Why Lengthening Time in School Won't Result in Smarter Kids

David Harasnyi at Reason Online has a good editorial on why Obama's idea to lengthen the school day won't improve academic scores.

His points:

• Many nations who score better than us spend less time in school.


• Those same nations spend less money per student on education.


• According to numerous studies, the most consistent indicator and predictor of a child's educational achievement is parental involvement. Having them in school longer is not going to fix that.


• Why do Asian-American students consistently outscore their counterparts in this country, within the same school systems and with the same class times?

We spend way too much money on education. Since it isn't going to teachers' salaries, where is it going? I am thinking to administrators and teachers' unions.

I agree, our kids need help. But it's to get out of failing schools, not learn more. They need more parental involvement in general and fewer distractions overall.

School vouchers would help get some of those kids out of bad schools and into private ones but they are consistently fought by Democrats. Democrats who, by the way, are bankrolled in part by the National Education Association. Hmmm....