Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!tamsun.tamu.edu!mtecv2!americast.com!americast.com!usa-post From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Newsgroups: usa-today.issues,americast.usa-today.issues Subject: issues Mon, Aug 31 1992 Message-ID: Date: 31 Aug 92 08:51:28 GMT Organization: American Cybercasting Lines: 106 Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com 08-31 0000 DECISIONLINE: Issues & Debate USA TODAY Update Aug. 31, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network Here are some of the issues and topics being debated across the nation Monday morning in USA TODAY: Education, Handguns. TODAY'S DEBATE - EDUCATION: USA TODAY'S OPINION: The long summer break from school is coming to an end - permanently, in some school districts. They believe that less time out of the classroom is good for kids. They're right. The longer the break, the less children remember what they learned the year before, most educators say. Especially hard hit are slower children, those with learning disabilities or emotional problems and those whose first language isn't English. The best solution: a longer school year with shorter, more frequent vacations to give kids more time for learning and less for forgetting. ... While the U.S. school year is 180 days long, the world's average is 200 to 220. Japan's is 243. Few schools in this country have tried a longer school year. But what evidence there is is impressive. In Buena Vista, Va., high school students can attend two extra months of academics, ranging from remedial to college courses. Ninety percent choose to attend, and test scores that were below the national average when the program began now meet or exceed the average. There also is ample evidence that shorter, more frequent vacations pay off, even if the number of days in class remains the same. In Cibecue, Ariz., site of an Apache Indian reservation ... students who took part in last year's new nine-weeks-on:three-weeks-off plan had better attendance records and higher test scores. Making longer school years mandatory may be impossible now for many budget-strapped districts. Even in good times, costs and dislocation for families mean the idea has to be phased in gradually: Oregon's plan to move toward a longer school year may take 20 years. ... by making the school calendar more flexible, schools will be in a good position to move toward an extended school year. That's a good place to start if U.S. students hope to match the competition. OTHER VIEW: D.L. CUDDY, a former teacher and official of the U.S. Department of Education: More class time? A study at Johns Hopkins University concluded better use of existing time is what's needed. Longer school days would impact negatively upon students' time for homework, after-school employment and extracurricular sports and music. Many would be leaving for, and arriving home from, school in darkness. And there'd be more teacher burnout .... Proponents of year-round school say students will forget less of what they've learned, but instead of one break at the end of courses, year-round school has three or four breaks during courses. ... There'd be no summer school to make up failing grades, no summer-long employment or Little League. Tax increases will be needed for more teachers, more teacher workdays, school maintenance and buses. And when and how will teachers upgrade their certifications? A study of year-round school in Los Angeles found lower Scholastic Aptitude Test scores and more student burnout. Studies in Houston and in Prince William County, Va., found no significant difference in achievement levels, but more costs. Houston also found teacher and student attendance dropped and overcrowding didn't decrease. ... Why listen to "progressive" educational leaders advocating more class time when they're the ones who've presided over our educational decline? Rather than spend more class time doing what's failed over the past 30 years, true educational reform means returning to practices and discipline that made U.S. schools the best in the world. VOICES ACROSS THE NATION ON WORSENING HANDGUN VIOLENCE: WESTBORO, Mass., Dani Monroe, 40, mgmt. consultant: Handguns are more acceptable because of television, the media and movies. The handgun is glorified by teenagers and young adults. Social and economic pressures add to the trend. It's an extension of people's anger about the times in which we live. GREENVILLE, N.C., Bill Isley, 31, sales representative: The homicide problem is a decay in social and cultural values, not necessarily the availability of handguns. The killings are indiscriminate. That is more a reflection on society's lack of values than anything else. Handguns are only part of the issue. PHOENIX, Ariz., Patti Judge, 48, caterer: It used to be things were settled with fists, and now they're settled with guns because they're so readily available. Kids over the last 10 years have had no parental respect and love. And there's violence everywhere. It scares me to death. SPRINGFIELD, Mo., Patrick Donadio, 52, minister: The laws of the country are not rigid enough. Hunters, sportsmen and target shooters shouldn't be penalized because crimes are being committed with guns. Government, laws and police should come down hard on criminals who use handguns. Issues & Debate Editor: Kate Coughlin. (1-919-855-3491) Making copies of USA TODAY Update (Copyright, 1992) for further distribution violates federal law. This article is copyright 1992 Gannett News Service. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM