We've heard the argument for what seems to be eons now — schools are trying to put too much learning into too short days and years. As former Florida Rep. David Simmons pithily put it a year ago, "We are, in fact, trying to shove 25 pounds of sugar into a 5-pound sack."

It's no longer a GOP refrain.

President Obama is now calling for shorter summers and more time in class for our kids, the AP reports.

"Now, I know longer school days and school years are not wildly popular ideas," the news agency quotes the president as saying. "Not with Malia and Sasha, not in my family, and probably not in yours. But the challenges of a new century demand more time in the classroom."

The research suggests he's on to something. Several studies have shown that expanded time learning leads to better results (go figure). But try selling it to the special interests, which have tied up even small changes to the school year calendar in Florida's Legislature for the past three years.

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