Question

Read the excerpt.

Students (and teachers for that matter) should be able to enjoy summer vacation! Year-round school is a bad idea for that reason. But even if students don’t go on vacation, many get summer jobs or go to summer camp, which are important parts of the childhood experience. The proposals we’ve seen in this school district call for more frequent breaks to make up for the lost summer, but these would only serve to interrupt learning. Changing the school-year schedule would help students about as much as painting all classrooms blue.

Why does the author compare changing the school schedule to painting classrooms blue?

to describe the useless changes applied to make up for lost learning
to prove that the change to year-round school is harmful to students
to show how ineffective changing the schedule is

Answer 1

to show how ineffective changing the schedule is

The comparison says changing the schedule would be as pointless as painting classrooms blue — a superficial, useless fix that won't address real problems.