President Obama wanting to extend school hours

I recently read in an article online that President Barack Obama is considering to extend school hours in Public Schools. For me on this topic, I disagree but then at the same time agree. I just graduated from high school last year, so i can definitly see myself in their shoes not wanting to have to stay past four o'clock in the afternoon at school. But think about it, our taks scores and how well grade school kids are doing these days in school isn't so good. Apparently we are doing alot worse on grade scale than other countries. For example, "But the challenges of a new century demand more time in the classroom. If they can do that in South Korea, we can do it right here in the United States of America." This quote was from President Obama comparing us to South Korea's school system. President Obama is proposing that longer class hours as a part of a broader effort to improve U.S. schools that he said are falling behind foreign competitors. My feeling on this is that President Obama is trying to have us in a competition with other countries that seem to be doing a whole lot better in education than us. I personally feel that it's great that he wants for the U.S. to do better in education, and to encourage our kids to try harder in school, but those kids in South Korea we're raised a whole lot differently than how kids in America are. To me I believe South Korea's culture is mainly focused on education. Basically all that those kids do is go to school, come home and go straight to the books. Here in America we have kids that go to school, have practice for either a sport or hobby, hang out with friends, and then do their homework on their own time. It's very different.

"It is time to start rewarding good teachers and stop making excuses for bad ones," he said in a speech to the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. "Too many supporters of my party have resisted the idea of rewarding excellence in teaching with extra pay, even though we know it can make a difference in the classroom."
I very much agree with this quote. Since I am working right now for my degree in early childhood education, I think increasing the pay for teachers would be AMAZING, because I am very well aware of how the pay is now, and I feel that it isn't fair. Being a teacher is not an easy job, and "good" teachers are well needed everywhere! "Teachers want to make a difference in kids' lives, and they appreciate a president who shares that goal and will spend his political capital to provide the resources to make it happen". I can really relate to this quote because for me when I do become a teacher I want to enrich my students knowledge and lives. And I am very supportive of President Obama's goals on trying to improve the school system, but then again i'm not so in full force of pushing back school hours. I do feel that it would be great for students to have more time in the classroom to learn, but then again you want those kids to have normal lives. Not to get home when the sun is pretty much going down, and have that be their whole day. But he is very right in that our students in America could be doing alot better.

This topic has so many different opposing and proposing viewpoints, so in that it makes it very difficult to come to a conclusion on what should be done in the school systems. But in my opinion I feel that are students do need more motivation and encouragement from their parents and teachers to try to their very best in school because education is so important. The only thing I don't understand is why we need to extend the school hours, because it probably won't make a difference on the grade performance.