Giving Compass' Take:

· Conor Williams questions the current school system schedule and explains how longer school days could boost student success and make life less stressful for parents.

· How do parents juggle the difference in school and work schedules? Should school schedules mimic that of traditional work schedules?  

· Read about the 4-day school weeks in Colorado suburbs.

The history of the United States is a series of efforts to establish (and re-establish) policies and public institutions capable of delivering the promise of the Declaration of Independence. For instance, many years ago, we realized that our political system was fostering un-democratic concentrations of wealth and inhumane labor conditions, so we instituted anti-monopoly laws, passed a progressive income tax, and recognized collective bargaining rights.

It’s not a clean process, and it often takes far too long. But it works, piece by piece, as our decentralized political system shuffles up to imperfect ways of making America better at living up to its core promises. Education reforms are no different: In so many ways, our schools are built for an earlier version of American society and economy. Structural changes can help make them work better for children and families.

The lag in these reforms even shows up in schools’ schedules. Why do schools run for (on average) less than seven hours per day? Why does school generally end before 3 p.m.? Aside from educators themselves, almost no American adults work that sort of schedule.

That misalignment has consequences. School schedules put pressure on families struggling to construct a sane, healthy life for their children. In an era when slow wage growth means that only a dwindling number of parents can afford to stay home to care for their kids full time, many parents pay extra for before- and/or after-care so they can juggle school and work schedules.

Read the full article about longer school days by Conor Williams at The 74.