French Kids Strike Over Vacation Cut

French schoolkids are saying "non" to a shortened summer, with young people nationwide joining wildcat strikes and staging walk-outs to denounce plans to cut a month of vacation time. Which is all very French, notes the Independent, except that the plan doesn't exist—the education minister merely called for discussion of the country's unique scholastic timetable. Try telling that to students: For some, this is a wonderful chance to rage at Sarko. For others, as one student says, it's simply "a good excuse not to go to school."

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