Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey has proposed an education reform for longer school days and shorter summer breaks. The republican governor brought up his idea in the national debate over whether the extra school hours will be beneficial to the students overall education.

As he did in his first, Governor Christie is focusing on education during his second term in office. In his State of the State address in January, Christie said, “Our school calendar is antiquated both educationally and culturally. Life in 2014 demands something more for our students. It is time to lengthen both the school day and school year in New Jersey.”

The Governor has not gone into much detail about his plan, so it is unclear how many days the governor would like to see added to the 180-day school year.

Christie has suggested that longer school days will help students compete in the world economy. By providing more time for each subject, the Governor hopes student achievement will escalate, particularly for struggling students.

Some high performing charter schools have reported using a longer school calendar with great success.

This new calendar, if approved, will most likely take years to be established, so for now the 180-day school year and 7-hour day will stay in place.