State Board of Education members spent considerable time Tuesday talking about something many want but they aren't going to get. Not in the foreseeable future, anyway.

The state's public education leaders want kids at school for more than 180 days, and they talked a lot about how China and India have longer school years, Lynn Bonner reports.

"We better pay attention to what's going on in other parts of the world," said board member John A. Tate III.

Board chairman Bill Harrison acknowledged that having students spend more time at school is not something that's going to happen soon, considering the state's financial straits.

In fact, Wilkes County schools got permission from legislators to cut this school year to 162 days and make each day 45 minutes longer so it could save money.

Nonetheless, the state should talk about ways to have students spend more time at school, Harrison said. Perhaps a small test program could be proposed as part of the state's application for a federal education grant, he said.

"When we look at disadvantaged students, they're really doing nothing productive when they're away from school," Harrison said. "The most productive thing they're doing is sitting and watching TV."

While most in the room endorsed more time at school, state superintendent June Atkinson said some students may be better off spending less time there.

"Some kids don't need to come to school everyday," she said.

Atkinson wants the state to move toward "personalized education plans," which she said would involve, for example, chances for high school students to take classes, work at internships, and work on projects with mentors.

"We've squeezed all the drops of educational juice out of the traditional schedule in public schools," she said. "Traditional schedules don't work for all students."