Virginia District Defends Cutting Classroom Time Due To Budget Constraints

The Washington Post (12/15, Brown) reports that the school district in Fairfax County, Virginia, cut extra classroom time last year to balance its budget, noting that "some schools had tacked hours onto the day, and others added weeks to the year - methods used nationwide to lift student achievement. After the extra time disappeared, scores on state tests slipped at several of the schools." However the district's Graham Road Elementary maintained its high scores despite having "one of the highest poverty rates in Northern Virginia," a statistic which district officials say proves "that extra time was a popular but now unaffordable luxury."