Some Tennessee schools will be adding some extra time in the classroom next school year.

As part a three year pilot program, some schools will add 300 learning hours to their calendar in 2013 to make schools more competitive on a global level.

We checked with the Tennessee Department of Education and learned most of those schools will be in urban areas like Memphis and Nashville.

Sullivan County Director of Schools Jubal Yennie told us he believes there is value in adding more time in the classroom, but even if the program is a success, it's uncertain if it will be used statewide. "It's certainly possible, but there's a lot of politics involved in it as well. If you're talking extended time, you're talking about obviously extended time for teachers [and] parents, and for a local government to be able to respond and pay for teacher salaries and those types of things," Yennie explained.

Tennessee is one of five states participating in the program. Other states taking part include Colorado, Connecticut, Massachusetts and New York.