ATLANTA -- There's a new bill circulating at the State Capitol to shorten the school year by as many as 10 days. One author of House Bill 262, says it would give families more summer leisure time. Another author is quoted as saying "a longer summer would boost tourism spending as well as the sales tax that helps fund school construction.

Neither one seems to be saying whether it is better for students' education.

Right now students only spend about half of their waking hours in school. They devote almost as much time playing video games and watching television as they do in school. Georgia students are already behind many states when it comes to education, so to shorten the school year and expect to pack in the same amount of education is like voodoo math.

If you think 180 days in school is too long, just take a look at students around the world.

European nations have almost twice as much ... 210 days... Japanese students spend 240 days in school, which means by the time our kids graduate from high school, Japanese students would've had four more years of schooling. No wonder our kids are at a global disadvantage.

As far as spending more summer leisure time with the kids, I don't know too many parents other than educators who have two months straight vacation do you?

The bottom line is House Bill 262 should be given a failing grade and it should not be allowed to advance to the next level.

I'm Bill Hoffman