Though $100 billion in federal stimulus package funds is being devoted to public education, many schools are still cutting summer school programs, as documented in this New York Times article. This is despite Education Secretary Arne Duncan’s pleas for summer school to remain a priority.

The importance of summer school is supported by research indicating that students from low-income families lose more math and reading skills over the summer than do their wealthier classmates, who generally participate in more intellectually stimulating activities. Summer school is a way for those students to excel without having to pay for learning experiences like art classes, summer camp, or music lessons. The Times cites Karl Alexander as one sociologist who has documented this phenomenon.

“What we see around the country is teachers extraordinarily working hard, children working hard…and over the summer they lose that, and they come back to you in September further behind than they were when they left. That is absolutely heartbreaking,” Duncan has said.

Duncan also believes that children would benefit from longer school days and a longer school year. He noted that the reason United States have summer vacation is because students used to work in the agriculture market, which, for most, is no longer the case.

“It’s a huge opportunity to use this money to buy more time,” said Duncan of federal stimulus dollars and other funding. He described the idea of using stimulus dollars to fund summer school as an investment that he believes would bring high returns to the United States economy, which, after all, is the idea behind the federal stimulus package.

However, schools in California, Florida, New York, and North Carolina are among those who have cut or eliminated summer school funding, according to The Times. These schools are being forced to make budget cuts despite extra funding because of decreases in regular government funding.

There is no quick fix to this dilemma, which indicates that $100 billion dollars in public education funding is just a band aid on a cut that isn’t going to stop bleeding any time soon.

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