Column:
Obama's education plan could do more harm than good
Published Oct. 2, 2009
We all know the U.S. education system is not great when compared to others around the world. This has long been the case, despite efforts of past presidents. Vouchers, tax credits, funding changes and other ideas have been tossed around, but nothing has had a significant impact.
Enter President Barack Obama and yet another radical proposal.
According to a recent article from the Associated Press, Obama has a plan for schools that would wipe out summer vacations and lengthen school days. This plan could easily help the public school system, but at what cost?
This plan is radical due to the institution summer vacation has become in our society and how much we are used to it. Changing this would take a lot of getting used to. Although some students would get unlucky and have longer days than the year before, in time the nation could adjust. The true problem with this concept is more of an economical one.
Even if these changes help the education system, they could also be catastrophic for the already struggling American economy. Fewer vacations and more taxes could cripple the economy and move us back toward economic Armageddon.
Most of us have gone on vacations with our family. When were these vacations? For a vast majority, the answer is during the summer. If the school year were extended, summer vacations would be cut short or eliminated altogether, which would take away the chance for families to take a trip to wherever they wanted to go.
Places like Gulf Shores and South Padre Island, theme parks and any major tourist attraction would all feel the financial effects of a longer school year. Some places might have to begin charging admission or raising the price of entry due to the decreased number of visitors.
If schools were to have longer days, stay open for more of the year, or both, teachers would have to be paid more; utility bills would surely increase; bus drivers would have to be paid more (in districts using their own busses); and many other costs would add to the burden school districts face.
Massachusetts has experimented with plans similar to those Obama has suggested, leading to a $1,300 cost increase per student, an increase of roughly 12 to 15 percent. The only way to get the money to pay for these changes would be to tax the families of these districts. Think about how many students there are in each district, and multiply that number by 1,300. That is a huge number, but it would only cover one school district for one year!
How much money would your family have to pay for these changes?
If every family in the country were to have these new taxes forced upon them (especially with families worrying about the idea of paying for Cap and Trade and Obamacare), what recovery we've had would quickly be erased as people would spend less money. Simply put, our economy would come to a screeching halt.
Although we badly need something to fix our education system, this proposed idea is dangerous given the current economic climate. It is simply irresponsible to impose taxes like this on Americans when many are struggling to make ends meet.
Eric Hobbs is MU College Republicans vice chairman. He can be reached at emhn75@mizzou.edu.
Comments (19)
6:16 a.m., Oct. 2, 2009
Cyclone said:
No where in the expressed laws of the Constitution is there anything about being able to revise our education, which also includes the implied laws. I believe that is left up to the states. You may use the "necessary and proper" clause against this comment, but the U.S. has obviously succeeded in education before this bill and as Mr. Hobbs said that the economy would surely go into a decline. As an example, once the Romans lost their family structure during the time of the Roman Empire, they started a long decline for over 300 years and everyone knows how the Roman Empire ended, so obviously, we may not feel it right at this moment in history, but we will decline when the family is not together, Biblical principle or not, the family structure in our nation has to survive in order to keep this great country from collapse.
6:17 a.m., Oct. 2, 2009
Debbie Kirkland said:
I agree. If there is ever a petition started against longer school days and shorter summers, please send it to me to sign. Thank you.
9:27 a.m., Oct. 2, 2009
jada said:
I agree , and what about teens getting jobs and learning to be independent. Such as learning how to be respncible financal . And also we are already in a recession and they trying to use more money. That makes no since at all. So I as a 14 year old 8th grader disagree with obamas educational plan .
5:34 p.m., Oct. 2, 2009
Elena said:
It is a bunch of bull, I already feel that my kids spend too much time in school. They are loosing their childhood and the fun that comes along with the family vacations, outtings etc. Just the family values themselves would be lost, our children will become even more stressed out adults than we already are. We own a motor home and travel for most of the summer around this great country of ours with our two kids and the dog. It takes time to drive cross country, but we are together as a family. Sales of motor homes, trailers,etc would also be affected if people can not go on trips. Gas would probably even go up, because of less people traveling. Our kids need time to be kids, that is the key word. We do not live in China and not a communist country. Lets say your one of those people who send their kids the camp most of the summer. Now the camp itself that depends on the summer business what go out of business. How about going green Mr. O. More shcool, more airconditioning used, more fumes from school buses, etc........ Or will he tell us next you can't use the airconditioning, let the kids cook....... Education is important, but at what cost to the family & our economy. Very Upset and hope this never happens.
10:25 a.m., Oct. 3, 2009
Liz said:
This is my life we are talking about! I teach first grade at a VERY small school district in the middle of Missouri. My students are TIRED at the end of an 8 hour day. They don't need more time! I work hard with them on the usual school schedule. They are not old enough for the state tests, but the class average on the tests over the material I teach is 85-95% on each subject. I love my job and I do it well. However, teaching is already tiring for me. I cannot imagine adding more time to a day or a school year! Summer is recovery time for teachers and many good teachers are just skating over a "burnout" level. We all want our kids to have teachers that care and are good at what they do, but those are the teachers who are under the most stress - because they DO care and work hard to help their students succeed. I am also a mother of 3 children myself. They are junior high and high school age at the district where I teach. I don't want them in school any longer than they already are! They already come home with enough homework to take up the rest of their evening, even without the pause for a short family meal (which I insist on as a way to reconnect after a day spent apart)! I still want the chance to BE a parent for the little time I have left before they go off on their own. How will all of us (parents) do that if there are more hours added to a school day? And even less time in the summer!
4:51 p.m., Oct. 3, 2009
Abella said:
What about the economy ?!? Okay, l understand that the nations economy affects every one and thing, but what about us the students. lm a sophmore at a high school in NJ, and though l understand that Obama's education plan means well, its obsured !! If this plan were to be passed, not only would the economy perish, but so would many students. Due to the Chinese's overpopulation and extremely competetive schools and job markets, America students struggling to make it in such a hard and competetive education system would face the same problems that Chinese students do today. Depression, Anxiety, and Sucide. Yes sucide. That is one of the largest ways chinese students are killed, by suicide, because they crack under the presure of theyre studies, and god help us if this "plan" goes through. You adults dont understand how unbearably hard it is for students, to study EVERY day and work EVERY day, just so that we may be able to be someone someday. Many days, l dont go to sleep, l dont eat, because l have to go to sleep at 2.15, l spent my lunches studying for exams, and l just DONT have the time. Its exchausting, and yes l know its for our own good and for our future, but maybe we should all stop looking to the future , and focus on living in the present.
6:29 p.m., Oct. 4, 2009
Cassidy said:
The thought of longer school years and or days make me sick. I'm a ninth grade student in Texas and enjoy learning, but I feel as though education is being shoved down my throat. I take advanced classes and I know that I should expect extra work, but the amount of work I had over the summer and the work I take home daily is unreal. If Obama wants to change our country's poor education, why doesn't he change the fact that student are only being taught criteria to pass tests instead of education that's necessary? I am constantly stressed and this plan would destroy any plans of any further success because of the exhaustion and anxiety I would face. The government is taking away the childhoods and innocence of our youth, and, as Abella said, for once the present should be our main focus. I know that God will take care of His children and I have faith that His plan will fall into order. This plan is going to destroy our country.
9:51 p.m., Oct. 4, 2009
Mandy said:
As an educator in this country we should have a say in this! Teachers take the summer to relax and prepare for the next year. When would we have time for this? I have seen the what happens when you make the day longer for students. By the middle of the year they are tired and give up. We are pushing students to hard to early. Kids still need to be kids. Having said that I believe it is not only the educators responsibility to make sure students are learning it is also the parents. Sadly I don't see much of this. I can't get parents to help thier child with homework much less get them in for a parent/teacher conference. Our failing education system is not just the education system alone it includes every student, every parent and every educator as well as the government, state, and local decision makers.
10:13 a.m., Oct. 5, 2009
Robert said:
I think THIS article is a bunch of bull. How can we sit back and allow our children to fall behind other countries year after year? We spend less time in school than some countries and it is threatening our position as a world superpower. And you are complaining that we won't be able to vacation?? That is absurd! We still have weekends and there still will be breaks! For the record, the reason we had summers off in this country was so that the children can help out on the farms during the warm season...not to go to the water park. Considering the fact that only 5% of the country does non-commercialized farming, that obviously is no longer necessary. By having these 3 months of fun, we are giving our children a false perception of life. As of now, the only two jobs that have summers off are teachers and school bus drivers. Let's not trick our kids, but prepare them for the real world. On the other had, the longer school days will hurt us in the long run. Our children can easily be stressed due to work overload. It's already bad enough that they go to class for seven hours and have to do hours of homework. Year long schooling is a sufficient extension to the current school system.
7:16 p.m., Oct. 5, 2009
Maria said:
Just by reading the comments from this article, wow do we ever need a overhaul on our education system. Some people commenting are not able to write proper sentences. A longer school year does not mean a loss in vacation time, in fact they are spread out throughout the year in 2 to 3 week intervals, which is more than the average family can afford to take anyway, as both a parent and a teacher, it makes sense. Most kids can't afford all the time off in the summer, they loose vital skills and fall behind. Also a longer school day, which is not set in stone, would be for enrichment programs and physical education. Most of the plan focuses on bringing greater resources and training to teachers and principals, incorporating parents to being leaders in the education of their children and recruiting talented college students studying math and science. Also the pressure most students feel is because students are forced to learn material and skills for standardized tests, which do not prepare them academically, professionally or emotionally. We must learn to be critical thinkers and stop with these knee jerk reactions just because we don't agree with a political perspective or skin color. The president is following the recommendations of generations of teachers, parents and school administrators. We need a well rounded educational approach for our children - so all of our American children are fully educated.
4:26 p.m., Oct. 6, 2009
Lyudmila said:
Extending the school day is a bad idea. Children are too tired by the middle of the after-noon to focus on anything. The problem with American education is in the way the curriculum (and the school day) is structured, not the in amount of time kids spend in school. I come from Europe where elementary school students a)do not go to school until 6 years old; b)do not have classes after 1PM; c)have summers off. They also d)do not cover the same topic numerous times, year after year; e)have a uniform nation-wide curriculum; f)do not learn to use computer at the age of 6 instead of learning to read; g) do not have to learn 14 mathematical topics in kindergarten only to repeat the same topics every year for the next 3 years; h)do more homework. We have already tried lengthening the school day, making kids to go school and study stuff they don't understand at an earlier and earlier age. Einstein once said that doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result is the definition of insanity. Let's do something different this time, something that would address the real, structural problems hindering our education, instead of doing more of the same and hoping that somehow it will work.
7:33 p.m., Oct. 6, 2009
Deb said:
Creating a "year round" approach which still provides breaks between each grading period is a good idea. The traditional "summer vacation" was set up to aid the agricultural community and no longer applies to the majority of the American public. However, a longer school day should not have an academic focus! Students in my district already get on a bus at 8:15, begin school at 9 and end at 4:25. Most don't get home until well after 5 p.m. and that is way too late for 12 year old children. Our educational system lags behind other countries because we try to educate (and test) every student to the same level. Look at countries like Japan where students have to pass a test to attend schools which will possibly lead to college. It is only those college bound students who are being compared to the US student. Maybe we should recognize that not every child has the aptitude for traditional education and allow the re-establishment of trade schools and apprenticeships. Maybe we should tie welfare money to a student's academic success. Or, maybe we should stop testing our students to death, forcing teachers to teach to the test rather than teaching students to think.
6:38 p.m., Oct. 8, 2009
Rebekah Harris said:
I teach English, Journalism, and French in a rural high school in East Tennessee. While I am not altogether opposed to the idea of year-round school or even longer school days, the government is completely missing the point. Officials are missing the point because it has probably been years since they have actually set foot in a typical American classroom. The heart of the educational performance problem cannot be fixed by lengthening the school day and the school year. The problem with the educational system is: 1. Testing: Teachers are required to cover too much curriculum too quickly. As a result, our children, from elementary school on, are becoming robots trained to spit out information during one week of standardized testing each year. Selecting A, B, or C with high proficiency does not create functional, hard-working, and productive citizens. 2. Many parents are working themselves to the bone to buy their children clothing from Abercrombie & Fitch, Envi cell phones, cars, ipods, PSPs, PS3s and video games. However, they are completely uninvolved in their children's educations. Students are failing because they receive little encouragement and support from home. As much as teachers would love to fill that role, we are no replacement for parents. 3. Classroom sizes are entirely too large. I am one person, and unless teachers instruct special education, we are not provided with teaching assistants. Therefore, when I walk into a class with 34 students--whether AP, Honors, or general ed, there is no human way to give each student the one-on-one instruction they need to achieve higher-order thinking skills and master curriculum. Therefore, while I don't completely disagree with Obama's plan, the heart of the matter still is not being touched. If our educational success is based entirely on test results, of course the statistics look bad. This is a nation that requires Special Education students to take the SAT and ACT, expecting them to pass. While some of these students are fully capable of achieving success on these exams, others with more severe problems don't have a prayer, and the test only serves to lower their self-esteem and self-concepts even further. Until our leaders wake up and address the REAL issues, we will always lag behind other countries.
10:37 a.m., Oct. 9, 2009
Lisa said:
Actually, our education system is superior--but we test differently. If you search educational journals you will discover that other nations (Japan for instance) only test the top tier of their students. We test them all, even students with disabilities and with individual education plans. The American philosophy has always been that children deserve to play--it is healthy for them! I say we look at the whole picture--the only way to improve character, fight crime, improve education, increase general health and all of that is to promote healthy family life, including the unpolitically correct idea of one parent staying home as the primary caregiver. Only when the family is brought back into fashion as the best place to make good (including well educated) people will we succeed in improving our overall education. I personally stay home with my kids, only send them to kindergarten half day, (it's a full day program here), do preschool myself, and will not be allowing my children to take every standardized test that comes their way. I call this "conscious parenting"--just because "the system" offers it doesn't mean it is right for my child or right at all. That is my individual stand as a parent and former educator.
12:46 p.m., Oct. 9, 2009
danielle said:
i think that this is stupid....does anyone know how it feels like to be stuck in a building all day? without the summer and weekends i would have no time to go to work...im 17 so this probably will not effect me but some kids do work to help out their families.
10:17 a.m., Oct. 10, 2009
Sheltown :) said:
thank you sooo much for this information. i am writing a paper to Obama stating why he shouldnt make school longer and the consequences of his decision. i am trying to gather all the information that i can get from these websites so i know what i am talking about when i write this paper. i am very young but i know these things when he thinks i dont. so hearing from a student may change his mind. lets hope for the best!
3:58 p.m., Oct. 27, 2009
Dennis Teel said:
i don't have sympathy for kids who don't don't want a longer school year,merely so they can spend summers hanging out all hours of the night texting their friends and surfing the web and attending pot parties on the weekends and overall just 'playing'..i highly recommend a longer school year,shorter summer vacations and i hope this bill passes.in fact i expect it to as obama is concretely convinced as i am that kids in this country deem their 'playtime' to be much more important than they're studies and school work in general.
4:44 p.m., Nov. 15, 2009
Thien Nguyen said:
I'm from Vietnam, a communist country; I completed 10th grade there. First of all, Obama remarked in his speech on March 10th, 2009, that "our curriculum for 8th grader is 2 full years behind in other top performed countries. It's the prescription to economy decline." I agree completely though I am not certain that my country is of the "top performers" or not. When I came to the US, they put me in 9th grade, and all the materials of the lvl were those I learned in 7th grade in Vietnam. So, my country's 12th grade is the equivalent of min 1 yr or max 2 yrs in college in US. Currently, I have some foreign exchanged students from VN at the college I'm attending, so I know. However, I'm half agree with Obama's plan, because: there are suicides, economy decline, cost more (Japan's schools are free I think but not Vietnam), and most of all, no jobs for kids. Secondly, the other half that I don't agree, he should create a program that allow students to choose if they want to involve in extended hours/days or extended days/years or not. This is meant for every one to have the RIGHTS to CHOOSE, to adjust. In fact, there has been a program going on for almost 15 years; it's called Knowledge is Power Program (KIPP). You can do some little researches and find very interesting facts, statistics, results, and how the program has affected the students who CHOOSE to go there. FYI: it's a non-for-profit public schools and it's FREE to go there. It started out by 2 teachers in 1995 with the dream to change American kids' way of learning, starting at 5th graders, not 1st (this way to allow kids have the ability to CHOOSE to attend these schools or not). It started out with 2 schools, but currently, there are 82 schools around US at 19 States. The outcomes? Better than my fellows in Vietnam as in my point of view. I don't need to see the results, but I can tell from the way they teach (remember that I've went to Vietnam's schools for 12 years, K-10). Another reasons for MOST kids to not care about their schooling is followed by the equation: parents don't care + teachers don't care = why should they care. At KIPP schools, every one cares, even each and every school's community. Conclusion: we are in America where we have the rights to CHOOSE. Take advantage of it, don't take grants of it. Kids here in the US don't appreciate what they have. They should be put in Communism's schools to see that: education costs (my parents paid their pants off for me to go to school EACH day, including summers). Why didn't I suicide? Because they care. I believe early and more educations is NECESSARY, at least starting at HighSchool. However, whether a student wants to commit to extended hours of schooling or not, that student SHOULD have 2 choices: Y or N? A simple 50/50 question that, in this case, would be late to answer if it's not responded YES in the right time. It's your own choice, it's for your own goods or bad. The life is in your hands...
Post a comment
2:21 a.m., Oct. 2, 2009
Char said:
How dare the government even consider such an idea? 1) I work in the tourism industry and need the summer months to continue to pay my slave taxes to the American Government and feed my family with what is left of my paycheck. 2) the public school system already sucks and making it longer won't help our children. 3) If we are going to force our children to attend school more than the 35-40 hours a week they already do, they should get paid to go to work just like us adults. Childhood is the time of innocence. Children are already growing up way to fast these days. The government parenting system already accounts for most of their waking hours 5 days a week. Now we take their break away from them. I would also point out that it's no fun to vacation in the privacy of your own home because you are too snowed in to see the sun which is why we still use the farmer's calandar to let children destress from school. But then, that's why I'm on year 7 homeschooling my 3 children who have NEVER seen the inside of institutionalized education.