Inequality — the cri de coeur of the left. The rich get richer while the poor get . . . actually richer too, in fact, though not as fast. We should stop obsessing enviously that the top 1% or 0.1% are so rich, as if their wealth makes others poor (it’s not so). Instead, the concern should be to give more people more opportunities to get rich(er).
America’s real inequality is between the well educated and the less educated. And that gap inexorably grows as the economy increasingly demands smart workers. So education ought to be the big equalizer.
And they only get it for half the year! What with weekends, holidays, and, mainly, the summer vacation which — at three months in America — is just about the world’s longest.
Poor kids fall further behind during those months. Studies have shown that such a prolonged hiatus causes children to lose a lot of what they learned in the preceding term. Affluent parents can offset this with enriching summer activities, which poorer ones can’t afford. Even just letting kids range free outdoors can aid development, but even this is curtailed by safety fears (largely overblown; though in the worst neighborhoods it is indeed dangerous for kids to be in the streets). Summer jobs too have largely become a thing of the past.
A 2007 Baltimore study found the summer learning fall-off could account for two-thirds of the achievement gap between rich and poor students, by their mid-teens.
It even actually makes poor families poorer. During summers their kids miss free meals in schools, so their grocery bills rise, and they face added child care costs too.
Lengthening the school year would cost money, but would benefit all American children — the poor especially, reducing the opportunity gap. We can afford the added cost. Indeed, this investment in our kids and their future ability to contribute to the economy would surely more than pay for itself in the long run.
