I see some hands over here...
in defense of the rule, (a) schedule pickup COULD be done online or the day after labor day if necessary, (b) nobody learns anything before Labor Day anyways, and (c) school schedules shouldn't be dictated by fall sports/marching band anyways. If anything, this benefits everyone and results in just a little bit of cooperation from everyone, which I don't think is too much to ask.
It doesn't benefit everyone.
a). Perhaps, but I am deeply skeptical.
b). No one learns anything after Memorial Day. At least before Labor Day you have enthusiasm for a new year going. All you're doing is shifting the burden from a week, maybe two in August, to a week, maybe two in Late June.
c). Yes, they do, they are school activities and should be acknowledged for their important role in the educational process. If the state really wanted this to work, they would mandate that you couldn't start fall sports practices before Labor Day. And then watch the fur fly.
And it's not a little bit of cooperation from everyone. It's a forciable mandate from the state without the input of local districts. That's not cooperation, that's coersion.
And I still want to know how this will economically benefit Northern Michigan's tourism industry. Can't people vacation elsewhere?
since when are laws made by cooperation? I don't remember cooperating to shield insurance companies and tobbaco and gun people from lawsuits?
Would the idea of a waiver for districts that would have a practical reason for starting early (say, a history of above-"average" snow days or lack of AC in the schools) fly in the Michigan legislature? This seems to serve as a grounds for compromise and some local control in Virginia, although with the parents and school boards, YMMV.
Brian, I doubt it. When you look at the nature of why this bill was passed, it's very clear that the tourism lobby pressed hard to get this passed and those waivers would likely either be ignored or seen as a give back. I wish it were that simple, but likely, it's not.
Interesting to note that they're discussing something similar down here in South Carolina about having everyone start school at the same time, especially since there is much more variance in start dates (many schools around here in Columbia started before the end of the first week in August while others in the state started more in mid-August). Some of the arguments here are centered around tourism, but others are related to the lack of air conditioning (or the inability to pay for it for that much more use during the year) in many of the poorer lowcountry schools as well as the needs of kids at home in rural areas to help out on the farms.
It'll be fun to see how this works or doesn't work in Michigan, and I hope that when our legislature gets together next January to bring it up for discussion again, I hope someone sees this.
Commenting by HaloScan
