It's almost time for students to head back to school, and that's
rekindling a conversation that's been going on for years in
Minnesota: Should the school day and school year be longer?
After months of discussion, Chicago decided to begin its
experiment with one of the largest school districts in the
nation. The elementary school day will be extended by an hour
and 15 minutes. High school students will have 36 more minutes
of learning, and all students will spend an additional 10 days
in the classroom. FOX 9 News spoke with Susan Heegaard, vice
president of educational achievement at the Bush Foundation, to
see whether a similar plan could work here. Watch the video for
more information. Compared to other countries, America is near
the bottom when it comes to the average number of school days.
South Korea has 225 school days, with China following closely
with 221. Australian students spend 196 days in school. The
international average is 193 days, but the U.S. average is 180.
Minnesota's school year is 174 day