Los Angeles Schools Consider Pros, Cons of Year-Round Schedules

While driving through downtown very late one night recently, I was struck by the towering empty skyscrapers brightly illuminated by the full moon--a spotlight on inefficiency. It wasn’t until reading Odden’s modest proposal that I hit upon the solution: day-round business.

By staggering work hours to allow for three full eight-hour shifts beginning at 8 a.m., 4 p.m. and midnight we could achieve incredible results. Traffic problems would be greatly improved, factories would operate at higher capacity, employment would rise--imagine all the labor needed for 24-hour restaurants, gas stations, libraries, dentists, etc.

The day-round business need not and should not be enforced only in the heavily congested downtown area; the entire county of Los Angeles should be part of this experiment whether or not they favor the plan.

I must confess that the professor and I have one thing in common: He will doubtlessly watch the implementation of his scheme only during normal college months, September through May, while I will also be a spectator in my experiment--my view being from a hot, crowded elementary school classroom some time during the summer days between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. Come to think of it, maybe a midnight track for school children would be even more productive than year-round tracks. How about it, professor?

KEN LANDSMAN

Manhattan Beach