Comment Roundup: NASA and School Years

Several stories sparked online discussions on Gaithersburg Patch, but we were drawn to two, one on and another on .

thought NASA into the Department of Defense:

"Bring NASA under the DOD and you'll have new ships coming off the rack in no time. You can rehire all the engineers and keep all the people who are working on stealth fighter/bombers who look to see they're programs cut with money going elsewhere. Certainly mastery of space and space flight is an important component of any defence strategy."

had : "Why not go the other way? Increase science and education spending by 10%, and decrease defense spending by 10%? Net result - deficit gone in a decade, a more peaceful posture, and human existence improved."

On the school year debate, which was sparked by a suggestion by Comptroller Peter V.R. Franchot, several commenters thought school districts should return to the practice many adults remember of the first day of school after Labor Day.

. "Horrible idea. High stakes tests like the AP are the first two full weeks of May. School should start the second week of AUGUST and end before Memorial Day, as it does in many districts out west. This provides students with more time in the classroom BEFORE these tests are administered. You know what goes on in classrooms after the high stakes tests are completed by the end of the second week in May each year? Very little, that's what. Franchot's idea would make a bad situation worse. ..."