Missing from BOTH Obama and McCain education policies

We need a 200-day school year

ScienceDebate2008 does a great job of comparing their stances on 14 science-related questions.

Bothare AWOL on the critical issue of American schools and students needing alonger school year, as I e-mailed ScienceDebate’s Shawn Otto.

All other advanced democracies have a school year of at least 200 days, compared to our puny 180 days. Most go 210 days or more, or even push 200 days or more.

Is it no wonder our students fall further and further behind, when they get 15 percent fewer days in school every year?

And,remember, that as each school year theoretically builds on the learning ofa previous year, that 15 percent gap compounds itself, year after year.

That said, there are some definite differences between the two on science issues, which I’ll be tackling later today.