Is America’s Education calendar outdated?
I ran across this article a couple of months ago about adopting longer school years in the States, and personally, part of me thinks it’s a great idea, especially after living abroad for the last 5 years seeing another model work.
The other part of me that thinks it’s a bad idea remembers my idyllic childhood summers of ice cream, camp, sleep overs, baseball, and trips to the pool with my cousins, and I’d love to be able to give that to my son, as well.
“The fact that our calendar has been based on the agrarian economy when almost none of our kids work in the field anymore,” said Arne Duncan, secretary of education, “doesn’t make any sense whatsoever.”
If you’re a teacher in the USA, what do you think? Do you think we should adopt a longer school year? Would you be willing to try it if they implemented a different pay structure? If you are a working parent, do you struggle with summer childcare under the current system? How do you manage?
~Mandy
the graduate wife 
I’m ALL about the British system. I love having three terms with a week break inside each with three weeks off between them. It feels like I get a mini-vacay right about the time I’m going to have a break down. How did they know? Plus, I still get 8 weeks in the summer, which is just about perfect. I’m plenty relaxed but not too destructive (read: bored and shopping).