Another call for education reform, and another serving of weak tea.

This time, it comes from state Reps. Brett Davis (R-Oregon) and Leah Vukmir (R-Wauwatosa). They put out a press release urging leaders of the state Legislature to “act aggressively” on reforms they believe will boost student achievement levels in the Milwaukee School District.

While some reforms make sense -- dividing MPS into a series of smaller school districts and attracting more math and science teachers through alternative teacher certification -- it excludes the most important education reform: scrapping the anachronistic 178-day school year.

America is alone among advanced nations in maintaining a school year that’s dictated by the farm calendar. Students in Milwaukee -- and most other American schools -- are subject to seven-hour school days crammed into nine months. Then they’re sent home for three months to forget what they learned during the previous nine. A school calendar that more resembles Europe’s and Japan’s doesn’t extend seven-hour school days into the summer. Instead, it trades shorter school days for a longer school year. Rather than a binge-and-purge curriculum, students would be instructed in a manner that’s more consistent with their ability to absorb what’s being taught.

Davis and Vukmir call for summer school programs for students who aren’t proficient in 4th- and 8th-grade math assessments, but the summer learning gap affects every student in Wisconsin, and it covers every subject. The education achievement gap isn’t just between poor students in Milwaukee and the rest of Wisconsin; it’s between American students and the rest of the world in fields like engineering and computer programming. Davis acknowledged the global issue when he asked, “How can we compete in international levels when so many of our students lack even the basic skills needed to perform on the job?” That question can be phrased another way: If American schools aren’t keeping up with other countries, then why can’t we adopt a school calendar that’s used by the rest of the advanced world?

There is little doubt that Milwaukee students would benefit greatly from a school calendar geared more toward learning than preserving summer vacation. So would students everywhere else.