You have or had a hard life. I'm sorry. It must have permanently harmed you, it seems!
I'm not familiar with the "Yule, or Pagan," but I agree, we don't need it off from school.
No thanks, I don't wish to try living in Indiana, summer or winter!
There are two reasons for NOT starting school after Labor Day and dismissing school in Early June, as it should be:
One: The administrators don't want it that way.
Two: People with free flying tickets want to haul off and go every month at least! To heck with the rest.

Well, it also provides administrators and teachers more vacation and one more month of pay!
School should start the first Tuesday after Labor Day, and end the last school day in May, three days for Christmas, and one day for other holidays needed. 90 days off.
Nine months is enough except for summer school.

We get paid 12 months/year, regardless of how long the summer break is. Also, we get the same amount of days off regardless. Kids in this state are required to get 180 class days per year. That number doesn't change when we shorten the summer vacation--we just shuffle the no-school days around.

I would certainly enjoy the 3-month vacation, personally, but it really is about trying to improve the quality of education.
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The real truth is simple--it's lies that are complicated.

Please explain your theory as to how so many school breaks make for a better quality education for the students.
I've heard "bored," I don't buy that. and a few other insignificant reasons; but I have a ton of reason why the Administration
and the instructors want it.
The school is about students, no one else. Parents may count a little, I suppose.

I guess you haven't figured out that education is a big money-making business. The people at the local level (especially those in the school building) have no power. It's our elected officials and their buddies that make all the decisions. It's the "experts" selling their ideas that decide which path the school systems will take. Consider Max Thompson, he's laughing all the way to the bank, don't you think? Someone, somewhere, has sold someone else the idea that gong to school all year, with breaks here and there, is the best way to educate kids. I'm sure that a team of experts was able to back this up with a page of statistics. I guess we'll find out, in a few years, if it works. Remember whole language? Ha! What a joke.

Gump disagrees, but I agree with you. I have lived in Georgia my entire lifetime (51 years) and we learned just fine starting after Labor Day and graduating the first of June. Oh well, I was just stating my opinion earlier and I do beg to differ about the Ski Trips, I know too many people that take these trips.

Hey, you certainly have the right to your opinion. I'm just trying to be informative as to the educational system's motivations behind this change. I'm sure people DO take advantage of the long Winter break, but what's wrong with that? The main thing is what's best for our kids, but at least you get a vote on the matter.
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The real truth is simple--it's lies that are complicated.

This is not about winter ski trips. It's about education. Kids tend to brain-dump what they learned, over the summer vacation. The longer the summer vacation is, the more they brain-dump. I teach math, and the first month or so of each school year is spent trying to get the kids back to the point where they were at the end of the previous school year. Maybe it's not so bad in the other subject areas, I don't know. But if it was up to me, we would have a shorter summer vacation, with longer breaks during the school year. The kids would retain their learning better that way.

Think of it this way. When you take vacation time from your job, if you ever take longer than two weeks or so, it feels strange when you return, and you're a bit rusty at whatever you do. I'm speaking from my previous career here, but one time I took three weeks off, and when I returned, I was "off my rhythm" for a couple of days.

Right now, different school systems are addressing this problem in different ways, but I think you are going to see a continuing trend towards shorter summer vacations than what we used to have. There's a limit to how short they can get. For one thing, there needs to be enough time for summer school. However, I don't think you will ever again see any 3-month summer vacations. It hinders learning.
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The real truth is simple--it's lies that are complicated.

:However, I don't think you will ever again see any 3-month summer
:vacations. It hinders learning.

I don't buy this for a second. Nor do I buy the very unproven theory that smaller class sizes somehow "improves" education. The theory also ignores the real-world work experience that a 3 month break makes possible. Real job experience as a teenager is more of an asset than the education system seems to realize. So much is made of the "no name-calling, no this, no that" instead of real skills that translate into success as an adult.

It's amazing that a system that once shuttled blacks off to the worst schools still produced a black literacy rate far above what today is the norm. That old system also graduated people from high school that had some semblance of grammar and spelling...they had the oral and written communication skills to hold a JOB. Yes, the parents and society as a whole are definite factors that are dragging down performance, but there are experiments in education that aren't working. The male teacher has become almost an endangered species also which is another factor in the decline.

There are too many successful people who went to crowded schools and had 3 month summer vacations to ignore, especially in comparison to what is being "produced" these days with the emphasis on reducing class sizes, adding extra breaks, and throwing money at problems instead of creating solutions. New math? A disaster. Switching away from phonic-based language skills? Another experiment in breaking what was not broken.

There is no doubt the the public education system in America is a big business and also attempts to be a political force also. Just like any other business-especially one that is solely taxpayer funded-it needs to be judged on results and accountable to its masters, which is the taxpayer. The results aren't good at all. The school schedule is one instance where the parents' wishes are directly ignored, which means it's up to the parents to start replacing board members with those who will be held accountable.

I sympathize with you Gump and wish you the best in an environment that is not conducive to having a lot of success. I just don't happen to agree with you or others on the "brain-dump" theory nor the impact of what is forgotten. The system is very broken and if not fixed pretty soon, the concept of public schooling may disappear.

NUK