Article: Ring the school bell year round.

I see two problems with this article. One, it assumes that only constant activity can prevent summer learning loss; every article I've read suggests that a fairly light amount of reading with a small amount of math will maintain skills over the summer. Two, the author's conclusion that increasing class sizes as a means of lengthening the school year, particularly form low income, high-risk students is an acceptable is wrong.. The only articles I have seen that suggest class size is meaningless were paid for by those who have a vested interest in proving class sizes are meaningless.

Having said that, I will say that our insistence as a country on maintaining a school calendar based solely on the agrarian needs of the past society may not be our best choice, but unlike the author of the article, I do not think that lengthening the school year and paying for it by increasing class sizes will have any kind of beneficial effect.