A three month long summer vacation from public school seems stupid

[dextercioby]

Here's my take: middle way. Yes, grant children 2 months of summer vacation, 2- 2,5 weeks of (sorry, non-Christians) Christmas vacation, one week around Easter (so April-May) and one week at the end of October. So a few days of 3 full months of vacation. But keep teachers busy for the summer, working in schools for one month (being forced to research, bring new approach to material taught, even in sciences), with only one month paid leave in the summer.

 

[BillTre]

Here's my take: middle way. Yes, grant children 2 months of summer vacation, 2- 2,5 weeks of (sorry, non-Christians) Christmas vacation, one week around Easter (so April-May) and one week at the end of October. So a few days of 3 full months of vacation. But keep teachers busy for the summer, working in schools for one month (being forced to research, bring new approach to material taught, even in sciences), with only one month paid leave in the summer.

So time off for summer, religious holidays, plus an end October Halloween (some will probably consider it Satanic).

 

[PeterDonis]

The priority is the profits of US corporations. These are maximised when the poorer nations remain poor and cannot compete with US corporations.

I don't think this is true. US corporations can increase their profits by investing in poorer countries to make them richer. But doing that requires having confidence that those investments won't be seized by the corrupt governments of the poorer countries.

I don't disagree that US corporations (and corporations in general) don't always recognize what I've stated above. But they don't completely ignore it either. See, for example:

https://www.bea.gov/news/2025/direct-investment-country-and-industry-2024

US direct investment in Asia-Pacific + Latin America/other Western Hemisphere is over $2T, which is not huge, but not negligible given the total US GDP (about $30T). Those are areas where there are enough countries that will support reasonably stable investments. The US direct investment in the Middle East and Africa is much smaller; that makes sense since there is much less support for reasonably stable investments in those regions.

 

[PeterDonis]

If this is not political, then neither is the alternative view.

I agree that both alternative views should be presented, or neither. This being GD, I think it's ok to opt for "both" at least for a little, since the OP raised the issue originally.

 

[nasu]

"But keep teachers busy for the summer, working in schools for one month (being forced to research, bring new approach to material taught, even in sciences), with only one month paid leave in the summer."

Teachers need the break at least as much as the children, if not more. (I am not a teacher, thanks God). As already hinted in other posts, reducing the breaks or changing them is not a starting point for a better system but rather (maybe) a side effect of a changed system in which shorter breaks will make sense.

 

[BillTre]

But keep teachers busy for the summer, working in schools for one month (being forced to research, bring new approach to material taught, even in sciences), with only one month paid leave in the summer.

Hey, that is not a quote from me!

 

[nasu]

Sorry, wrong quote. I quoted you quoting the original. I eliminated the author. Anyway, I answered the idea not necessarily the author of it. Didn't know what else to do to correct it.

 

[Rive]

Three months of vacation is good, but the distribution might be indeed problematic. In elementary schools the first two or three weeks (up to a month) of a new semester are traditionally about re-learning the already forgotten last year and sharing all the adventure and experience germs and bugs collected during the vacation. Definitely makes a dent on the efficiency.

But vacation is still a must. Childhood is not all about (school) education.

 

[pinball1970]

If this is not political, then neither is the alternative view.

Poor or corrupt government is a factor, but underdeveloped countries have been kept underdeveloped by US policy (and, to some extent the policy of Western nations). The priority is the profits of US corporations. These are maximised when the poorer nations remain poor and cannot compete with US corporations.

In many cases, countries which have tried to develop have been undermined or sabotaged by US operations.

US Aid was needed to stop many countries collapsing altogether and maintaining the status quo. Even if those involved in aid were doing it for genuine humanitarian reasons.

Now that US Aid is essentially no more, there is no counterbalance to the economic domination by the US of developing nations.

Moreover, China's policy towards the third world appears to be more mutually beneficial. China wants contracts and influence, of course, but it is prepared to allow countries to develop in the process.

This initially appears paradoxical because China is a Communist dictatorship with little official recognition of human rights. Nevertheless, China may succeed over the US in this respect.

I suggest that most of the rest of the world would see it more like that.

WAY to hot potato for me but I will say this in line with the OP.

Ideology, politics, ethics and morals in our formative years were found not at school all the time but in our six week holidays.

I thought it started with line 3 but besides that, pretty much there from memory after a Google.

"You got to fight for what you want,
For all that you believe.
It's right to fight for what we want,
to live the way we please.
As long as we have done our best,
then no-one can do more,
and life and love and happiness
are well worth fighting for."

 

[JT Smith]

Didn't know what else to do to correct it.

Edit it. :-)

 

[JT Smith]

Childhood is not all about (school) education.

Exactly.

Being human is not all about being productive.

 

[BillTre]

Didn't know what else to do to correct it.

Not from my post.

 

[gmax137]

These things are not monolithic, at least in the US. Here, school systems are local, run by the county/town/city. Back in the 1990s I was working in Florida. One co-worker was a local woman, brought up in the Palm Beach County schools where she had a four-semester year round schedule - I think they had a month between semesters. The number of school days per "grade year" worked out the same as anywhere else. She said she, and most others, loved it.

EDIT
I had elementary school in Virginia in the 1960s. Our summer off started first week of June, back to school first week of September. Few houses had AC and none of the schools did. It would have been brutal to have school in the summer.

My co-worker mentioned above would have been in public schools in the late 1970s/ early 80s; I think they had AC everywhere in Florida by then. Florida would not exist as we know it if not for Mr. Carrier.

 

[PeterDonis]

I had elementary school in Virginia in the 1960s. Our summer off started first week of June, back to school first week of September. Few houses had AC and none of the schools did.

It was still the same schedule in Virginia in the late 1970s and early 1980s when I went to school there. Most houses had AC by that time, but many of the schools still didn't.

 

[mathwonk]

some arithmetic: according to AI, there are about 50 million public school students in the US, and to extend the school year by 10 weeks (2 week summer vacation instead of 12 weeks) would cost almost $4,000 each, or almost 200 billion extra dollars. that's assuming the teachers and staff are open to working an extra 10 weeks a year.

 

[jbriggs444]

Here in the U.S. the number of days per school year is set by state law. The local school districts are then free to schedule the school year in accordance with that restriction.

Political pressure for low taxes and low spending then has the effect that local school districts schedule exactly the prescribed number of days. Periodically some district sets aside an inadequate number of snow days and an entitled wailing for waivers ensues after a too harsh winter.

e.g.

§7–103.

(a) Except as provided in subsections (b), (e), and (f) of this section, each public school under the jurisdiction of a county board:

(1) (i) Shall be open for pupil attendance for at least 180 actual school days and a minimum of 1,080 school hours during a 10–month period in each school year; or

(ii) If normal school attendance is prevented because of conditions described in subsection (b) of this section, shall be open for at least 1,080 hours during a 10–month period;

(2) Shall be open for pupil attendance a minimum of 3 hours during each school day; and

(3) May not be open on Saturdays, Sundays, or holidays in order to meet the 180–day or 1,080–hour requirement of this subsection.

 

[sevensages]

some arithmetic: according to AI, there are about 50 million public school students in the US, and to extend the school year by 10 weeks (2 week summer vacation instead of 12 weeks) would cost almost $4,000 each, or almost 200 billion extra dollars. that's assuming the teachers and staff are open to working an extra 10 weeks a year.

And we would have a better educated population if the summer vacation was reduced to two weeks.

 

[BillTre]

And we would have a better educated population if the summer vacation was reduced to two weeks.

There are also other ways in which a better educated population could be formed.
A major way would involve families in a child's education, but there are others.

 

[PeroK]

some arithmetic: according to AI, there are about 50 million public school students in the US, and to extend the school year by 10 weeks (2 week summer vacation instead of 12 weeks) would cost almost $4,000 each, or almost 200 billion extra dollars. that's assuming the teachers and staff are open to working an extra 10 weeks a year.

By the same argument, you could vave $200 billion dollars annually by reducing the school year by 10 weeks. And, of course, you could save almost $1 trillion dollars by abolishing public education altogether. There's an idea!

 

[Rive]

we would have a better educated population

... with plenty of additional behavioral disorders.
Consumption of sedatives is high enough already. With phone- and internet-addiction barely started to show their fangs I'm pretty sure we don't need all that.

 

[PeroK]

... with plenty of additional behavioral disorders.
Consumption of sedatives is high enough already. With phone- and internet-addiction barely started to show their fangs I'm pretty sure we don't need all that.

I don't see that the education system is responsible for that.

 

[Rive]

I don't see that the education system is responsible for that.

Still, overloading it quite likely would make it worse.

 

[nasu]

And we would have a better educated population if the summer vacation was reduced to two weeks.

More does not imply better. If you can't improve the 9 months or whatever is it now, what a couple months more do?
Thinking that there are simple solutions to complex problems is tempting. Can be dangerous too when the simple "solution" is forced from a position of power.

 

[martinbn]

And we would have a better educated population if the summer vacation was reduced to two weeks.

What about the week itself? Two days weekends! Isn't that too much? What about the days? How many hours per day? What about the nights? How many hours should children sleep? Just imagine how much they would learn if they slept only two hours a night.

 

[weirdoguy]

And we would have a better educated population if the summer vacation was reduced to two weeks.

No we wouldn't. It's basic psychology. No amount of wishfull thinking on your part will change the way humans, and in particular humans brains, work.

Mind you - I'm a teacher. Most of my students are already fatigued because of the amount of work they have in school and after it. It is very persistent in Poland that teachers don't understand that their subjects are not the most important and they assign huge amounts of homework. They want it the way it was in the 80s and 90s... And we have 2 month vacation period. I can't imagine it being shorter.

 

[PeroK]

What about the week itself? Two days weekends! Isn't that too much? What about the days? How many hours per day? What about the nights? How many hours should children sleep? Just imagine how much they would learn if they slept only two hours a night.

A couple of guys I worked with tried that. They slept two hours a night in the Data Centre and clocked on for 150 hours one week. One of them had a nervous breakdown.

 

[DaveC426913]

What about the week itself? Two days weekends! Isn't that too much? What about the days? How many hours per day? What about the nights? How many hours should children sleep? Just imagine how much they would learn if they slept only two hours a night.

Good point.
Saturdays are wasted. Kids could spend that time in school.
And why let them out at 3:30? If we kept them in school till 6pm, not only would that educate them more, but think of the money families would save on daycare!

 

[martinbn]

Oh, i forgot, the start age needs to be changed as well, may be three or two years old can start school. And they can stay in school till they are 25 or so.

 

[BillTre]

Saturdays are wasted. Kids could spend that time in school.

Woe, woe, woe.
When I was a kid (different times) Saturday mornings were very important to my education.
I learned a lot of sarcasm and irony watching Rocky and Bullwinkle!
Squirrel and Moose rule!

 

[PeterDonis]

When I was a kid (different times) Saturday mornings were very important to my education.
I learned a lot of sarcasm and irony watching Rocky and Bullwinkle!

And I learned a lot about how not to use high explosives from watching Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner.