Experts say the schedule hasn't changed because it's so entrenched. Liz Fuller-Wright, a New Jersey mom, said her sons' school schedules were "completely incompatible" with full-time work.

But on March 26, Will’s first day out with the bike, it was stolen while he and his mother, Liz Fuller-Wright, were in Walgreens. “We stopped and put his bike on the sidewalk and then decided ...