Georgia Lawmakers Eye School Start Dates

Georgia Lawmakers Eye School Start Dates

The Associated Press

Last Modified: 8/30/2004 2:41:11 PM

ATLANTA (AP) -- Students and teachers in most of Georgia have been back in school for weeks, their family vacations and lazy summer afternoons replaced by another nine months of lectures, homework and cramming for tests.

Now, some Georgia politicians say they've heard from enough frustrated parents to consider stepping in and passing a law that would push back the first day of school and making it the same day for all schools across the state.

This year, classes resumed the first week of August in some Georgia school systems. Almost every school was back in session by Aug. 9.

That's in contrast to some states, where school starts in late August or early September, and nearly a full month before the week of Labor Day -- when school traditionally began in Georgia.

"I just don't see any advantage. I have not seen anything -- in studies or the results of testing -- that shows this is the better way," said Barb Twist, an Athens mother whose 11-year-old daughter has been back in class for weeks.

Parents like Twist complain that the earlier start dates squeeze family vacation time and jacks up taxpayer-funded power bills at schools that must rely on a lot of air conditioning to stay cool in the steamy August heat.

"Then you have small children who are playing on asphalt sometimes or heated surfaces," said Twist, a former high school teacher. "They can get dehydrated; they can get heat exhaustion."

Supporters of the early start say it puts Georgia schools in line with college class schedules, making it more convenient for teachers to take courses over the summer. With the earlier start comes an earlier end to the school year, allowing teachers to enroll in summer classes that typically start in late May or early June.

Some say a few extra weeks in school also give students an edge when it comes time to take standardized tests like the SAT and Georgia's Criterion-Referenced Competency Test -- which is used for the federal No Child Left Behind law's school accountability measures.

State schools Superintendent Kathy Cox balks at talk of creating uniform start date for the school year, saying local educators know best what date works for their students and their families.

"Students are still required to attend school 180 days and decisions about how to divide up those days throughout the year are best made by local boards of education," Cox said.

Georgia's school year isn't getting longer, Cox said. The last day of school is in late May in many systems, giving students a jump on summer vacation when compared to schools in other places.

That's not stopping some lawmakers from taking a close look at start dates, though.

State Rep. Butch Parrish, D-Swainsboro, chairman of the House Economic Development and Tourism Committee, last year sponsored legislation that would have required school to start between the last Monday in August and the Wednesday after Labor Day.

Parrish says the bill was introduced to trigger discussions about the issue. The legislation did not make it out of committee.