Most Americans believe that summer vacation was set because in the early history of the country, the United States free schools mostly taught the children of farmers. They needed the children at home on the farm to help with the summer growing season. Now that only three percent of Americans live on farms, and there’s no need to keep the kids at home, some people are starting to think they should keep the kids in school for much of the summer. They think that on average, American schoolchildren lose about one month of classes over summer vacation. A teacher says, “Students today are competing against children in India and China. Those students are going to school 25 to 30 percent longer than the US ones. Our students, I think, are at a competitive disadvantage.”
　　It isn’t really true. While students in Europe and Asia many have different education schedules, they don’t really spend more time in school. That’s because of the difference between the number of days and hours spent in the classroom. When one adds these numbers, it appears Americans are spending just as much time in school as students in most other countries. American students living in some of the most populous states such as California, Florida, New York, Texas, and Massachusetts, spend about 900 hours a year in school while Indian students spend 800 to 900 hours per year. China, too, provides about 900 hours of teaching per year. The hours of education provided to students in other developed countries range from 608 hours in Finland to 926 hours in France. And Finland is a top-performing country in terms of education, its children averaging among the world’s best-educated students.
　　Educators have been trying for almost 50 years to keep students in school longer. It mostly hasn’t worked. Part of the reason was that it just didn’t work. As one Dallas head teacher explained, “There was no proof it helped with test results, or attendance, or anything.” Parents also hated the schedule. Many teachers and school officers found that the new schedule was not good for family lives and vacation planning. One middle school teacher said she was unable to teach well enough without a few months off in the summer.
　　The real reason we’re not going to school in the summer is probably because we just don’t want to. We have other plans!
　　Vocabulary
　　disadvantage n. 劣势
　　schedule n.计划安排表
　　range from 从…到…范围
　　proof n. 证据
　　How much free time do you really have in summer vacation?