Re: “Longer school day won’t solve problem” (letter, 10-8).

I applaud President Obama’s suggestion of a longer school day.

Children are often unsupervised for several hours every weekday afternoon. Early last century, when school times were originally decided, women were home in the afternoon. Now most are not. A longer school day would address this fundamental societal change.

Teachers cite unpaid hours as a reason for dissatisfaction. With a longer school day, districts would have more flexibility to assign planning periods within paid hours, reducing unpaid hours. The longer day could include labs, clubs, art, music, sports – all of which often require extra time from a teacher who acts as coach or adviser.

Homework loads now are often excessive. With a longer school day, teachers could spend more time on assignments in class and not be required to assign heavy loads of take-home work in order to complete their course curriculum.

A longer school day could mean that children would be safe and supervised, kept busy and engaged in positive experiences, have the opportunity to develop new interests and skills, and be free to enjoy family time when they arrived home.

This single mother thinks the proposal has merit.