President Obama is talking about changing the public school calendar from 10 to 12 months throughout the United States. The hope is to maintain high educational standards and to avoid losing economic advantages to China and India. The United States is unsure when this plan will be implemented, but Obama is hoping for this process to occur within his first term.
Obama was quoted by the Huffington Post saying "The future belongs to the nation that best educates its citizens. We have everything we need to be that nation ... and yet, despite resources that are unmatched anywhere in the world, we have let our grades slip, our schools crumble, our teacher quality fall short and other nations outpace us." Tej P., a student from Roslyn High School in New York, said he believed “This plan will improve the country’s education because learning more with more time can help people to develop skills for jobs or future careers.”
According to the National Association for Year-Round Education, about 3,000 schools in the United States already have year-round programs. Jacalyn S., a former preschool teacher at Temple Emanuel in New York, believes “This will not improve the country’s education because it’s not the quantity of time you are in school, it’s the quality and the work you put into it.” Obama’s hope for accomplishing this process within his first term is impractical, said S. adding “This present plan would need to be revised in order for it to be successful and it will take a while to fully develop and establish this education plan and decide how Obama will recruit the people he needs to make this plan come about.”
It is debatable whether or not this education plan will be established within Obama’s first term, or if this plan is going to be successful.