AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - Top
education leaders in the Texas Senate are examining ways to extend
school days and school years to improve classroom learning.
Members of the Education
Committee heard invited testimony Thursday from a school administrator
at Houston Independent School District. There, officials sought
permission to increase the school year by 10 days at some struggling
campuses.
The district also made the
school day longer by an hour at some campuses. It paid for the
initiatives using government grants for at-risk children and donations
from businesses and the local community.
More time at school helped students improve dramatically academically.
Senators also heard from a
nonprofit group that taught struggling public school students in Dallas
on Saturdays using its own trained professionals rather than area
teachers.
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