America's second largest school district is joining a nationwide revolt against homework. Starting July 1, the Los Angeles Unified School District will mandate that homework can only count for 10 percent of a kid's grade, even in high school. Will this make grading more fair for students who have a hard time studying at home, or will it merely encourage everyone to slack off?
It's about time kids got a break: Homework has been on the rise in this country for decades, says Kayla Webley at TIME. Assignments for kids as young as 6 tripled between 1981 and 1997, to more than 2 hours a week, and more work gets piled on every year. "For too long homework has been used as a form of punishment," especially for kids who don't get much support at home. And let's not forget about teens who are "the member of the family charged with putting food on the table." They just don't have time for massive amounts of homework.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
