Reader Feedback: Should School Day/Year be Lengthened?

In his State of the State address on Wednesday in Albany, Gov. Andrew Cuomo discussed the possibility of extending the school day and/or the school year to help better educate students. Cuomo proposed a competitive grant program for schools that develop initiatives to improve student achievement that would include extending learning time by at least 25 percent.

We asked our Facebook fans if they felt that extending the school day/school year would be a benefit to students. Below are a few of the many responses Lindenhurst Patch received (add your own thoughts on the topic in the comments section below this article). 

• Aimee Allison: I don't have a problem with extending the school year and think the students would retain more if they had shorter breaks distributed throughout the year. However, most buildings on Long Island have no air conditioning, which poses a problem for both students and teachers. I hope that all parties who are looking into extending the school year into summer months are keeping in mind the expense to bring proper air conditioning and ventilation to our school buildings.

• Ilene Meister:  No, I don't think that school should be extended. This would cut into summer enrichment programs and camp programs. Also, there are many teachers that take the summer off, while many of us teach in summer enrichment programs already. Another problem is the students attention. For students who didn't absorb the material in 10 months, they're not going to absorb it in six or eight weeks.

• Michelle Greenberg Bornemann: I feel that anybody who works f/t would be thrilled. They would have less camp or sitter service to pay for. Working in the schools I know the truth. Kids, teachers, aides, etc. are burnt out and have had enough by late May early June. There is no (air conditioning) in our schools and that makes it even worse. The State is full of it, because every year we find out the last minute what the schools will NOT be getting in state aid. And how will the extra hours of teaching and now security be paid? Just ridiculous, but unfortunately, common sense and NYS the past five or six years have not gone hand in hand. Especially when it comes to our children's schooling. So sad.

• Debbie Parthe-Baron: We should ABSOLUTELY extend both! 9 to 3:30, with lunch, recess, specialty class, pack up? All the weeks off? Come on, of course they should be extended, so China stops laughing at us.