Published:

Coalition Unveils New Website as Part of Campaign to Defend School Calendar Law

RALEIGH, N.C., Nov. 20 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The North Carolina School Start Coalition unveiled a website ( www.ncschoolstart.org ) Thursday designed to inform voters and legislators of the need to maintain the state's current school calendar law. The 2004 law gives NC school districts more uniform calendars and ensures students, teachers and families have adequate summer breaks by requiring schools to start on or after August 25th and end on or before June 10th(1).

Opponents of the current school calendar law are expected to attempt to repeal or drastically weaken it during the upcoming session of the General Assembly.

"We're sending out a loud and clear message ahead of the legislative session," said NC School Start Coalition spokesman Harris Prevost. "The vast majority of North Carolinians strongly support the current calendar law and are going to fight to keep it. We're asking legislators to stand with us and vote against any measures that would repeal or weaken the law."

According to a state-wide Public Policy Polling survey, 71% of North Carolinians support the current school calendar law(2). 80% of the respondents say they like the school start date in late August (as the calendar law now requires) better than one in late July or early August (when some districts started before the 2004 law was passed.) According to the poll, support for the calendar law transcends political party, age, race, gender and geography.

"The current law ensures students, teachers and families in school districts across the state have an adequate summer break," said Prevost. "It's about making sure students have enough time to enjoy valuable outside-the-classroom experiences like attending summer camps and holding down jobs. It also allows teachers to attend educational trainings in other parts of the state and makes sure families can align schedules for family trips and reunions," Prevost said.

"This issue is also about the economy, even more so in today's tough environment. Tourism is a huge benefit to our state's economy. If you change the school calendar law and let the school year take a significant chunk out of summer by starting school earlier and ending later, it's going to cause many businesses to close and cost the state thousands of jobs," said Prevost.

According to the NC Department of Commerce, in 2007 travel and tourism brought the state economy over $17 billion, provided more than 200,000 jobs and contributed over $1.4 billion in taxes to state and local government(3).

    1 Exempt from the law are year-round schools and those receiving waivers
      due to large numbers of inclement weather days.

    2 Public Policy Polling, 9/3/08.
      http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/pdf/SchoolCalendarMemo1.pdf

    3 The 2007 Economic Impact of Travel on North Carolina, Travel Industry
      Association of America, 2008.
      http://www.nccommerce.com/NR/rdonlyres/98367200-6534-495C-AEEC-
      0449FCBA8E39/2597/2007EconomicImpactReport_TIA.pdf

SOURCE NC School Start Coalition

Tags: ,EDU,STP,POL,LEG,CHI,LAW,SVY,NC-School-Start-Web

_ _

Is your favorite bookmark site missing? Ask for it.

NEWS

WIRES

OTHER

TECHNOLOGY

NEWSPAPERS

Coalition Unveils New Website as Part of Campaign to Defend School Calendar Law