Do you Agree with The Obama Administration's Idea of Longer School Years?

NO WAY. WE ARE GOING FROM 7:55 TILL 4:00PM NOW. THE CHILDREN ARE TRIED. THE BRAINS ARE TRIED. AND THEY CAN NOT STAY FOCUS ANY LONGER. THEY NEED FAMILY TIME .SO TIME IN THIS WORLD . SOME OF THE CHILDREN ARE NOT GETTING HOME TILL5:00PM NOW. AFTER THEY HAVE HOME WORK TO DO. THEY CAN GO TO CHURCH OR ANY EXTRA THING NOW FOR SCHOOL IN TO DANG LONG.IF ANY THING IT NEEDS TO BE SHOTEN SOME.

I do not agree that children should have longer school hours, ie, until 5:00pm and/or attend on Saturdays. Parents need to also work with their children, it is not just the "teacher's job" to see that children understand their schoolwork. Keeping children in school from 7:45am to 5:00pm is a long time, especially when a lot of the younger children have a bedtime of 8:00 or 9:00 and if you take into account that those children who ride the bus may not even get home until 6:30 or 7:00, that basically doesn't leave much time for their homework or time to visit with their parents. Some parents don't even get home until after 7:00 themselves. Has anyone asked the teachers how they feel about this? They would need to get a pay raise, no one else would want to work a couple of extra hours for "free", I know I would not. Children need their breaks from school, they need free time to enjoy themselves and just be kids.

No to the question. This is just another example of the government taking away our freedoms and nationalizing the USA. Children need time off and so do parents. Obama is a muslim marxist and needs to be thrownout of this country that he apologizes for to other countries.

I have been, and still am, an elementary teacher in Jacksonville for the past 22 years and 9 years before that in another state. It isn't the quantity of time the children spend in the classroom, it's the quality of time. We have been pummeled by the state to raise our standards which are measured by the TAKS tests. I have seen children work hard to help achieve the knowledge that they must have to pass these tests. Our school is one of three in our district that has climbed from "Recognized" status to "Exemplary." I think part of this was due to having tutorial sessions twice weekly throughout the second semester as well as Saturday morning sessions. ALL the teachers and paraprofessionals were involved in these 45 minutes every Tuesday and Thursday. But we didn't have to keep the children until early evening or cut out holidays or shorten summer vacation. As a school community, we worked hard, inspired by a wonderful principal, and it paid off. Next week we will again begin the tutorial classes, which will continue through the year. Long story short--I disagree with our President's blanket statement that our children need longer hours in school. Rather let him inspire the parents and teachers to work more in sync with each other to help motivate the students to want to learn. That's where his leadership qualities can benefit everyone.

I do not agree with longer school days and that it will help kids learn more.The trouble is the disruptions that take place in class and students are unable to learn. The parents need to be held responsiblle for the actions of their children. If a child is a disruption in class then the parent should be forced to come to the class and set with their child as if they were a little child. Education starts at home.