Teachers and parents are struggling to define exactly how much homework is too much.
Some school districts in Massachusetts and Florida have fielded complaints from parents and are now banning homework in elementary schools.
Some school districts assign several hours of homework every night.
Paul Bummer, Principal at La Paloma Academy South in Tucson, Arizona, eschews a homework policy in favor of having his teachers use common sense, assigning the appropriate amount of homework due to students' ages.
The National Education Associatioin and PTA endorse a 10-minute cap on all subjects per grade level per night. That means a first grader could bring home 10 minutes of homework, a sixth grader could do an hour of homework, and a high school senior could handle two hours a night.
Brummer says parents should work with their children to enrich their education.
"As a parent I would hope that you would want to read with your child every night," he said. "That's something that should be done whether you classify that as homework or now, but reading with your kid, going over with your children what you can do to help that child succeed in the classroom, all those things I think a parent should do every night."
The PTA says stress and pressure can come from homework overload.
