Obama Calls for Longer School Year

On September 27, President Obama called for responding to the crisis in public education by purging underperforming teachers and lengthening the school year.  Interviewed on the TODAY Show, Obama said ...

"We can't spend our way out of it.  I think that when you look at the statistics, the fact is that our per-pupil spending has gone up during the last couple of decades even as results have gone down.  Obviously, in some schools money plays a big factor...", Obama said, pointing out that schools in the poorest areas often don't have up-to-date textbooks.  "On the other hand, money without reform will not fix the problem."

Obama said his administration's "reform agenda" includes increasing standards, finding and encouraging the best teachers, decreasing bureaucracy, and deploying financial resources effectively.  Teachers who fail to live up to expectations need to be given a chance to improve, he said, while those who do not should move on.

Obama repeated his support for a longer school year after being asked about it by students from a sixth-grade class in Cincinnati, Ohio.  He did not specify how long that school year should be, however he noted that U.S. students attend classes, on average, about a month less than children in most other advanced countries.

"That month makes a difference.  It means students are losing a lot of what they learn during the school year during the summer....  The idea of a longer school year, I think, makes sense," Obama said.  "Now, that's going to cost some money ... but I think that would be money well spent."

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