VIRGINIA BEACH -- Is a longer school year the answer to making American education more competitive and, if so, how do you make it cost effective?
Those are some of the questions being asked today, a day after President Barack Obama said a longer school year would improve student test scores. He’s concerned that U.S. students are falling behind other advanced countries.
At a time of deep budget cuts, some people wonder whether spending billions of dollars is worth it.
"It seems like a far off land before we're in a situation (where) we could afford to do that," said Va. Beach Education Association President Dominic Melito.
Melito added that Virginia Beach tried year-round classes at three schools but found it was too expensive and there was no growth in student learning.
