Almost one-third of the students in Missouri public schools are taking time away from their summer vacations to go back to class. Missouri has only one school district that has a real year-long schedule. But school is far from a nine-month experience with three-months off for hundreds of other districts. About 30 percent of the students in Missouri who have finished their regular school year of at least 174 days are adding days to their school years. Education Commissioner Kent King says most are doing it voluntarily, but not all of them. Missouri is among the states requiring the fewest days in a regular school year. King cannot say that adding days to the regular nine-months would improve learning by a certian percentage, but he knows learning increases with more time spent in class – including summer programs.
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