| shikamaru317 said: The school year is longer than ever, my sister gets just 9 weeks off from school in the summer now I hear, 2 weeks shorter than the summer break when I was in school. The school day is also longer, it starts at 7:30 AM now, compared to 8:15 AM when I was in school. The student to teacher ratio is worse than ever, and teachers are still greatly underpaid. The US education system could use a major revamp for sure. |
In my district (Fairfax County) middle and high schools are starting later than they did when I was in school (HS class of 1998). The summer break is exactly the same as when I was in school - early/mid June through Labor day. Student to teacher ratios have moved way, way down. Teacher pay has gone up a fair amount, to the point where it is no longer reasonable to argue that they're underpaid, especially when you consider that their work weeks average to about 32 hours over the course of a year.
With that said, I agree tat the US education system needs a major revamp. Public schools have become ridiculously expensive, to the point where it is much more expensive to send a kid to public school than private, for a far inferior education. I favor getting government completely out of it, so that kids can get a decent education at a much better price, free from political interference and bureaucratic bloat.
