Clinton Endorses ‘Very Unpopular Idea’: Lengthening School Year

CLARKSBURG, W.Va. —  In a surprise addition to his education agenda, President Clinton said Thursday that he favored the “very unpopular idea” of a longer school year as a way to help America compete with other industrialized countries.

“I have always thought that if you could afford it, it was a good thing to do,” Clinton said during a town hall-style meeting with 160 students, teachers and parents in north-central West Virginia.

“The only major industrial country with a shorter school year than we have . . . is Belgium,” he added. “Every other nation in the world with an advanced economy has a longer school year.”

Clinton’s comments came in response to a questioner who wanted to know whether the president believed that U.S. elementary and secondary school students should spend more of their year in the classroom. In his answer, the president noted that the current system of lengthy summer vacations has its roots in an era when America was a nation of farmers.

“I think on balance, it’s a good thing to do,” he declared.

To date, Clinton has emphasized national standards and testing programs as strategies to raise the quality of local schools, an area in which the federal government has traditionally played only a minor role.

While the idea of a longer school year has not been central to Clinton’s agenda, which also includes $35 billion in proposed new tax breaks for higher education, it is something he has considered for a long time. As a presidential candidate in 1992, Clinton said he “would not rule out” a longer school year, but he placed his emphasis on “steps to ensure that our children spend more time learning while they are in school.”

Opponents of a longer school year argue that hard-pressed school districts would face burdensome new expenses, including higher teacher salaries and air-conditioning bills.

White House spokeswoman Ann Lewis soft-pedaled Clinton’s remarks, saying the president viewed the longer year as an idea worth considering. It is “not something that we are wholesale recommending, but he does think it ought to get serious consideration,” she said.

Clinton also said Thursday that West Virginia and Massachusetts had signed onto his plan for voluntary national testing as a way to elevate school standards. The president has called for voluntary standardized national tests for fourth-grade reading and eighth-grade mathematics. Michigan, Maryland and North Carolina have also endorsed the plan.