NAACP wants to extend school day

In response to: NAACP Panel Supports Longer School Days By The Associated Press Published Online: December 6, 2010

This article speaks of several concerns but the one that stuck out the most to me was extending the school day from 8am to 6pm. 2 hours longer than a 9 to 5 job. First off, governments can’t seem to afford to pay teachers now; extending the day should definitely increase pay that no one can seem to afford.

Schools are not day cares. Are we looking for a safe, educational place to drop our kids off before going to work and not have to worry about after-school childcare?

Extending the day would also have to include mandatory recess because students shouldn’t be expected to stay in a structure setting for such a long period of time.
If children are expected to get between 8- 10 hours of sleep and then spend 10 hours at school, that only leaves 4 -6 hours to be a kid, spend time with family and friends, or learn social and life skills outside of the school environment.

I don’t know any adult that wants to spend that amount of time in a structured learning setting, so why would we put that on our kids. Again it seems like people who don’t have any connection with education what to make changes that hurt kids more than it helps them.

I don’t know what the NAACP is trying to do in North Carolina or what’s about to happen with education for American but I don’t like the sound of it. Year round school is something I can deal with, extended day school is ludicrous.