Answer: About 41%

Questions:

• Have you ever attended summer school? Explain your reasons for attending/not attending. 
• What are some reasons you think that so many students are going to summer school? 
• You are trying to decide between getting a job or going to summer school. List the pros/cons of each. 
• How might summer school lower your cost of attending college? 

Click here for the ready-to-go slides for this Question of the Day that you can use in your classroom.

Behind the numbers (from Bloomberg):

Over the last few decades, education has taken up more and more of teenagers' time, as school districts lengthen both the school day and the academic year. During the school year, academic loads have gotten heavier. Education is also eating up teenagers' summers. Teens aren't going to summer school just because they failed a class and need to catch up. They're also enrolling in enrichment courses and taking courses for college credit. 

In July of last year, more than two in five 16- to 19-year-olds were enrolled in school. That's four times times as many as were enrolled in 1985, BLS data show.

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Want to help your students find that first summer job? We have a great lesson to help them earn that first paycheck. 

About the Author

Tim Ranzetta

Tim's saving habits started at seven when a neighbor with a broken hip gave him a dog walking job. Her recovery, which took almost a year, resulted in Tim getting to know the bank tellers quite well (and accumulating a savings account balance of over $300!). His recent entrepreneurial adventures have included driving a shredding truck, analyzing executive compensation packages for Fortune 500 companies and helping families make better college financing decisions. After volunteering in 2010 to create and teach a personal finance program at Eastside College Prep in East Palo Alto, Tim saw firsthand the impact of an engaging and activity-based curriculum, which inspired him to start a new non-profit, Next Gen Personal Finance.