Minority school districts considering four extra weeks of mandatory class

[undergroundrailroad]

Longer school year a possibility for some

BY JOHN HILDEBRAND
Newsday Staff Writer

March 24, 2006

The idea of four extra weeks of mandatory schooling each year might come as a jolt for some Long Island students intent on spending their summers off.

Still, extending the school year from 180 days to 200 in high schools with the lowest graduation rates is one of many ideas now quietly under discussion by State Education Commissioner Richard Mills and other high-ranking school officials.

On Long Island, the high schools affected would be in Central Islip, Freeport, Hempstead, Roosevelt and Wyandanch. Another 102 high schools in New York City would be affected.

Yesterday, Mills visited Freeport High School - a racially diverse, 2,200-student building, and one of 127 schools statewide now scrambling to solve that problem at the state's direction. There are about 1,000 public high schools statewide.

The commissioner praised the school's efforts to improve - for example, by hiring two new reading teachers and by scheduling teachers' extra-help sessions for students during lunch hours. And he asked students what they thought.

[Zookeeper]

1. That idea comes up around here periodically...

after several years of cuts in school funding due to our anti-tax Rethuglican governor. It's insane to extend the school year, but not lower class sizes! (IMHO..)