Obama wants longer school year, teachers want shorter work week

[Sbane]

I'm totally against lengthening the school year or even the school day.  My reason is these kids need a break from school and need to get outside and play.  We are all for giving adults breaks, but what about kids?  They're human, too, and need rest just like their parents do.  I think having only 6-8 weeks off between the spring and fall semesters is not enough.  Kids need 10-12 weeks off.  I like the school day and school year the way they are.  Plus, some of children's best education comes from play and home.

Kids around the world manage and I am sure American kids will manage too. If not, they deserve to be crushed by those hardworking kids around the world. I am against extending the school day though.

[Sbane]

Our colleges are certainly the best in the world and there is no debate over that. But have you seen who actually gets PHD's in this country? It's not Americans. I think at least half of the people getting advanced degrees should be Americans and we should make this happen by improving the education system at lower levels rather than having some stupid quota system.

[Sbane]

Our colleges are certainly the best in the world and there is no debate over that. But have you seen who actually gets PHD's in this country? It's not Americans. I think at least half of the people getting advanced degrees should be Americans and we should make this happen by improving the education system at lower levels rather than having some stupid quota system.

Cite please.

Perhaps it's because there are few decent PHD programs outside the US, thus the best and brightest in the world fight to get to US universities.

I read somewhere the figure was 3/4th but I'll try and find a cite for you. And I don't find anything wrong with financing someone's education when they have proved they have what it takes to succeed in the program. Even a middle class Indian or Chinese is not going to be able to fund his studies in America. Also at the end of the education we end up losing a lot of them to other countries because of the difficulties companies face with the H1B system.

http://blogs.bnet.com/bnet1/?p=505

http://www.nytimes.com/glogin?URI=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/01/washington/01visa.html&OQ=_rQ3D1&OP=25c9f3feQ2FQ27Q3FZjQ27vT_UFTT-nQ27nll1Q27lQ2AQ27l(Q27Q3FpUy7Q20Q7C-TQ20Q27l(Q517UpQ2By-Q5Do

And here's a cite for the % of foreigners in phd programs. It was 71% in 2006.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-10784_3-9734099-7.html

[Sbane]

Ahh. My number was for engineers I am guessing.