Easley had talked of vetoing a bill to set back the starting date of public schools in this state to no earlier than Aug. 25 each year.

The change would add at least two weeks of summer vacation for most traditional-calendar schoolchildren (i.e., those not in year-round programs) and could have been a full three weeks of extra rest-and-relaxation this year for students in Vance County. Supporters say it lets students work summer jobs for longer, should keep North Carolina's tourist-trade booming throughout August, and gives parents more time to plan summer vacations - all goals we can stand behind.

Detractors, mostly school administrators, argue that the shortened schedule would hurt students by cutting into teachers' planning and professional development time. And Easley seemed to side with them, even though the North Carolina Association of Educators - the state's largest union for teachers - supported the reduced schedule.

Before signing, Easley received some assurances from the state Board of Education that teacher training wouldn't suffer. He also probably came to the realization that parents and grandparents - otherwise known as "voters" - seemed overwhelmingly in favor of longer summer vacations. And there's a good chance they'd have voiced displeasure at the ballot box this election year, something Easley might want to avoid in his re-election bid against Republican Patrick Ballantine.

Whatever the impetus for his decision, we're glad to see that Easley signed this bill into law. Already some school districts are laying the groundwork for waivers and exceptions that would allow them to circumvent the rule and start classes early next year anyway, but this legislation was a necessary first step toward giving summer back to North Carolina's families.

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