Cleaveland’s Bill Would Carve Another Exception into the “Kings Dominion Rule”
By Jason Johnson | Thursday, February 3rd, 2011 | PolicyRoanoke Delegate Bill Cleaveland (R-17) has introduced a bill that, while intended primarily to benefit the Roanoke City Public School System, might ultimately have broader implications for public education throughout the Commonwealth. Currently, Virginia’s public school divisions are required to begin their academic year after Labor Day (the so-called “Kings Dominion Rule”) unless they meet one of three requirements, described as “good cause.” Del. Cleaveland’s bill, HB 1483, would amends §22.1-79.1 of the Code of Virginia by creating a fourth good cause requirement:
A school division is entirely surrounded by school divisions that have an opening date prior to Labor Day in the school year for which the waiver is sought. Such school division may open schools on the same opening date as any of the surrounding school divisions.
The City of Roanoke is surrounded by Roanoke County, whose public school system is allowed to begin its academic year before Labor Day because its average annual number of snow days qualifies as a good cause under the current law. Roanoke City, however, which experiences a much lower number of weather-related closings, currently cannot qualify for the waiver. (The nearby City of Salem would also benefit from HB 1483.) HB 1483 is scheduled for a full House vote today.
While some might argue that the length of the academic year is not as important as the rigor of the education the students receive during that academic year, there is no question that Roanoke City’s school system needs all the help it can get. In a four-year study released in 2009 by the Virginia Department of Education, the statewide average for on-time graduations stood at 82 percent. For that same period, Roanoke’s on-time graduation rate was only 59.1 percent. While the city’s new school system superintendent, Dr. Rita Bishop, has implemented some new programs to improve the city’s on-time graduation rate, it has increased only slightly, which brings us to the broader question: Virginia’s tourism industry opposes HB 1483; where should the Commonwealth draw the line between supporting public education and promoting tourism?
Throwing out the Kings Dominion Rule, the tourism industry argues, would cost the Commonwealth approximately $14 million in tax revenues, not to mention around $369 million in other private spending, wages, etc. That is not an insignificant hit to the very same state coffers that fund public education, especially as the McDonnell Administration steps up its efforts to promote tourism in Virginia. It will be difficult to finance public education without those trips to Kings Dominion, but it is also impossible to learn Hamlet, Mozart and the Pythagorean Theorem while on those trips to Kings Dominion.
While this is outside the scope of HB 1483, ultimately perhaps it is time to reconsider the continued relevance of the Kings Dominion Rule. Long, lazy summer vacations are great, but they are also a relic of a time when Virginia’s economy was more agrarian than it is today. To add to the mix, the controversial new book, Academically Adrift: Limited Learning on College Campuses, makes the alarming case that students are languishing in college, studying little and learning even less. I know from firsthand experience that the study skills students bring to college are learned in their primary and secondary educational systems. Virginia’s educational establishment should begin to seriously consider what it can do differently in lower grades to prepare their college-bound students for success in post-secondary education. Part of the overarching educational reforms needed could be the repeal of the Kings Dominion Rule (I’m not saying that it is, merely that it is a proposal that deserves serious consideration). Del. Cleaveland’s bill is a step in the right direction.
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A lifelong political junkie, Jason caught the political bug as a fifth grader after meeting George Allen in 1993. Since then he has studied political science at both the undergraduate and graduate level. When not perusing the blogs or volunteering for conservative Republicans, Jason enjoys cheering on his beloved Virginia Tech Hokies and spending time at his Bedford County home.
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10 Responses to "Cleaveland’s Bill Would Carve Another Exception into the “Kings Dominion Rule”"
The tourism industry is far from finished fighting attempts to change the post-Labor Day opening law. Six bills that would have done just that died in a subcommittee of House Education.
I don’t think the education reforms Jason is talking about are inconsistent with the “Kings Dominion” law — in the Historic Triangle we prefer to think of it as the Busch Gardens law. If the school year needs to be longer — and I conceed that it may — add those days at the other end of the school year. We’re talking about a week here at most, one way or the other.
It’s not just Kings Dominion: the Virginia Beach Hotel/Motel Association (VBHMA) mobilizes everytime such a bill is filed.
I am suspicious of any claim that giving the educational system more time with students will improve education. Bad teachers or programs can make classroom time and even homework time a complete waste. Substitute teachers are not even always expected to make the time constructive. I never saw a legitimate purpose in a “pep rally.” Sometimes I think our school system really gets in the way when it comes to a good education, preventing students who would learn a great deal with enough free time from learning much at all. Giving local systems more flexibility is not always a bad thing, but I don’t think the schools should get more time with the kids when they make such poor use of what they have.
With all due respect to my colleagues from the Richmond area, I like calling it the Busch Gardens Rule more than I do the Kings Dominion Rule!
Seriously though, I don’t disagree that the school systems needs to be more efficient with the time they already have, but the length of the academic year needs to be considered along with other reforms, like curriculum reform. When you consider that other industrialized nations have longer academic years that we do, that has to play at least some role in their students’ superior performance on standardized tests. If we want to remain competitive, we must begin thinking “outside the box.”
I thought the reason the tourism industry opposes beginning the school year until after labor day was because of all the high school kids they employ in summer jobs. They need to keep the kids on the payroll until after the Labor Day weekend, which is one of the busiest times of the year for the tourism industry.
Before someone complains about exploiting child labor, think about it. Only college and high school kids really want these jobs that are only available for a few months out of the year. It meets the needs of those wanting only a summer job and the needs of the employers at the same time. But the employers need the services of the employees through the Labor Day weekend.
LD: It’s not just the employees, although that’s a part of it. They also want to make sure that Virginia families can vacation on that Labor Day weekend, don’t have to worry about getting the kids back to school, etc.
Steve,
I disagree with you. Everyone nationally gets the Labor Day weekend off. We in Virginia do not have control on whether their kids have that day off. What we do have control on is whether the kids from every state will have service provided to them on this very lucrative weekend for the tourism industry in our own state with the service provided by our own kids.
Virginia, still open for business through the Labor Day weekend, get my point?
It’s not just about their kids, it’s about our kids. Most of the people at our tourist attractions come from in state. Tourist industry pros have told me this over and over.
I don’t think we need to assume the longer academic year is the or even a reason for it. All kinds of differences exist.
Even if a longer academic year is ultimately a good idea, it won’t do any good and will in fact do our children a disservice if other reforms about how the time is used aren’t made first. Time in the school building is not automatically time getting educated, and frequently it’s time that winds up preventing education.
Gentlemen,
Do you not realize the state mandates the number of days and or hours the students in our wonderful state go to school? Changing the opening of school with not add days to the school calendar. Graduation rates will not change just because of a starting date. The reason many districts have changed to the pre-Labor Day calendar is to get more time in before SOL testing. The problem is SOL testing, NOT when the students begin their school year. Possibly you should take a look at the data with AYP for school systems that begin before and after Labor Day. For the most part, there is very little difference.
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