When you go to the polls this November, keep in mind what's at stake for our schools and communities. The school year matters, summer matters, and so does your vote.

We lose 20% of our public investment in education, every year, when we fail to take stock in summer and give kids opportunities to keep learning from one grade to the next.

When not addressed, the devastating effects of summer learning loss are ongoing and cumulative, affecting students' performance throughout the whole of their academic career.

The fact that summer looms so large for many kids and adults as an inalienable right to absolute time off communicates something sad about the way we view intellectual growth.

As a leader in driving technological and social innovation, California can lead by example in making STEM teaching and learning a summertime priority.

Students regress about a month during summer break. But for children from low-income families, it can be even more, especially when it comes to reading growth. And over time, this phenomenon snowballs.

During the school-year, critical academic skills are regularly reinforced. Summer is a completely different story, as most kids hardly pick up a pencil in June, July and August.

Too much junk food and sedentary activities and not enough healthy meals and exercise often adds up to summertime weight gain, especially among children.

Most of us know June 21 as the longest day of the year and the first official day of summer, but it is also a call to action in support of our children -- National Summer Learning Day.

All kids are at risk of losing over two months of math performance during the elementary school years.

While many families are planning summers filled with educationally-enriching activities for their kids, the vast majority of low-income children in the U.S. lack access to summer learning opportunities.

On this National Day of Blogging for Real Education Reform, it's a great time to talk about how to get American young people the extra learning time they need to prevent summer setback -- whatever you call that time.