Voa education report - Some (Adults) Call for Shorter Summer Break for US Kids

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is the VOA Special English Education Report. The traditional school year begins in late August or early September. ends in May or June, followed by summer vacation. such a long break? Because long ago, young people to help their families harvest the summer crops. At this is what people today may think. The reason more to it. A recent report from an education center at Indiana University explored the historical roots of traditional school calendar. In the early days of the States, children were not required by law to attend . School calendars depended on local needs. Students in rural went to school for no more than six months the year ---- half in the summer, half in winter. They worked on family farms during the other . City schools were often open much longer, some for months of the year. Parents were happy to have place for their children to go while the parents . National leaders took a fresh look at schools after Civil War, in the eighteen sixties. They saw a public education as a way to help support a democracy and prepare workers for new industries. Immigration was and so was the student population. More and more saw the need for a system of required education. they had different ideas for the calendar. Many city wanted a shorter year and a longer summer break. schools were often crowded. There was no modern air and air pollution from factories was a problem. Hot would make it difficult to learn. A long summer would also give teachers time for other jobs to to their low pay. Many rural educators, however, pushed a longer school year. They thought it would keep safe from industrial dangers at a time when there few child-labor laws. They also thought it would lead a better prepared workforce. So the traditional school calendar a compromise, with roots that now go back about century and a half. The average school year used be one hundred seventy days. Times have not changed . Today the common average is one hundred eighty days. some experts think the traditional school calendar needs to because the needs of the nation have changed. This has led some schools to keep students in class . More on that next week. And that's the VOA English Education Report, written by Nancy Steinbach. Transcripts are voaspecialenglishcom.. I'm Bob Doughty.

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