Kings Dominion Law Remains

Larry O'Dell for Associated Press reports that Virginia is not going to get rid of the Kings Dominion Law that prevents most Virginia public schools from opening prior to Labor Day. A bill that would have reverse the current law was killed by the Senate Education and Health Committee by a vote of 11-3 on Thursday.

According to the state Department of Education, 79 of the state's 132 school divisions had permission to start this academic year earlier, mostly to compensate for days missed because of bad weather."Others apply for it and get rejected year after year," said Sen. Kenneth Cuccinelli, R-Fairfax, who proposed eliminating the post-Labor Day opening law.Cuccinelli said Fairfax County school officials believe that the late start puts their students at a disadvantage in end-of-year testing.

As noted by Princess Moss, president of the Virginia Education System, feels that teachers want as much as they can have prior to the mandated Standards of Learning tests that are given in the Spring. The testing window for schools begins in March for the Writing SOL followed by the other core subjects in April/May. It does not make sense to educators to have up to a month and half after the tests; the time should be moved to the start of the school calendar.

Is there a way to have a compromise? Online courses would all schools to start prior to Labor Day. They could even be hybrid courses that start online prior to Labor Day and then move in the traditional mode after the holiday. Businesses that are centered around tourism would not loose their cheap labor force and schools could begin prior to labor day.