[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 115 (Wednesday, July 31, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9315-S9316]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           YEAR-ROUND SCHOOLS

  Mr SIMON. Mr. President, recently a friend of mine, Gene Callahan, 
sent me an editorial from the Evansville Courier suggesting that 
Evansville look at year-round schools.
  The reality is the whole Nation should do that.
  We take the summer months off, in theory, so that our children can go 
out and harvest the crops. That made sense a century ago and maybe even 
60 years ago, but it does not make sense today.
  If we increased the school year from 180 days to 210, we would still 
be far behind Japan's 243 days and Germany's 240 days. And simply 
adding that 30 days would mean the equivalent of 2 additional years of 
school by the time the 12th grade is finished. But in reality it would 
be more than that. Any fourth grade teacher will tell you that part of 
the first weeks of teaching in the fourth grade is revisiting what 
students learn in the third grade. The three month lapse makes it more 
difficult for students starting in the fourth grade.
  But suggesting year-round schools is not going to be simple. We will 
have to pay teachers more. We will have to air condition school rooms. 
In essence, what we will have to do is to make the priority out of 
education that we must, if we are to be a competitive Nation with the 
rest of the world.
  One not so incidental result of that would be that our students would 
be better prepared, we would gradually reduce our illiteracy rate, and 
because students will have more opportunity upon graduation and would 
not be in the streets in the summer months, the crime rate is likely to 
drop some. The drop is not likely to be dramatic, but it would help.
  I commend the editors of the Evansville Courier.
  Mr. President, I ask that the editorial from the Courier be printed 
in the Record.
  The editorial follows:

[[Page S9316]]

              [From the Evansville Courier, June 17, 1996]

                 Take Another Look at Year-Round School

       The Evansville-Vanderburgh School Corp. has good cause to 
     consider starting the school year in mid-August--test-
     readiness of children is a valid concern in both home and 
     classroom. And in our view, the same argument weighs for 
     future consideration of a year-round school calendar.
       The school administration has recommended that the School 
     Board approve a calendar that moves up the beginning of 
     school by eight school days, in great part to allow students 
     more time to prepare for state performance testing.
       The ISTEP tests have been given in the spring, but 
     beginning in the fall, they will be administered the last 
     week in September and first week of October. With students 
     returning from a three-month vacation, it will be a challenge 
     for teachers to get them up to school speed in time for the 
     tests. The earlier start would buy time for students and 
     teachers.
       The premise here--that students returning from a long 
     summer vacation are not prepared to take a test--seems just 
     cause for consideration of year-round school, such as the 
     plan that will be tried at Lincoln Elementary School on an 
     experimental basis.
       In fact, children no longer need a three-month vacation; 
     they no longer need to be off that long to work in the 
     fields.
       Three months away from school is counterproductive to 
     learning. As a result, valuable learning time is needed each 
     fall to reacquaint children with learning and to refresh what 
     they learned the previous year.
       The School Board should approve the administration's 
     recommendation for the earlier school start, and then ask 
     itself if the same rationale doesn't justify a serious look 
     at year-round school.

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