Is school too long or too short?
In general, urban districts tend to have a shorter school day than suburban districts and rural schools tend to have the longest days.
Every student loves the sound of the bell ringing at the end of the school day. Who decides how long you have to wait for that last bell?
Students in St. Paul, for example, spend 390 minutes a day in school for 175 days, said Peter Christensen, executive director of high school education for Saint Paul public schools.
The state sets education guidelines that each student is required to meet, and 390 minutes is what the St. Paul school district believes is the least amount of time needed to reach those standards, Christensen said.
The individual school districts and school boards decide the length of a school day, as there is no state regulation as to how long the day must be.
In general, urban districts tend to have a shorter school day than suburban districts and rural schools tend to have the longest days.
The school board in your district also decides the number of days you go to school each year. However, Minnesota has one law that says schools may not set the length of the school year less than it was in the 96-97 school year.
The legislature has attempted to lengthen the school year before by three days, but it was never passed as a law.
Many students think the school day and the school year is already too long, so they may groan when they find out that educators want them in school even longer.
“There’s a real concern that the day, in fact, is not long enough, nor is the school year long enough,” Christensen said. “There is a move to look very carefully at how we could increase the school day to 420 minutes.”
That’s an extra half an hour of school a day.
While it would affect students, it would mainly serve as a way to close the achievement gap between students by allowing teachers to talk to each other about students they share. That way they wouldn’t have to wait until after school, when teachers may be tired or in a rush.
In comparison to other countries, students in the United States spend much less time in school.
In Europe, the average school-year length is 190 days. In Asia it’s 210 days and in China 230 days. Minnesotan students are in school only 75 percent of the time students in India spend behind a desk
Minnesota schools used to start after Labor Day because of the students who worked on the family farm for the growing season, said Denise Quinlan, executive director of middle grades education St. Paul.
“In St. Paul specifically, we start after Labor Day due to the fact our transportation (school bus company) is located close to the State Fair,” she said.
Busing students to school not only affects when the school year starts, but when the school day starts as well, Christensen said.
“We transport more students per capita than any other large urban district in the country,” Christensen said.
Per capita is a percentage that compares the amount of kids bussed to school to the population of the city.
As a means of saving money, schools start at different times so one bus can make more than one trip.
There is no better feeling for a student than the last day of school before summer break.
The last day of school in St. Paul this year is June 9. The main reason it’s not later is due to lack of funding, said Quinlan.
The federal government has given Minnesota “skimpy funding,” said Charlie Kyte, director of the Minnesota Association of School Administrators.
Kyte’s group, which is made up of administrators and principals, has been working to make the school year 210 days long. That would get Minnesota students in school as long as students in Asia, but still less than in China.
Representatives have introduced bills to do so the past two years, but the legislature refuses to look at it because of the costs it would bring, Kyte said. (??)
Charlie Kyte’s organization wants “Minnesota schools to be world-class schools,” Kyte said.
To do this, the legislation must be passed, he said. If the legislature continues to shoot down their proposals because of costs, Minnesota will always have a shorter school year compared to most.
This legislation would have put kids in kindergarten all day versus half days, added more after-school programs, and made school year-round, with the current three months of summer vacation split up throughout the year.
Coincidentally, all countries that have year-round school or almost year-round school all have higher test scores than the United States.
While many believe the school day and the school year need to be longer, no one can agree on how to do it, said Christensen. As long as this continues, the school day and the school year will remain the same.
Comments
The school day does not have to be longer. In fact it should be shorter. The problem is not with the time it’s with the efficiency. If school were more efficient and cut down on things like a homeroom or long lonched you could cut at least an hour out of school and use that money for resources or after chool programs.
longer days please
and shorter years
I think school hours should be cut down, working sever hours strait really stresses kids out and they dont need that.
my social studies class is trying to make the school year shorter and days a little longer.
i think school is too long, i start to get sleepy during 3rd and 4th block. But what can we do
We can do something just start a petition
students cant focus and do their homeworks because the school days is long and the long peiods make them have more work.
school is way too short.
kids have it way too easy, they don't work hard enough.
we need to make the school day at least 9 hours.
make the year 230 days like they do in asia, maybe more.
No I Don't Think School Is Too Short,Because Its Too Much Stress When My Kids Come Home From School They Have A Stack Of Homework Now I Don't Know If Your In School Or Not But You Should Feel The Same WAY!!!!
Yea And I Think School Should Be Only 4 Days A Week.!!!!
i think we should only have school for 3 hours because students are just kids they re not ready for that responsibilities some are but some dont even get the proper sleep kids have way to mush stress on them to have their asses in school for half a day
Here is a case in point. Poor spelling and grammar. U.S. students spend approximately 30% less time in school than the world average. This could be why second and third world countries like India and China are taking jobs from the US. How can the supposed number one nation in the world have an education system below any other country?
ok I guess you want to enslave your children and force them to go to school longer. there is more to life than school.
ur jus a nerd and u know u hate school waking up at 7am or 6am u think thats cool than ur retarded
school shold be shorter and the year to this to long it makes kids hate school so can some1 please im begging u thats how much school torture me cuz im in school for 7hours with 30min that sux it should be at least 5 hours or shorter
I don't think the reason we're so behind the other countries in our world is due to how long or how many days we spend in school; We actually spend a great deal of time in it. It's just our teaching system and society... I think we already are in school for too much time, and put under way more stress and have to deal with more homework and responsiblities than necessary.
i agree
I just hate waking up, best solution is to make school in the afternoon :)
My true opinion is: School isn't so long, its only 7 hours. I hate waking up earlyin the morning. And sure, you get going, but once you get there everyone just looks at everyone, and makes you feel awkward. Then there;s social pressure to act a certain way. you have to be around with 1,000;s of kids every day. Then you have to go to class and study on top of that? You sit there and waste your time thinking of other. Then you go to the other class, and you sit there, raw, having no emotion. because of the fact of social pressure. you sit there for about a couple hours, then you go to lunch, finally then you get some freedom. but fridends just ruin it. u then just set expectations for yourself, then you go back to work, and if you don't focuse 100% of the time, you will miss some subject and be lost. then the bell rings, and finally you have gotten out of that classroom. THen your outside the door, walking, and remember all that homework that they assigned you. So you get home, so tired of acting that way. You feel dead from being socialy pressured into acting a certain weig, and then you look at the clock and relize tghat you just spent 7 houers of your day in a classroom doing work you already know how to do, and then they assign other work on top of THAT! then your like,. ok, gotta eat something, get to bed at 9. wake up at 6, and start at 8eight. so then you do your homework, or at least try. you have to force yourself, that you throw a temper tantrum. you do a sloppy job, and don't get it done. you then turn it in, but you don't get points for it!!!!! so aftre that day is over, you eat, remember the homework you do, but you don't do it because everything you did wasn't good enough due to per frustration. so you don't do your homeowrk at all, and it ends up in a big cycle. then you have a solid D turning in all the work you do at school, and the work you do at home isnt good enough and you have to force yourself..........
NOW YOU WANT TO ADD AN EXTRA 70 DAYS, AND AN EXTRA 2 HOURS TO OUR SCHOOL DAY? Now, were only kids.More problems.
And the more kids will try to refuse to remember what you;ve taught them. FrustRATION
THat was the horrible side of school. The good thing at about school is:you wake up in the morning, thats tough. eat your food, and vitamins, then you start to feel better. you go outside and wait for the bus, and it comes at about 8:15 so tahts good. then you just walk about and wait for time to go bye, and when the bell rings you go to your class. Now, paying attention in class will bring nothing but frustration, so you don't. then you just try to do some of your work, and make time go by fast. then you go to your other calsses. and you just try to make it through. then you get some freedom at lunch, you look at NOOO!!! you;'ve got half a day. then you go back to class, exhausted, then you wait for class to go bye, and you sit there in those metal chairs with your back hurting, and un-comfortableness and you get through it. Then the last class, you get to sit there dreaming a day about how you;ll get out of that class and it;ll feel so good.
lol
School is for learning. i think we should make a great deal more of learning to do with real life situations. and explain them the way they are in real life. oltherwise they will queistion our authority
I think we really need to be direct. Cutt down on the hours we are using, and wasting. and just be direct. WE have to teach a student algabre? then get down to the lesson, show them an example, tell them the technqiue, and make sure every student knows how to do it. so one teach go throughout the whole class, and make sure they know how to do it. that would take less time than making them do 20-30 problems the whole class period, and make sure they show you they know the process they do it. that would solve the problem in a bou 30-60 mins
i still dont understand why we got to stay after to around 4:15 which is about 8 hours of school and two of the hours are used to do nothing but do extra work like homework at school.also that their are not alot of things going on so why notsend us home around 2:45 or 3:15.
my school cesarchavez public charter school for public policy
I'm a parent and I feel that the year and day is way too long. They are in school almsot 7 hours and then the come home with hours of homework. They need the 3 months in the summer.
It would be nice if they shortened the day also.
The school year lasts so long already that the students have to think about a short period of just over 2 months (summer) for most of the year (almost 10 months). Also, the school day already lasts too long and is already too hard because the 6 hours and 40 minutes of school (9 hours spent outside of home) is a pure waste of time, and it's already too hard because students already know how to do their work, and they still give at least 3 more hours worth of homework, which literally kills kids' brains. With all of that, why on Earth would want to even bother making both the school day and school year last longer. Instead, they should just invent a special liquid that when you drink it, you learn what you would've learned that day. With that, they could have school for 2 hours one a month to make sure the special liquid is working. Also, the teachers that were fired because of the mass production of that liquid keep work in the factories that make that liquid to earn their money. With that adjustment, everyone's a winner.
This is my second ever coment in this website. :)
I agree! I'm in school from 8am-5pm (9 hours) and that is way too long. Plus, I have an average of 3-4 hours of straight work to do, totaling in 12-13 hours of work. That is way too much.
I think shorter because when you ask why you have home work they say beacuse class isnt long enough so we must compleate it at home and class is to asign and explain homework,it soulc be shorter and to get enough sleep i phisicly dont have time to finish that work.
Don't school officials think it is enough time to have school must of the year and only almost three months of vacation??? Then, they should at least grant us the favor of giving us less hours of school now that we have school must of the year...because we have classes that we just take because they make us and we don't even really need out in the real world
ok i think that school is just the right amount of time. my kids will come home and be able to do their homework, clean their rooms, do chores, eat dinner, take showers, and hang out with friends after school. if school was any longer they wouldnt have all that time. and if your child has a stack of homework maybe they just dont use class time well.
i am so sorry you have to go to school that long.
Hi i am 12 and in my opinion I think that school should be shorter by 2 hours. Its just really annoying how the teacher keeps making us do revision over and over again when everyone already has got it clear in their heads! Its heaven in primary school since the work is alot easier and you get less homework. Unfortunatley im in middle school... Heres what happens. Wake up at 7am. Get dressed. Get breakfast. 8am go to school. 3:20pm school ends. 4pm arrive home. Do homework. 6pm eat dinner/supper. 3 hours of Television/Xbox360 Etcetera etcetera. 9pm go to my room. Go on kindle and read or post stuff online like this. 10pm sleep. Repeat until you have graduated or turned into a phsyco path. Come on 3 hours of entertainment? Childhood is just education. I don't know if this is the same for you guys and gals but this is life for me so far. Work work work and a little teeny weey play.
School is too Long. =(
School is too Long. =(
if thats the case then they should at least pay us some $$moolah$$
as a sophmore in highschool it is to long it need to be shorter or have a swing shift thing where you can go in the morning the work all afternoon at a job or work in the morning and go to school in the after noon it would help m life out alot
F 6 HOURS WE NEED LESS SCHOOL
Less school = ~6 hours.
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