The Nexus

You can already hear the third-graders pouting— not to mention the high-schoolers.

Just as we students have finished our first quarter of school after a summer break that seemed shorter than the preceding one (and the one before it), President Barack Obama recently announced his plan to further lengthen the current 180-day school year.

Or, as far as students are concerned, our president wishes to shorten summer vacation.

This is all part of a plan devised with the help of Education Secretary Arne Duncan to transform America’s schoolchildren into more internationally competitive students.

As America’s test scores have fallen over the years, ranking only in the middle of the pack among industrialized nations, the education team has not only proposed lengthening the school year, but adding on to existing school hours and keeping schools open on the weekends to act as quasi-community centers for children.

Though on the surface this plan appears the right thing to do, the assumptions behind the results of the plan lack merit.

To expect an increase in scores solely by adding to the school year is simply foolish, both from a rational and fiscal standpoint.

According to some estimates, keeping schools open an hour a day longer under the current 180-day system would amount to roughly an extra $1,300 per student. Plus, there are more constructive ways to spend the billions at this juncture that could still help students obtain a better education. There is simply not enough money in the coffers to accomplish all of this.

The real issue facing education right now is increased class sizes caused by a teacher shortage.

Instead of making the school year longer, the government could be adding teachers to its payroll, not to mention increasing existing salaries. An increase in teachers is important, as a smaller teacher-student ratio usually results in a stronger bond created between the two.

Lengthening the school year does nothing to solve this problem.

It is not necessary to place a mandate on all schools to lengthen all parts of the school year. This should be done on a need-based, case-by-case basis decided by state and local authorities, not the federal government. Though the federal government has access to test scores, it is the local officials who are better equipped to assess the problem areas.

There is no doubt that American students have broken pace with their international counterparts. According to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), U.S. students continue to score below the international average, with fourth and eighth grade students lagging behind the leaders in some cases by nearly 150 points. In one NCES study, known as the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), America’s eighth graders scored 143 points lower than Singapore, the leading country in math. Though not as dramatic, for eighth grade science scores, the United States scored 73 points lower than leading nation, which again was Singapore.

A complete overhaul of school is premature at best and blatantly unnecessary at worst.

We all want better test scores and we all want to be more competitive with the rest of the world’s schoolchildren, but none of us want to add billions more to the federal deficit to get it done.

Well, maybe one.