social foo: School start after Labor Day?

[alpharaposa]

Every once in a while, aefenglommung and I will indulge in some sighs over how early school starts. I remember August 21st being the cut off. He remembers it being Labor Day.

Tennessee is tired of it being too hot to go to school, so they're debating putting it back to Labor Day.

Comments

[prester-scott.livejournal.com]

Every stinkin' year in Florida the school year starts earlier. It's early-August to early-May now. I do not for the life of me understand why.

[aefenglommung.livejournal.com]

Because we have given such incredible social power to the Degreed Dullards who run schools.

[prester-scott.livejournal.com]

Well okay, but what is their pretext?

[aefenglommung.livejournal.com]

The official answer: longer school year = more learning.
Alternative answer: longer school year = more power to Degreed Dullards.

You are free to believe which you like.

[prester-scott.livejournal.com]

But it's not longer, just earlier.

They did try year-round school here a while back. Did not work at all.

[stryck.livejournal.com]

Let's see if I can sum up the argument(s).

Summer vacation is a relic of the old agricultural rhythm of planting and harvest. Students couldn't go to school during the summer because they were busy helping with the family farm. These days, almost nobody works on a farm, so we are no longer bound to such an outdated system.

Students forget all their lessons over the summer and have to be re-taught most of that in the first few months of school.

Shortening summer vacation (or removing it entirely) gives students less time to forget everything, leading to more retention from school-year to school-year.

Traditional summer activities like Scouting, playing games, and spending time with your family are not as important as school is. School is the most important thing children can do, because we all know that if you don't go to school, you can't go to college, and if you don't go to college, your life is over.

Sound about right?

[prester-scott.livejournal.com]

You forgot one: "Eliminating summer vacation allows for more efficient utilization of staff and facilities."

[stryck.livejournal.com]

Ah, yes. How could I forget?