The Mustache, the tourism industry, and Iowa's first day of school
The first day of school in Iowa has become a bone of contention.
Though Iowa schools are legally mandated to start the week of September 1, many obtain waivers to start classes weeks earlier — too early, according to Governor Terry Branstad and the state tourism lobby. They say the waiver system is out of control (waivers are apparently issued left and right) and recommend a post-Labor Day, uniform start date to squeeze in a few extra weeks of vacation spending. Much to the ire of school district officials, who want to maintain local control, the Iowa Department of Education is heeding The Mustache’s call and is considering a plan to change the waiver system.
I am torn on this issue. I understand the point being made by Branstad and Co. and also empathize with Iowa’s schoolchildren. Who wants to start school on August 15, especially in a three-story building with no air conditioning? However, I support local control and think it is a very bad idea to let the tourism industry decide when school should start. That decision should be left to education professionals who, I assume, know what is best.
However, it seems school is starting earlier and earlier — perhaps, I’ll admit, too early. I could be wrong, but I always remember school starting the week before Labor Day. After the long, tedious first week, we always had a welcome three-day weekend. That changed sometime when I was in high school, when classes started two weeks before Labor Day. The only reason I remember that is because Mervgotti, who spent his summers lounging on the couch watching reruns of Pacific Blue and Silk Stalkings, complained about it. (The first day of school in Iowa City has always coincided with the first day of classes at the UI.) The week before Labor Day has always seemed to me to be the natural time to start a new school year, but the day after Labor Day seems to be the de facto first day of school for much of the country. School started after Labor Day in California, and schools in Minnesota apparently do the same. Bobblehead’s wife, a Minnesotan, bemoaned Iowa’s early start date last year. She wanted to take her Little Sister to the state fair the week before Labor Day but could not because school had already started.
On that note, I suppose the tourism industry has a point: an earlier start date prevents late-summer trips. (I say “late-summer” because our family vacations took place in July or early-August.) However, I am unsure how much extra vacation spending there is. My family did not take many vacations — I remember vacationing outside of Iowa four times during my K–12 years — but we did take day trips to Adventureland or spend long weekends with relatives (woo hoo!), and I am willing to bet many Iowa families do the same if possible. I doubt many Iowans spend full-blown vacations inside their own state. Families scrimp and save to go to Disney World, Yellowstone, and Washington, DC — not the Loess Hills or Okoboji. Plus, if the school year started later it would need to end later, negating early-summer vacation days.
On the flip side…. Educators claim that students are more receptive and learn more at the beginning of the school year. Some students even want to be at school — a complete contrast to the end of the year when everyone is counting the days, hours, and minutes before the final bell. If that is the case, though, does it matter when the school year begins and ends?
School district officials are dead set on keeping the status quo, but it seems like a compromise is in the works. The waiver system may stay, but it may no longer be as “lax” as Branstad accuses. Some districts may still receive waivers, but most may be stuck starting school the week of September 1. I do not think that would be a bad thing, but I do not want the state to make a habit of consulting the tourism industry on education issues.
