Moral Failings

One of my many, many flaws is that I harbor a regrettable fondness for being right. I won't say that I told you this just recently, but:

Students at Mount Vernon receive an extra 25 days of school a year, comprised of optional intersessions attended by 98 percent of the student body. According to the National Association for Year-Round Education there are roughly 3,000 schools in the United States with year-round programs.

This calendar is more in line with the rest of world. In Japan, for example, students spend 243 days in class, while Americans are only in class for 180.

Teachers at the school say they notice a definite difference.

"I call it the summer hangover," said first-grade teacher Jennifer Fisher, who has taught in both traditional and year-round schools. "You really have to spend so much time getting them back into the frame of mind of school. They're not even thinking about school. ... It was very frustrating.

"With this calendar, they don't have a chance -- it's like those extra five weeks, it prevents the hangover," she said. "You know, so they have five weeks of fun and then it's 'Oh, OK, we're back at it.'"

The Obama administration is pushing for longer days and more of them.

When our kids are in school for 243 days a year, let's see how well they do.