Happy 4th of July + 1

I don't have children so I can only care so much, but I find it hard to believe that in 2023 we still have this weird school system that insists on the school day ending at 3pm. There's an entire cottage industry of "oh, if you actually want us to watch your kids until you get home from work which gee just weirdly lasts at least two hours after our for-some-reason designated 3pm closing you can pay extra for (insert name of bullshit 'camp' here)", which of course makes life easier for people with money but does nothing to help those who don't.

Meanwhile, all I hear about - and I've witnessed some of this - is that children have hours & hours of homework every night, so I really don't know why we can't just fucking extend the school day until 6pm, giving all parents a chance to get home for their kids without having to pay some bullshit extra nonsense, and those hours of 3pm-6pm can be designated purely for homework. I really don't know why this hasn't been done so far, other than the probably insanely ugly truth that of course as America we hafta squeeze every dime out of the "free public education" we're supposedly supplying as a part of "American Exceptionalism".