More Schools Moving To Longer School Days

By Dr. Marciene Mattleman

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - School days are getting longer. The National Center on Time and Learning, a group that promotes the extended school day, estimates that more than 1500 schools nationally now have additional hours.

Camden and Elizabeth, New Jersey, are moving to district-wide implementation and in New York, Governor Cuomo created a $24 million grant program to support districts moving in that direction.

In Boston, the teachers by agreement have approved a measure adding about an extra month of school in about 60 of the city's elementary and middle schools with compensation written in as stipends after rejecting an earlier proposal.

Funding is definitely an issue. An article in Education Week points out that teachers agree with research, that the more time kids spend in school, the more they learn; but longer hours disrupt lives of teachers and families. And more of the same shouldn't be added.

Enrichment activities like chess and debate are fun and have been shown to increase academic performance.