Virginia 'Kings Dominion Law' Repeal Rejected: Schools Still Start After Labor Day To Support Tourism

A Virginia Senate panel has defeated a set of three bills that would have repealed a state mandate, nicknamed the "Kings Dominion Law," that schools open after Labor Day.

The move marks a failure to update a decades-old policy, and comes after testimony by a number of tourism industry representatives, who argued that moving the first day of school before the holiday would hurt businesses at a vulnerable time, costing the state an estimated $369 million in lost revenue and wages and $21 million in tax revenue, the Richmond Times Dispatch reports.

The law's amusement park namesake and implementation originated in the 1980s to bolster Virginia's businesses and tourism industry. The current law permits school districts to start the year early only with a waiver from the state Board of Education for "good cause."

The defeated legislation would have allowed districts to set their own academic calendars. Currently, 77 of the state's 132 school systems already carry waivers to begin the school year before Labor Day, according to the Times Dispatch.

"We're very, very disappointed," Laura Fornash, Virginia's secretary of education, told The Washington Post. Fornash had pushed the Senate committee to adopt the legislation.

A House subcommittee on Thursday approved its version of the bill, which will likely face another vote from the same Senate committee if it passes the full House.

The House bill was introduced by Democratic state Sen. Joe Morrissey. At a news conference Thursday, Morrissey said allowing schools to start before labor day would allow room for more days of "actual education" and eliminate wasted tax dollars of $50 million a day, noting that the last 10 days of the academic year are wasted after Advanced Placement and standardized tests have been administered.

"Who is going to make the decisions?" Morrissey said at the news conference Thursday, WTVR reports. "I suggest that it not be Tweety bird or Bugs Bunny or Scooby Doo or Sponge Bob that makes those decisions. They ought not to be making education decisions in the Commonwealth of Virginia."

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Comments

[HexaShadow13]

11:01 PM on 02/02/2012

I'm a senior high school student, who lives in Virginia. This day off is great. No one wants to start off the school year with a full week.

Also the time after IB/AP/Final exams was when I learned the most from my classes. Teachers actually taught rather then preparing us on how to get better scores on tests.

[Ukie3]

12:16 AM on 02/01/2012

The children are the future, and for America to still be competitive on any top level in the future, school needs to be year-round.

[HockeyMom]

12:39 PM on 01/31/2012

Before Labor day is a pain for the parents. You work for a week getting your kids on a school wake up schedule and they attend for a few days. Then the kids get 4 days off and the schedule goes out the window.

[daughterusmc]

06:48 PM on 01/31/2012

Well, no one would want you to be inconvenienced.

[HockeyMom]

11:40 AM on 02/01/2012

Thank you.

[RuberHelios]

10:35 AM on 01/31/2012

Yes yes, tourism is more important than education!

No wonder this country is losing on Education to China and India!

[vinman043]

06:46 PM on 01/30/2012

New York State students go to school the Tuesday after Labor Day. But they also don't get out until the end of the third week of June. Does it really matter when a school starts as long as they get in the required number of days?

[daughterusmc]

10:31 AM on 01/31/2012

It does if the so called end of the year mandated state tests are required to be given 5 weeks before the end of the year, meaning that students and teachers alike lose 5 full weeks of time to prepare for these tests. The calendars are out of whack, not the number of days. If school were to start earlier, or the tests were to be given later, neither of which are actually up to the schools, then this problem would be solved.

[ladkraemer]

06:41 PM on 01/30/2012

Here in Ohio the schools start before Labor Day, I went to school in NY and we started the day after... I think it's so stupid to start a week before and smack in the starting have a holiday. Just add it to the end of the school year. When I was a kid Labor Day was the sign for the end of summer vacation, It was the last hurrah!

[daughterusmc]

12:28 PM on 01/31/2012

and I'll bet your end of the year tests were actually at the end of the year and not 5 weeks before...that's the problem. Either move the tests or change the calendar. Having end of the year tests before the actual end of the year is unfair.

[ladkraemer]

12:50 PM on 01/31/2012

You've got it. We also had real closed book N.Y State regional midterm and end of year tests. They where 25% of your grade. They also didn't teach to the test, but we had to know what was in the text book. I went to Catholic school and the public schools were the same.

[cooter1]

06:23 PM on 01/30/2012

I'm fifty years old but I don't think the young people have been supporting the most obvious reaction to this story. So, I will do it for them;
Yeahhhh!! Rollercoasters!
Boooooo!!! Starting school earlier!

[Geovan]

05:39 PM on 01/30/2012

Yet another example of why politicians shouldn't be in charge of education.

[outlawjames8]

03:36 PM on 01/30/2012

Well it's not like kids today really need more education. Where else would the republicans get their base?

[XV8 Crisis Suit]

02:15 PM on 01/30/2012

"The move marks a failure to update a decades-old policy..."

Yeah, this article isn't biased at all. I wonder what the author would say to the fact that this "update" has actually been shown to cause a net decrease in graduation rates and test scores? Probably nothing, since his or her opinion was probably made off of what he or she thought would work, and not found out what would.

[littlenietzsche]

02:40 PM on 01/30/2012

Do you have evidence that a longer school year can cause a net decrease in test scores or graduation rates?

[outlawjames8]

03:33 PM on 01/30/2012

What evidence do you have? Japan has school year round so do some schools here. But you have proof that more school leads to lower performance.

[hypyrwyf]

12:42 PM on 01/30/2012

Michigan schools also used to start after Labor Day. We have a big tourism industry here. Since taxes help pay for education, it makes sense to me to wait til after the holidays. You can make up the extra days at the end of the school year.

[XV8 Crisis Suit]

02:14 PM on 01/30/2012

It's not "used to." Most still do. Engler was the first to try to push the start date back, but when test scores went down, Granholm figured "why bother?" and allowed schools to start up after labor day if they chose to.

[hypyrwyf]

02:58 PM on 01/30/2012

Let me be more specific, then. When I was in school we started after Labor Day. Now my neighbor kids and my grandchildren start before Labor Day. You are probably right about "most", I don't know.

[littlenietzsche]

02:42 PM on 01/30/2012

You know the real reason they want schools to start after labor day right, it's cheap labor. You see the tourism industry likes high school kids because they work cheap ... if they went back to school earlier then well you'd have to pay more because your cheap labor dried up.

[hypyrwyf]

02:59 PM on 01/30/2012

They used to tell us it was so families could go on that last Labor Day vacation before school, but you could also be right.

[daughterusmc]

04:31 PM on 01/30/2012

bingo.