Man, it must stink to be a kid these days, if the Post’s lede is to be believed:

Schools have reduced recess, cut back on physical education and done away with field trips. Now spring break could be the next target as some educators try to find more teaching time to accommodate testing requirements of the federal No Child Left Behind law.

This coming from the report that the school board in Maryland’s Howard County is seriously considering chopping its Spring Break in half next year, from one full week in March to the Thursday through Monday which straddles Easter weekend. While the school year would be appropriately shortened in June to atone for the lost days off, there’s plenty of opposition to the plan — parents and school staff are both lukewarm at best towards the idea.

Maryland’s NCLB scores are middle of the pack, hovering slightly above the national average. So will three extra days of preparation help?

Perhaps. But one logistical concern that comes to mind with this plan: what about the people that will simply pull their kids out of school to take family vacations? A more overriding issue: with these cuts in other activities, public schools risk becoming test-taking factories, pumping out class after class of kids that can answer multiple choice questions all day — but don’t know how to play four-square, gain the valuable experience in the inherent social hierarchy of gym class, or experience nature in a forest or art in a museum. This is as much an example of the establishment “teaching to the test” as you can find; sure, the three extra days may help boost the County’s scores slightly — but at what price for the students?

So what do you think: will a reduced spring break to further prepare for standardized tests, or is the cost simply too high for such an unpredictable return?