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Hernando Today

Year-long school is not a panacea

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By DOMENICK MAGLIO

Neo Traditionalist

Published: October 15, 2009

MAGLIO
The longer school year debate is back. President Barack Obama said that American children need to spend more time in school. The argument rests on the fact some other countries spend on the average 25 to 30 percent more time in school.

An unmentioned fact is children in several Asian nations consistently score higher on math and science tests but spend less time in school than children in the U.S. American children spend 1,146 hours in school while children in Singapore spend 903 hours. Taiwan spends 1,050, Japan 1,003 and Hong Kong 1,013.

The number of hours a person spends on any activity does not ensure the quality of the job. Every parent, teacher and employer admits this reality. The incredible increase in money spent during the past 20 years on American education has not produced better results nor will increasing the number of hours spent in school.

Our Founders were self-educated, worldly men who often received the "gentleman's C grade" in formal education. The education they received at home, working with others and their own involvement in reading, made them well-rounded, well-educated citizens. The culture understood the importance of being educated. Many of those who were unable to attend a school educated themselves through reading and discussion.

These men understood the schooling of the populous should be handled on a local level. The people of the community have a better feel and knowledge of what should be taught and how to evaluate it. Competition between local schools would be the best method of keeping our education vibrant. In our Constitution education was explicitly left to the states rather than to the federal government which could use it as a propaganda tool.

Currently, our Constitution is not being followed. The federal government runs Amtrak, IRS, Head Start, the Postal Service, Medicare and Medicaid and a host of others. The quality of these federal services has been a running joke with Americans. Yet the feds have just nationalized the financial, insurance and auto industries. The federal hand is attempting to grab everything in its reach.

Education is no longer under the control of the states. The federal government has wormed itself into the core of education with rotten results. "No Child Left Behind" with billions of wasted dollars has made the teachers' jobs harder, not easier. More charter schools are becoming unionized, undermining a major concept of choice. Students are being left just as far behind as ever.

The present push by Washington is to make schools a year-round torture. When you cannot teach children in a seven-hour day, 180 days per year school schedule, then the answer lies in what and how knowledge is being taught. Making the school day longer and extending it for the entire year may be a good alternative for some students, although doing this across the board would speed up the demise of the family.

Decentralization of our educational system and approaches, not federal engineering from Washington, D.C., is a better answer. There are underprivileged pockets where increasing the school year and day could be beneficial. Many of these children do not have functioning parents who value education. They do not read to their children nor teach them academic skills or even feed or put them to bed on a regular schedule. This segment of a local community would do well with a yearlong school program. Instead of replacing the family it would augment the dysfunctional ones in certain locales.

A one-size-fits-all approach will not work well in our nation of many choices. Our family lifestyles should not be dictated by Washington but should be respected. Our local schools from the grassroots level should meet the needs of the particular community. Whatever the decision of these school boards, parents have alternatives in private, parochial or choosing to educate their children at home.

Do not forget, that President Obama's daughters, Sasha and Malia, as well as most other president's and a significant portion of public school teacher's children are in private, not public school. They want to pick the best situation for their own children. No one can blame them. Parents should have the same right to choose an appropriate school environment for their children.

Functioning parents are a key factor in children's academic success. These parents are often the best teachers for their children. They have studied their children and are willing to use their best resources to assist them. These parents enjoy sharing their knowledge with their children on summer adventures. The parents have the most to gain if their children become educated with good character.

Parents who are unable or unwilling to spend the necessary time with their children should have the opportunity to choose year-round school. Competent parents should also have the right to spend their summer with their children.

The federal government should encourage parental involvement, not limit the time parents and children can spend together. The forcing of year-round school on every child and parent would be limiting our freedom unnecessarily.

In a free society, freedom of choice should increase, not be snuffed out by being enslaved in poorly run government schools.

Dr. Domenick J. Maglio, Ph.D., is the author of "Invasion Within" and "Essential Parenting." He is a psychotherapist and the owner/director of Wider Horizons School. Visit: www.drmaglio.com.

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