California tells schools: Go easy on homework

Are U.S. students working too hard? Really? California's new "healthy homework" law tells schools to set homework policies that alleviate stress and "promote learning equity and well-being," reports Newsweek's Khaleda Rahman. Homework policies should "consider the resources available to students to successfully complete homework, including parental support and access to technology."

Homework is overwhelming students, says Assemblywoman Pilar Schiavo, who sponsored the bill. Students get behind on homework and can't catch up, says the mother of a sixth-grader.

While students trying to get into elite colleges load up on AP courses, extracurriculars and sports, the average U.S. students spends about an hour a night on homework. Students from low-income homes do less, non-poor students do more.

Asian immigrant teenagers spend the most time on homework, black teenagers spend the least.