@ThinkTwice are they old enough to find their way home, memorize their parents' phone number, and know not to talk to strangers? Give 'em a house key and send 'em out.

I wasn't a kid *that* long ago, in New York City no less, and spent every summer day from early morning to late night out at the park, the schoolyard, and around the neighborhood with friends.

This is also a valuable form of education.

"that summer vacation is important for kids"

My sister and her husband would say otherwise. They'll spend a few weeks out of three months with their kids on a trip but the rest of the time, their constantly scrambling to find someone to keep an eye on them or their pulling their hair out trying to keep them from forgetting everything they learned at school.

Install some window AC units and send them to class.

This poor solution ignores the root of the problem. Kids need a better quality of education, not a more time-consuming one.

It's like people who are terrible at their jobs but think staying late, working weekends, not taking vacations makes up for that. You're not doing better work, just more bad work.

I am surprised NYC schools doesn't utilize year-round rolling trimesters (3 months on, 1 month off). The system can help with overcrowded schools, kids dont need too much of a recap after vacation and parents arent compelled to keep their kids occupied for 3 months in a row. Actually I'm not surprised; a lack of creativity and ambition pervades grade schools throughout the country.

my goodness. this is the interview i gave. i've never been more misquoted. amateur. i did say he keeps up with the trends, but i also said that his iphone is a cracked hand-me-down from when his father upgraded and that, although i didn't agree with him getting such an expensive phone, the mass hysteria that ensues as soon as school lets out and the fact that the students are leaving campus for lunch, means a phone starts to become a necessity. the "expensive" book bag he carries is in it's second year of use.

i also mentioned that much of the money i spend every year on my son is school-related expenses, for trips, supplies and band material. not what goes on his body because he wouldn't even notice if he were wearing old navy.

but, you got your sound bite, i guess. lazy.

-tawny cypress

I know I enjoyed my long drawn out summers as a kid, but growing up in an southeast Asian household meant study sessions in the morning and early afternoon, then I could go out and play. I f-ing hated it, but I have to admit, it did work out in my favor education wise.

My cousins who live back in Asia, and even the ones in London, go by the extended school year schedule. When you observe the ranking of the U.S. in math and reading compared to the ones of other countries, it's pretty abysmal and embarrassing, especially for a nation that touts itself as one of the most enlightened and advanced in the world. So I say, endure the pain, shorten the vacation, and make education a priority for the youth, and let them make their wild dumb mistakes when they hit college.

@Darkseuss...

RE: your comments about cousins in England being part of an "extended" school year. What is this exactly? Schools in the UK typically get 6-7 weeks off over summer (plus 2-3 weeks over Christmas, 2 weeks at Easter, plus 1 week "half-term holidays" in the middle of each term).

I'm not particularly familiar with the US school system, so do you mean the US school year is even more generous with holidays than the British system I described above, or are your cousins in some kind of specialist school?

p.s. I'm not doubting you, just curious (I know on the internet honest enquiries can sometimes unintentionally sound like snarky provocations).

sorry, this was meant to be a universal comment, not just for moonriver.

That's the Post for you. I was at a protest once, and one of their reporters cornered me for some questions. As soon as he told me who he was affiliated with, I just walked away. The truth is boring to them.

Yes, yes, yes!

More education that's exactly what we need!

Why didn't anybody think of this sooner?

Our kids are falling behind the rest of the world and it's no coincidence that their school year is longer, so we need to revamp our school system to remain competitive.

Good job Obama!

Keep up the good work!

My child has a $20 book carrier and the minimum in school supplies. And NO iPhone, thank you. But the school had the nerve to REQUIRE a $75 class fee in addition to a $15 workbook fee for Spanish and then hit me with the old school picture package which needs to be paid for BEFORE the pictures are even taken. All this in the first month of school!!! I paid for the workbook, sent a note in telling them there was no way I was paying for a classroom fee when my child goes to public school and I have a very nice digital camera sooo...no school pictures either. geez

Oh great, another month in school, another month of salaries for the useless teacher's union.

kids in grade school should not have iphones they need to foucus on work not texting during class. adding amonth of school is not going to help they need to over haul the system get rid of teachers who are there to just collect paychecks and hide behind union rules.deal with the discipline and violence problems in schools if a kid is a constant trouble get them out.Gangs are in the high schools heavilyand create a lot of problems what happen to the special schools they had for hard to deal with kids? if you are a parent of a kid in an urban public school you know what a three ring circus schools are like now.you hear your kid come home with the stories of what goes on.the teachers spend more time dealing with the trouble makers than dealing with the class .this is why so many kids don't want to go to school they fear going near the building everyday because they do not know what is going to happen to them during the day school is suppose to be a safe place not a place you are afraid to go to

Did you skip that few years of school where they taught basic grammar and sentence structure?

What!? 10 year old needs an iPhone?? WTF? Who is paying that $100 bill..Mommy and Daddy.

Instead of extending the school year why not compacted it? Look at how college does it. Students get 1 month off for the winter and then 3 months for the summer (Spring break for a week).

How many times does middle school and high students actually have a full 5 day school work? Every other week there is some sort of holiday off or half days.

Forget to mention I had the same JanSport book bag throughout middle school and high school. Even used it in college..

And yet these "parents" start crying poverty over having to shell out subway fare for their rugrats to get to school. How about just having your kids keep up with their f'ing grades instead of stupid trends.

Something tells me that the parents that can afford iPhones for their kids are a different group of people than the folks complaining about MetroCards. Just sayin.....

And by the way, virtually anywhere else in the country, if you live a mile from your school, a bus picks your kid up and drops them off at your front door every freaking day. Again, just sayin......

Ditto...and thus, we have discovered the curse of following trends. Trends, by their very nature, are temporary. When they end, what you have is no longer "in" and you must discard it, purchasing next year's "in" item.

On the other hand, if you buy something un-trendy and perfectly functional, it may well last you years or decades.

Oh man, you missed an op to use a pic of Mark Harmon in Summer School! Chainsaw!