Legal for schools to give summer work?

Question

Is it legal for public schools to give mandatory work in the summer? If so, then why? The summer break was originally created because farmers needed their kids to work on the farm during these months. How could they have been expected to do the work?

Answer 1

It is legal and sometimes mandatory.  Most of the time, it's only reading, so that you can "hit the ground running" on Day 1, but the summer break is becoming shorter and shorter and there is a move towards year-round schooling.  Fewer and fewer students are needed to harvest, so the first day of school is now in August instead of after Labor Day.

Answer 2

Summer work is completely legal and I'm sure it wasn't around when farmers could just pull their kids out of school for summer. Summer work is mandatory because some schools wants kids to read a classic novel and have it in their heads when school starts. Others just want to make sure kids remember things. I wish my school would let us borrow text books over the summer because I'm in my last year of middle school, trying for AP classes, and I really want to look over the materials.

Answer 3

It's legal, and for the purposes of having a certain novel/subject in your head so you're ready to start the school year off. Summer work is usually only given for AP/Honors classes, classes that move at a much quicker speed than normal classes, so you need to have done some on the first subject you'll be covering because it's going to go by fast.

That 30 minute a day plan that someone before me pointed out is excellent, and I wish I did it now that I'm on my last week of summer and not even halfway finished with my summer work.

And your arguement doesn't make much sense, as this is a completely different time, they can't be compared.  

Answer 4

Yes it's legal. Don't know if that statement about the origin of the summer break is true but if you are correct then to answer your second question, summer assignments are easy enough that you can get them done if you put in 30 minutes each day. 30 minutes a day is enough for kids to complete the summer assignment and they can spend the other 23 and a half hours working on the farm so yes, they could have been expected to put in 30 minutes a day to do schoolwork over the summer because 30 minutes  a day is not really much time is it?

Problem is most kids put off their summer assignment until when the summer is about to end, then they're stuck with all that summer work and only a few days to do it but that's their problem, not mine.