Longer school days :(

[Escapefromwhatever]

Our schooling system needs all the help it can get, so pay raises (its actually pay-by-merit, so you only get more money if you do a good job), charter schools, cirriculum changes, and longer hours seem like a reasonable thing to do. Seeing as I will be in college by the time this takes effect, I'm all for it. Last year...I dunno =P

 

[Kogarian]

Why go to school longer? The real problem is the system. Some of our teachers aren't qualified to teach the positions they hold and the school system's very narrow-minded. I had a biology teacher that didn't know the difference between abiogenesis (beginning of life) and evolution, and another who didn't 'believe in evolution'.

I hardly do anything in school as it is. All my classes are easy beside physics. The only reason that's hard is because our school accidently ordered college level books (twice) and told us to go at it. The thing is, physics in our district isn't weighted, so most of us would have failed if our teacher didn't step in to save our asses.

What they should really do is rethink the system and play closer attention to the faculty. Our school taxes rose sharply last year because a dozen faculty members stole thousands of dollars worth of supplies and the idiots running our district couldn't figure out how they lost so much money.

 

[Kogarian]

Our schooling system needs all the help it can get, so pay raises (its actually pay-by-merit, so you only get more money if you do a good job), charter schools, cirriculum changes, and longer hours seem like a reasonable thing to do. Seeing as I will be in college by the time this takes effect, I'm all for it. Last year...I dunno =P

Your district is pay-by-merit? Ours uses a salary based on the number of years teaching.

 

[thefrizzlefry]

I'm so not in favor of this. Why? Longer school days will not make people like me (Who are burning out under the pressure that the college selection process forces on us) do better. It will only make us burn out faster. I hate school. You know why? It's not because I don't like math or physics or english or civics, it's because I hate my classmates, and I hate the way schools are taught. I'm not learning at the rate I want to be learning at. Why? Because I'm being held back by a bunch of fucktards who think that calling me a ****** when I'm doing something in front of the class is the funniest thing ever. The more time I have to spend with those people, the more likely V-Tec's gonna fucking kick in.

 

[Flap Jack452]

I don't think a longer school year will help, how about they just increase fundings for public schools so the kids actually have stuff to learn.

 

[Eclectic Dreck]

I approve of the plan. You have a lot to (potentially) learn during school, and there is no longer any REAL need (for most) to even have summer vacation.

I don't think a longer school year will help, how about they just increase fundings for public schools so the kids actually have stuff to learn.

There's already plenty to learn. Increasing funding isn't going to suddenly increase the knowledge pool. Hell, if the average student could graduate and actually learn HALF of what they supposedly need to know to graduate high school, maybe I wouldn't have to deal with so many silly people in college.

I mean, I graduated in 2002, but the incomming freshmen act like they were being fed paste up until graduation day. What the hell happened when I was away? (That said, I'm sure at 18 I probably acted like I spent my time huffing paint so it's more or less the same).

 

[wowcrendor]

College ftw! I don't think this would solve any of our problems by doing this for the k-12 grades though.

 

[Escapefromwhatever]

Our schooling system needs all the help it can get, so pay raises (its actually pay-by-merit, so you only get more money if you do a good job), charter schools, cirriculum changes, and longer hours seem like a reasonable thing to do. Seeing as I will be in college by the time this takes effect, I'm all for it. Last year...I dunno =P

Your district is pay-by-merit? Ours uses a salary based on the number of years teaching.

No no no no no no, I believe I was misleading. What Obama's proposing is pay-by-merit raises. I don't know the details.

 

[DeleteMe1112311]

BAH! The public school system does not need longer school years! It needs to be more efficient! The problem is not with the amount of time we spend in school, it is what we do and learn while we are there! Longer years and longer days are not going to help the U.S at all in the long run.

 

[TriSarahTops]

luckily im in australia nad obama's wrath wont affect me... also im in my last year of school so woohoo!

 

[Bourne Endeavor]

Utterly pointless, schooling prior to college is essentially a cheap form of babysitting. The educational system is astonishingly poor; to the extent I estimate that 80% to 90% of what you learn within the aforementioned period of time is useless, serving little purpose in assisting you in your life at a later time.

Even college is questionable however if you choose a specific course to focus your studies upon than you will indeed benefit however those whom go to college as if it were measured as a higher learning experience to that of High School are likely to be wasting their time. The reason I hold this statistics, which admittedly are only my own? If unused for a large duration ? approximately two years or less ? we have a tendency to forget what we have learned.

Furthermore I cite all the numerous six figure salary or high five figures that require half what is taught today in public schools. While I know algebra, I will never have a single use for it, not within the field I intend to work nor would a vast majority of people. What intrigued and frankly enlightened my point of view upon this subject was when I quit public High School following grade nine; which I failed however biased teaching and an abundance of issues; terrible school.

Anyhow, I went through a Home Schooling program, which asked my grade. I stated ten at the time because I found I should not be held accountable for not passing grade nine when it had been impossible to do so. School had no qualms, completely voided I ever failed and I finished grades ten, eleven and twelve all within six months; I was finished the program by age fifteen and had my diploma at sixteen all with honor role marks, with the one exception if I recall.

I know Home Schooling is easier and more time efficient however this is pushing the notion to a significant degree; to pass three years ahead of the norm considered age? And can anyone wonder why I believe public school prior to college (and only if it courses) is a pointless endeavor? I have learned more from the Internet, Television and videogames than I ever did in school.

Whats that program called? i might just take it, I already know everything about anything I will need to know to get through high school

Edit: if they have one for Texas

It is an online home schooling program, so location should not be an issue although they are in the United States as well as Canada. Best part is they offer college courses in addition to high school.

http://www.scitraining.com/Courses_Canada/High_School_Diploma/Course.htm

 

[Knonsense]

Is there some way that this is supposed to help something? I mean, more time does not equal a better education. Also, people have lives other than school.

 

[pantsoffdanceoff]

As long as it is spent learning something USEFUL, which seems to be too hard of a damn concept for some administrators to understand, I'll be content. I like learning...

Note: Link please I want to read this.

 

[rekabdarb]

TO BAD THIS IS MY LAST YEAR SUCKA! anyways yeah that kind of sucks i guess, but we kind of need it, americans are fuckin retarded to say the least

 

[BLOONINJA 503]

Not longer days (like i dunno 9 hours) more like more weeks in the school year.

In my horrible elementary we had 6 weeks of school, then 3 weeks of break.

lets just say the 'stoopad' level was off the charts.

 

[Valiance]

Longer school days is one of those things you can put down on paper to say it helps...

But I have a few 3 hours classes where we're practically done after 1. It's disgustingly inefficient and stupid, and it pains me that I have to pay for this shit.

The work ethic of kids today (myself included) is pathetic, and the school systems are terrible as well. I get teachers that only have tests as 30% of the grade, and the rest falls under "attendance" "classwork" "projects" "homework" "participation" AND THIS IS IN A COLLEGE, MIND YOU.

Do you understand how bad it is? People don't show up for exams and still get 70s in the class. I ace the exams, scrape by with a D because I didn't do the stupid homework about shit I already know. Apparently, I'm unable to test out of a "computer literacy" class because it's required for my degree. Shit like that is horrible.

American middle schools and high schools were basically teaching me nothing aside from Math, which I probably could have learned earlier...And I know it's not just me, since I know several kids who felt this way - especially in the history and english classes.

Making me sit there bored for another hour of not learning anything isn't going to help. Another day of it isn't going to help. Reforming teachers, holding people accountable, now that would actually help, but that's too difficult to do. So we're perpetually screwed.

 

[silentsentinel]

Luckily I'm leaving High School this year. At least the U.S. still has the best colleges in the world.

 

[lizards]

1 teachers now in days teach by what they think will be on their 6th 7th 8th blah blah blah state tests (or at least thats how they do it in ohio) I MEAN FOR THE LOVE OF CHRIST I HAD A TEACHER SAY THAT TO ME, A TEACHER!!!!!! ya i have a teacher i stayed in contact with he was the one of the most badass guys ive ever seen

2 this wont help they will just fuck off more days then most kids here dont care about school adding more days will just make them care less for longer

3 segegrate schools READ MORE DONT START SAYING "RACISM" i mean pull football basketball and other people of the sort in a seperate part of school or something i seen more than a few girls get took away and stop caring about school cause of them and the smart kids wouldnt be so depressed and would do better and you would take much of the "negativity" towards school out i mean many kids dont want to do good in school cause their afraid of being picked on

i was a rocker in school me and my friend were listening to ACDC after school picking up girls every time we could (which was like 5 days a week) and i didnt get into the drugs and alchol but he did those were some fun times but i still did decent in school but that is because i cared and wanted to become an FBI someday (one reason i stayed out of drugs and alchol) but many kids dont care about it and wont care so they just wont do good in school

 

[megapenguinx]

I thought a lot of countries had school days considerably longer than ours?
Guys any help?

 

[Gamer137]

I'm glad I'm a freshman, only 3 more years of school to go...
But this is sort of, for lack of a better term, bullshit. Making the school year longer will NOT make our students better. It will not make people more educated. All it will do is make people develop even more of a loathing for our schools, and for our education system.
The reason that many of our American students don't learn isn't because they don't have sufficient time to do their work and learn their required material. It's because they are completely and utterly unwilling to learn, and on top of that, our teachers are idiots reading out of books at us. I could outsmart many of my teachers while writing essays. But past that, even, from the beginning, there is just something that most people don't WANT to learn. They, as stated above, are unwilling. From the beginnings of school, all the TV shows for kids shout one thing at kids: School is boring, school stinks, tests are hard!
So, as soon as we begin school, we seem to be programmed to hate it and hate learning. Just an observation. *Shrug*

I disagree with the mass media influence thing. Afterall, childrens products base themselves on what children already think. Kids say they hate school and the media feeds off it. But everything else is spot on.

I'm not sure about the rest of the nation, but in California, high school is a joke. Most of the year in english is relearning the basics, like grammer. The rest of the primary subjects are not as bad, but can still be improved. Math is the only field that appears to get harder each year. Only the first two months or so are review. Plenty of teachers are either jerks or perverts(like one teacher at my school who has a bad reputation for that) who see teaching as a paycheck because I hear it is an easy job to get. Much of the material taught is poorly presented or appears useless. The standardized tests(like the S.T.A.R.) are a terrible idea because students never try because they are never graded, so the results give inaccurate data. Students can get expelled for being tardey or absent too much.

I don't think students really hate school, we just find it boring because much of the system is poorly executed. Fun teachers make the classes better for everyone and increases the learning so long as they don't let students trample over them. Plus electives are a large reason many juniors and seniors don't drop out. Obama needs to target the heart of this vile beast(a beast with a few soft spots every now and then), not widen its cage. Get better teachers and refine the material. Not shove more ineffective material down our throats.

A good example is my computer class. We really spend our time learning programming, mostly video games. But we also add english elements by wrighting manuals and such. Have a few mandatory classes mixed with elecives that take it too a fun level and learning will increase. Students will want to learn more mandatory material so they increase effeciency during elective projects.