Progressive Education: Early August, and Kids Already in School
Without getting too far into the politics of the issue, the article is the first I’ve read that attempts to address why schools, particularly southern schools, start so early. My recent observations of Tennessee and Alabama have me questioning why, in the hottest, most humid areas of the country, they should pick the hottest, most humid month of the year to start school. I would think millions in energy costs from air conditioning could be saved with a later start; an early start isn’t a very “green” one. From a practical view, the attraction of a week long fall break, with the corresponding Disneyworld opportunities, appears to be the best explanation why this would be tolerated. The rationale of make-up days for bad weather seems less plausible, although the sight of a single snowflake is enough to send a school bus full of kids into a skid in numerous place south of the M-D line. As to a vast left wing conspiracy, I doubt today’s liberal educators have the physical durability like that of the Viet Cong needed to endure an August in the South. But as long as stimulus dollars are there to keep the AC going, maybe….
