Taxes? Cobb county has a tax exemption for citizens 62 and the portion of the tax bill that is exempt is "surprise" the portion that goes to education. Why? Is it because once you turn 62 you stop contributing to your community? Good schools are a driver when people buy houses and if you don't contribute then you can't complain about the neighbors you get. So are we raising the next generation of coddled kids? What happens when they go to college, will Johnny be able to handle a school year with out as many breaks? Then when Johnny get's into the real world and is offered a job with only one weeks vacation is he gonna say "no I'm used to having more time off then that". There were some post's that neede to be able to schedule vacations, REALLY!? Maybe that is why Georgia is at the bottom for national ranking of it's education system. The balanced calendar should be called the distraction calander because that is what the kids focus on, that next break. It breaks any momentum the kids have and if there are no activities planned (due to working parents)then they are bored. Kids belong in school, teachers belong at work (but the unions make sure they don't have to be). If I ask my employer to give me a couple extra weeks off so I can "reenergize", can you guess his reply?

#42: - Reality Check

The reality is that I work and don't get 3 months off in the summer.  I don't take my vacation all in one lump sum.  I have to stagger my vacation time just like the Balance Calendar does.   And in college, there are breaks between quarters.  So I don't see how the traditional calendar helps give our kids a reality check.  If anything, the balanced calendar is more reality than the traditional calendar.

#42: - Reality Check

We are talking about children, not young adults in college and not adults in the workforce. Please keep that in mind, kids need a chance to be kids. There is so much more pressure put on these kids than I ever faced while I was in school.  As for the teachers, having off those 2 weeks doesn't change the fact that they still go to work the same amount of time. Yes, teachers get a lot of time off of the year, but that is the nature of their job; if you would like some time to "reenergize"  and have a couple of weeks off than maybe you should try teaching. Give it a try, see how "easy" it is!

Absolutely! As a community, we need to focus on education and not how many breaks we get a year! Georgia's educational ranking should dictate what we need to focus on, and a balanced calendar is not it. Officials need to look at states whose students perform well in school and adopt the same practices that they do. Let's focus on what we can do to improve the quality of our children's education. More parents need to volunteer at the schools to help enrich learning at school. Parents need to make school a priority, not sports or free time. Ask the children what they did on their "break". Most kids will tell you that they played video games, watched television, and stayed up late. It takes at least three or four days for children to adapt after school restarts after a break, which means that most of them are not productive. And let's not forget the countdown to the next break! Let's send our kids to school in the beginning of August, when it is so miserably hot outside, that the students cannot go outside for recess and ride non- air conditioned buses to and from school. Yes, Cobb County residents, let's WASTE more time on this ridiculous issue! Adoption of a calendar that is more aligned with the rest of the country will allow us to mimic states with an effective educational system and give year end exams at the end of the school year. CRCT exams are given six weeks before the end of the school year, so our students think that they have completed the school year at that point. Unfortunately, that's true. So, curriculum that is supposed to taught in a 180 day school year is taught in 150 days.....When will that be addresses??

#42: - Reality Check

Newsflash- children aren't adults in miniature version.  It isn't developmentally appropriate to expect (especially the youngest ones) to live and work according to the same calendar/schedule that you do.  Taking smaller, more frequent breaks throughout the year instead of a longer, three month vacation each summer is much better for their retention of learning.  Also- Georgia isn't a 'right to work' state, so your attempt to bring the unions into this doesn't hold any weight.  The teachers' unions have very little power here in Georgia, except as a lobbying force.