Jack & Jill Politics

The AP reported on the President’s call for more school hours for the nation’s children, and The Root contributor Jonathan Pitts-Wiley agrees:

Somewhere between college and unemployment I became an angry 65-year old Black man because I completely agree with dude (and also think stricter dress codes should be in place as well). I recognize that such a change is not just a matter of flipping a switch–there are obvious budget and personnel issues to work out–but the essence of the argument is solid: Kids should be in school or otherwise structured settings MOST of the time.

As a person who is not far removed from his teen years and a former knucklehead–not in a hard rock kind of way; but in a smarter, non-dyslexic Theo Huxtable kind of way–I can honestly say kids don’t need more free time to be left to their own device. The default device for most teenagers is somewhere between uninspired indifference to really, really stupid act of worthlessness.

The agrarian economy has long since passed with only two to three percent of Americans employed in agriculture. However, we still have a school calendar which assumes 80 percent of the country works in the fields. Now, it’s not as simple as adding days. cursory search of the research on impact of longer school years was inconclusive. Quality is more important than quantity. But the basic idea that kids should be filling free time by filling their minds makes a lot of sense. It’s supported by this Johns Hopkins study linking the low vs. high income achievement gap to summer activities.

For some frightening international comparisons, see the Alliance for Excellent Education’s March 2008 fact sheet: How Does The United States Stack Up?

Highlights of U.S. rankings vs. OECD countries:

• Scientific literacy: 21st of 30
• Mathematics literacy: 25th of 30. Over one quarter (28.1 percent) of American fifteen-year-olds performed below the baseline level of mathematics proficiency at which students begin to demonstrate the kind of skills that enable them to use mathematics actively in daily life
• Problem solving: 24th of 29. Over one quarter (28.1 percent) of American fifteen-year-olds performed below the baseline level of mathematics proficiency at which students begin to demonstrate the kind of skills that enable them to use mathematics actively in daily life

And the kicker from that report:

Although American white students’ average science score of 523 ranked above the OECD average, Hispanic American (439), American Indian and Native Alaskan (436), and African American (409) students all fell far below (U.S. Department of Education. National Center for Education Statistics 2007). These groups scored similarly to the national averages of Turkey and Mexico, the two lowest-performing OECD member countries.