Should Maryland Schools Wait Until After Labor Day to Start?

he start of school is encroaching on summer fun and hurting the Maryland economy, says a state official who will launch a petition drive in tourist haven Ocean City to persuade lawmakers to delay the opening of public schools until after Labor Day.

Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot, a Democrat from Takoma Park, will launch a “Let Summer Be Summer” campaign Thursday on the boardwalk with the goal of collecting 10,000 signatures from Maryland residents, reports The Washington Post.

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The next governor and the General Assembly would have to adopt a sign a law in order to enforce a statewide change in the start date for schools.

This year, most school systems in Maryland have set their first day of school for sometime in the week before Labor Day.

The first day of school in Montgomery County, Harford County, Carroll County and Howard County is Aug. 25, while Prince George’s County students return to class Aug. 26, and Baltimore County classes start Aug. 27.

Anne Arundel has a multi-day opening, with students in grades one through nine starting back on Aug. 25; high school students return to class Aug. 26; and kindergarten and pre-kindergarten students start school Aug. 27-29.

A task force that studied the possible effects of mandating a school start date after Labor Day recommended the change, according to thecomptroller’s website. Franchot says a statewide change in the start of school could generate $74.3 million in direct economic activity throughout the state, including $3.7 million in new wages and $7.7 million in state and local revenue.

“I’m not a good person to handicap what the legislature might do, but we’ve certainly made a lot of progress during the last year,” Franchot told the Post. “This has gone from a sidebar issue to something that is going to be seriously considered.”

Franchot plans to collect signatures on the petitions at hotels and resorts in Ocean City and Deep Creek Lake, the newspaper says, as well as at fairs and festivals across Maryland.

State education leaders – including groups representing teachers’ unions, superintendents and board of education members – oppose a later start date. They say the proposal thwarts local control over education and would hamper teachers as they prepare students for testing.

Last month, educators sent a letter raising concerns to Gov. Martin O’Malley and legislators on behalf of the Maryland State Education Association, the Public School Superintendents Association of Maryland and the Maryland Association of Boards of Education, the Post reports.