by Sara A Broers

Created on: May 19, 2008

What a hot topic! One that will be discussed over and over. Of course the school year should be lengthened. Our kids deserve to have the opportunity to learn all year around within our public school systems in the United States. By lengthening the number of days our kids would attend school; our educators would not have to spend the first two-three weeks of each school year re-teaching what the kids should already know. In Iowa students are required to attend school 180 days out of the school year. Personally, I believe by extending the school year by 15 days, everyone would benefit.

One can argue that teachers need the time off for educational purposes. Traditionally, teachers have taken classes to keep their teaching certificates during the June-August time period. To the best of my knowledge, this system does not have to continue. States could implement a different way of offering classes for teachers to keep their teaching certificates. Sometimes it is difficult to think outside of the box, as change is something that none of us like to experience. When we step out of our comfort zone, we cringe at the dreaded word change!

I live in the state of Iowa which revolves around agriculture. For example, in the 1950's, it was important for the boys in the family to be able to help out on the family farm. During planting and harvesting season families counted on them to help with the work. With three months off in the Summer, the kids did not have conflicts with school. Now, in the year 2008, Iowa still has many agriculture based families. Times are different now, the farm equipment is much larger and the hands on labor is not needed like earlier years. Very few farms in Iowa have barns on their homesteads, as pigs are not raised in them. They are raised in confinement buildings. So, from the agriculture point of view, those three months are not needed for kids on the farm.

Most school buildings in the United States now have air conditioning or adequate ventilation systems. The Summers can be very muggy and steamy in many states in our country.
Several years ago, many school buildings did not have any ventilation systems. This made the educational setting extremely uncomfortable in the heat of Summer. We have comfortable buildings waiting for students to set foot in during the midst of Summer.

I truly believe that most educators would rather spend their time educating our kids instead of reteaching the same thing over and over. When kids have several months off

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