In response to the "School Year Stretch" editorial in Tuesday's Alligator: The idea of bringing reform to the public school system is nothing short of completely necessary and painfully overdue.
However, it's also high time we quit blaming our boots for the faults of our feet and accept that summer vacation is not the evil culprit for less than stellar test scores. It's all of us - students, parents, teachers, etc.
Longer school days are not the quick fix to achieve the desired improvements without first making some key changes to teaching methodology and funding.
A consistently overlooked problem here is low teacher morale, which is still plummeting.
A non-motivated teacher cannot proficiently motivate non-motivated students. If we raise standards and salary, more quality teachers would be hired and would teach more effectively.
Upon graduation, students might know the difference between the "their," "there" and "they're."
So Obama, leave the school day and the summer alone. They've done nothing wrong. America's education system doesn't suck; it's just a mirror.
If you look in the mirror and see garbage staring back, don't blame the mirror.
