I am a student, so naturally I am opposed to this, but not for reasons of just not wanting to be in school longer. The school days are long enough, however it's what you do and/or how your school manages it that makes a difference. I have at least three classes this year, and countless classes in the past where either teachers are not on top of keeping kids motivated, or are just nasty to everybody. If kids were permitted to move at their own pace, perhaps they would excel more within the current school day and year. Also, another thought; a longer school day would lead to more kids saying too much pressure & stress and dropping out or seeking a GED. Also, like I read in other posts, some kids have to act as parents to siblings or for themselves if their parents are nut-jobs or are not caring properly for their children. I cannot imagine the patience and stress that takes, since I thankfully have wonderful providing parents. But imagine how burned out those kids are! Without the little school holidays that are already in place and the summer break, kids would go literally insane. If the president forces kids into school longer, this will be damaging not only to the students, but the teachers as well. AND:!! Most importantly! If the teachers (the people who make it happen!!) are burned out, then how can they have the energy or will-power to teach us anything. -- No I have to say that this is a completely ridiculous proposal by the president on absolutely all counts. I am home-schooled through online courses already because I could not stand the educational systems current state, but if this type of thing got pushed through and these online alternatives were not available, I would most certainly resort to dropping out and seeking a GED.
Mark,
Thanks for commenting. Your thoughts are very well stated and make all kinds of sense. You have hit on a lot of key issues regarding students, parents, and teachers! Keep up the good work. I'm confident you have a very bright future!
I am a high school student, and believe making the school day longer will not improve our learning. Making the school day longer won't help at all because the drop out rate will increase and many will skip school. Also, you have to think about the busy schedules that students have. I barely have time or the energy left in me to do my homework when I get home from after school activites, like sports and clubs. Some students have work too. You need to think about the students, not just about how we're going to improve America.
You can not force someone to go to school, but I think they should offer some program during the summer for students would do want to exceed in school. If students do not want to participate, then they do not have to, but allow the students who want to make it somewhere to be in a enviorment where they can focus without destractions.
I believe making the classes more fun and entertaining would make the students want to go to class. In many of my classes I tend to doze off because it is boring and I can not bare all the talking and copying notes, its too much since I have to do that for basically 6 classes a day. Teachers forgot how hard it was in school, how they had to sit there for 6 hours and pay attention.
NO!!! NO MORE SCHOOL!
This isnt fair, this should be illegal. I am a junior, I go to cyber school though, but for the people who are in public school, this is like a punishment. Why would any student want to sit in a hot classroom learning more and taking more test all day? Im sorry but this plan is a plan that I decline to.
And a better advertisement as to what's the drawbacks of charter schools and cyber schools could not be written! Thanks for asking "Why would any student want to sit in a hot classroom learning more?" Yeah, you got that right; who needs to learn more, when you already know it all?
these points are very good alot of you have opened my eyes but i have to agre with the teachers we dont need longer school days so say no to this movement it sounds good but when you put it all together its a very bad plan especialy to kids still in school some one said ask the kids i bet 99.9 will say hell no dont make the school days longer there long as it is 8 hours is like a shift at work but you get money for it 8 hours is long enough
As a liberal 14-year-old, I can say that this is an incredibly bad idea. If we American kids spend MORE classroom time and we get LOWER test scores than East Asia, what does that say? In Japan (visited a Japanese middle school here), they get 1 hour of recess every day. In addition, this will raise dropout rates and give us a health time-bomb.
i really dont like school so no !
liberal 14 years old
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