So far I have been doing good. I have got my introduction completed and I am finishing up my narrative part on my op-ed. I still need to write a counter argument to my piece because as of now it definitely lacks persuasion which is very crucial for op-eds. I am having a hard time figuring out how I can make a counter argument. Especially for my topic, convincing students to go to school for longer is not an easy thing. I want to be completely done by the 19th of May. I usually use that day to reread my piece a couple of times before handing it in. Personally I feel like I’m doing fine but I always have a mindset of “my work is horrible” so sometimes I have a hard time coming up with that conclusion on whether I’m doing good or bad. I would probably be interested in publishing my piece on NYT or Bloomberg if I do a good job.
It’s good that you are thinking carefully on a counterargument. I have an idea for your counter: Parents would not be unhappy about longer school year. “Free” childcare, “free” summer camp (usually so expensive), parents always feel more learning is good.
Also look at other countries school years. For example, I know that CHina has the kids going 11 months!!!! Maybe other countries have similar longer school years than America.
Fact: American students do not perform well on Global Subject Tests . I am not sure what this is called, but there is some kind of United Nations or some organization that lists Math Scores, and other subject scores for All NATIONS. Singapore always tops…and US is always way way down. Our kids are just not learning as much or as well as other countries; they don’t perform well on these global tests. What does this portend for America’s future, considering we are also facing huge learning loss?