Longer days and longer years can make a positive difference, but smaller class sizes, which allow more attention to each student, makes as much of a difference. Our model of urban public schools tends to want the most reward for the least resources--crowding students with many and varied needs into classrooms, and providing less enrichment.

Many urban public school teachers are well-trained, resourceful, and creative, but there is only so much blood one can get from a turnip. Let's consider those fixes and using the months of July and August for the kinds of enrichment that higher-income students enjoy.