Issues

Why Does School Have to Start So Early?

4 Comments

Rick Badie (free registration or BugMeNot) laments the loss of summer vacation, as all of Georgia’s public schools start by August 15:

That our kids return to school in a week. That Mom and Dad are already tax-free shopping for clothes and supplies, and that soon our kids will be prepping for high-stake tests.We’ve lost practically all of August. The traditional months of summer have been truncated. We get less true summer time to spend with Big Momma, see movies, have sleepovers, play basketball, read, and yes — succumb, even, to boredom. Our dog days of summer are spent in class, not poolside.

This year, all of the state’s public schools will open up by Aug. 15. Next Monday, Gwinnett’s 142,000 or so students join others returning to class in eight other city and county school systems in the Atlanta area. Some school systems, like those in Cherokee and Newton county, are already in school or start Monday.

While I don’t like starting this early either, I noticed that no mention was made of the fact that students are released around the third week of May, instead of June, and that in some places, longer breaks at Thanksgiving and in February have been instituted. I may be wrong, and someone please correct me if I am, but I don’t think the school year is actually longer. I think it just starts earlier.

And if that’s the case, why don’t Badie and his family sit by the pool and visit Big Momma in June and July? The weather in Georgia is actually a little more bearable in June than in August, in my opinion.

I guess to me, it doesn’t matter either way, but it is nice to end the first semester before winter break instead of having two weeks hang over after the break.

4 thoughts on “Why Does School Have to Start So Early?”

  1. Well, our students come on Monday, Aug 7th, and we teachers needed to be at school August 3rd. Oure last day was May 28. In the end, I think we're all in school the same number of days. It's a toss-up as to which is better: early release in May, or a later start of school in the fall.

  2. It is plain dumb. Starting school so early.

    Most of the reasoning is not for "good" reasons.

    The only reason is….. SO WE CAN HAVE MORE TIME TO GET THE STATE TESTING DRILLED INTO THE HEADS OF OUR KIDS.

    Face it, without passing the testing, some schools would lose too much funding. So they make kids pass tests, to get money.

    Isn't that sick? I think it is.

  3. Another stupid part of it is the major lack of summer, which is less like 3 months and more like 1 and a half. And school itself starts daily at 8:25? Why?

    1. That's one of the later start times I've heard of. My school starts at 7:50, and I have worked in schools that started as early as 7:25. I was always told it was to accommodate sports practice after school.

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