Longer school day just a dishonest ploy

President Obama has discovered that American elementary education leaves something to be desired.

The rest of us have known about it for years.

Conservatives have long called for education reforms in American grammar and high schools. Conservatives prescribe a renewed focus on objective academic rigor, such as math, science, history, classic literature, and geography - and homework and testing to support such studies - with much less time wasted on subjective and political issues like global warming and pop culture. We only have so many hours of productive time with these students every day; we should make the most of every minute.

Such proposals are a non-starter among the Democrats - real history and objective facts are rarely on their side - so they have failed to acknowledge the problem. Until now.

Every parent and every teacher knows that there is an objective limit to the ability of any student to absorb information. We need to better manage the time in the current school day's length, assigning more rigorous work on more rigorous subjects, making room for it all by dropping the fluff.

A child needs time for class, recreation, homework, and family; much longer time at school will crowd the rest, which, frankly, are important to a child's development too. But these others don't create taxpayer-funded jobs, like more time in class would. For already-stretched public schools, with school boards terrified as the recession shrinks their tax receipts, the President's proposal is tantamount to a tax increase, and for no real benefit at all.

John F. Di Leo

Palatine