Hoping to improve academic performance at a pair of struggling schools, Spring ISD is adding 9 extra days for students at Ponderosa Elementary and Bailey Middle School.
"They're trying to put a band-aid on a bullet wound" said Texas based education expert, Jean Burk, "They're trying to play catch-up, and it's not working. They're ineffective government schools, run by the government. That's why we have such inefficiency."
So, while adding extra school days sounds like a novel idea, time is not the problem.
"Past research has clearly proven that just adding some extra days is not going to improve learning" Burk told KTRH, "It's going to ultimately lead to more student teacher burnout."
The real solution is, for schools to get back to basics.
"What they need to do is go back straight to the 3 R's, and teach the five core classes. That's what's going to help these kids" noted Burk.
Both of the schools getting the extra days were given consecutive 'F' grades. And to cover the costs, the Spring ISD is receiving $700,000 in grants from the TEA.
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