Education Leaders Debate Expanded School Days

The next time you're singing the 9-to-5 blues, your kids just might chime in with the harmony.

That is, if they're among the students at Baltimore and D.C. area KIPP Charter Schools, or any of the other schools nationwide that have adopted expanded school days.

President Barack Obama and Education Secretary Arne Duncan have advocated longer days and shorter summer breaks in the past and increasing support for the idea might force the District and surrounding areas to consider it more seriously.

But, while more time in the classroom may benefit children from disadvantaged backgrounds, is it right for everyone?

That's the question the New York Times posed to a group of heavy-hitters in education this week.

For Fairfax County, Va., teacher and National Mathematics Advisory Panel member Vern Williams, the answer is: maybe, but only if the extra time is used wisely.

"If teachers were given unencumbered classroom time to actually teach, perhaps the argument for a longer school day would become moot," Williams said. "I fear that if the school day is extended without real input from both core subject and elective teachers, the extra time might be used for activities that are nothing more than glorified recess or unstructured study halls."

Williams said there are still questions that need to be answered before any decisions are made about the length of the school day.

"Would a longer school day reduce the amount of extra teaching duties, which seem to expand each year that I teach?" Williams said. "Will it reduce the homework load for students since they will be spending more time in school? Will teachers be adequately compensated?"

The general group opinion rounded out to "maybe, with conditions."

The only definitive "no" came from co-director and producer of the documentary "Race to Nowhere," Vicki Abeles, who writes that she favors using resources to ensure "children in every community have access to opportunities for after-school programs offering arts, sports and other activities that support the growth of the whole child, as well as working parents."

It would cost approximately $42 million a year more to bring a a KIPP-length school day to D.C. public schools, according to KIPP D.C. Executive Officer Susan Schlaeffer's estimates in a 2010 Washigton Post article.

So, what do you think? Would the District's students be better off on the 9-to-5 grind (well, 7:30-to-5 to be precise)?