At a meeting I attended in West
Des Moines last week, an education lobbyist spoke to our group about what is
going on right now on Capital Hill relative to education. We are past the funnel and a number of
education bills are going forward and are currently being worked on in
committee. One that educators are
watching closely is whether Iowa districts will get 4% allowable growth funding
next year, which would be great for all of the districts and students in the
state. However, while this is important,
as is the pending legislation on teacher evaluation and compensation, I have a
feeling that another topic that we are being told is going to come up for a
vote this year is going to generate its fair share of water cooler talk. What is that, you ask? School start date.
From what I am told, politicians
are tired of this being brought up every year and to get past it, they are
going to bring it up for a vote. Here is
the debate. According to Iowa Code,
school in Iowa cannot start until the week of the first of September. However, schools can apply for a waiver and
start earlier. I don’t know the exact
number, but nearly all districts submit that waiver and start much closer to
the middle of August rather than the first of September. Like many of you, it seems to me that school
starts earlier each year, but looking at past calendars, the actual start date
has been relatively constant. The
comment I hear most often justifying the mid-August start is “I don’t want to
be going to school in June!” I get it,
but I am one of those in what seems like a minority because I argue that in
buildings that are not air conditioned, it is a heck of a lot hotter in August
than it is in June! I don’t have a
problem waiting a little while to start school.
So the reason that the legislature is said to be having this discussion
is because Todd Wolverton would rather wait until September to start school,
right? No! There are far more powerful forces out there
pushing this agenda.
We do have people in our area
that attend the State Fair in August, some who would just as soon we start
school a little later in the month so that they can exhibit their livestock, or
spend vacation with family at the camp grounds.
But even they don’t have the power to push this agenda with the
legislators. The influence is coming from
the State Fair and the tourism lobby, and right now it looks as if they have
the ear of our elected officials in Des Moines.
I am not sure that waiting to start school is going to increase
attendance at the fair, but I guess that it could. However, high school students are a source of
cheap labor that vendors and others who need workers want to employ during the
run of the fair. I am not sure that
cheap labor is a worthy trade-off for school, but that is the loudest voice as
other employers like Adventureland and the resort areas throughout the state
want to keep these kids on the payroll through Labor Day if they can.
If you have a strong opinion
about the school start date, you need to contact your elected officials. If you believe that local school districts
are in the best position to make the decision as to when school should start,
then express that with your legislator.
Personally, I don’t have a horse in the race right now. I just hope that whatever happens it does not
inhibit districts from having a longer school year. I do have an opinion on that!
