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The governor has called for extending the school year by 20 days to 200, adding them at a rate of four days every other year during the next decade.

But many of the more than 250 people who wrote to the governor and lawmakers after details of his plan were released said it's a bad idea.

Several complained that the longer school year wouldn't justify the higher costs for teachers' salaries, busing and even air conditioning -- if there is air conditioning.

"I mean, you try sitting in an EXTREMELY hot school all day for an extra 20 days," fourth-grader Ashley Murphy of Lebanon wrote in an e-mail to Strickland.