Year-rounding Schooling: Not worth It
Schools have been in the traditional nine-month school calendar for years, rather than a year-round school calendar. Almost all kids have said that they like school the way it is, most children do not want to change to a year-round school calendar, and very few adults like the idea of year-round school. According to a new Rasmussen Report telephone survey, only 25% of adults approve of the twelve-month school calendar. “I have found it was a huge nightmare. It’s not good for children. It’s not good for families. It’s not good for the community.” – A quote from Linda Dolten, Orange county parent and committee member. Summer is a time for sleeping and a time for playing. The government should stick with the way summer has always been.
Going to school year round does not even improve test scores. In other words, it does not make the children smarter or more educated. Alexander City Schools saw steady declines in their studies. In fact, there was a school in Alabama with the lowest test scores among six Alabama school districts.
Switching to a twelve-month school calendar has dangerously high costs. In Las Vegas, Nevada there were schools that switched to a year-round school calendar and it dramatically raised costs. Just consider this, if 76 year-round elementary schools switched to the traditional nine-month calendar, it may save 15 to 20 million dollars. A nine-month school year would dramatically reduce the cutbacks that are supposed to reach the legislature’s goal.
Summer is important to and for children. Summer is important to childhood development. It is also important for family relationships and family traditions. Children having summer vacation is also important to the economy of seasonal communities. Children also get summer jobs and earn money; nonetheless, it teaches them responsibility and prepares them for the future. In between May and June, high school students have the best employment opportunities.
Year-round school does not have near enough benefits for us to switch to it. Year round school has very high costs. It does not improve test scores in most cases. Some of our best childhood memories were in the summer. Don’t you think our children deserve the same memories that we had?
