HarlemLIVE

Recently, President Barack Obama announced that in his opinion the students in the United States don’t spend enough time in the classroom. He felt that not having enough time in the classroom places American students at a disadvantage, compared to students from other countries who have longer school days and longer school years. He has declared as his mission to implement a plan, which would shorten the summer vacation and lengthen the school days.
For many students the President’s plan would mean less time to spend on extra activities or to just to relax. Many also feel that summer vacations should not be reduced. But, extending school days has both good and bad aspects. For parents, who feel it is great for their kids to be in school longer and for teachers who love their job or feel they need more time to get the job done an extensions would be great.  On the other hand, for students it can be horrible because it might provide more stress and strain.
Students argue that school is already eight hours long, more than enough for one day. In 2007, the dropout rate in the United States was 6.2 million. In New York City the high school dropout rate is 15 percent and rising according to the Department of Education. The graduation rate in New York City is 45.2 percent the fifth lowest graduation rate in the country. Is making the school day longer going to help those statistics or make them worse?
The way I see it President Obama's school policy will only fill up GED classes. This plan may work for kids that go to school everyday and enjoy school, but what about the kids that already dislike school, have other responsibilities at home or with work. Additionally, teachers are likely to feel tired and overworked. Yet, the extended school day plan could work because kids will have more than enough time in school to study longer and receive one on one help from teachers.
To get a feel of how other students felt, we asked a few to share their opinions on the President’s extended school day plan.
Jason Young, 18-years-old and a senior at Andrew Jackson High School, said, “Shortening of summer vacation isn’t a good idea although the lengthening of a school day might be a good idea. In addition, I do feel students spend enough time in school.”
Heidi Ramozo, 17-years-old and a junior at New Town High School, said, “I think it’s really unnecessary. Eight hours of school is enough. Five days a week, many students can’t even be in school for that long and to cut summer vacations is going to discourage students from going to school.”
And, Justin Angotti, a teacher at Voyages High School, said, “I feel it’s a good idea especially since he wants to kick out ineffective teachers and create smaller schools. It’s going to be a lot of work, but I feel everything will be fine.”