
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 2, 1994                   TAG: 9403030017
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

SCHOOL RULE

THE DEAR old golden rule these school days is that the gold rules. Theme parks in eastern Virginia need high-school labor through the Labor Day weekend, so, with few exceptions, school districts in all Virginia must remain closed to get the parks through the tourist season.

This is the way it has been in the Old Dominion since 1986. Some localities, particularly in snowier, sleetier Southwest Virginia, have noticed that the mandate is a tad inconvenient. A Senate committee killed educators' attempts earlier this year to repeal this law, and Monday the Senate defeated a measure that would have exempted the Roanoke and Roanoke County school districts.

The late start of classes means that in years when schools must close often because of bad weather, they must remain open far into the traditional vacation season or forgo coveted spring holidays. The latter will be the case in Roanoke County, which had to close 11 days during this particularly rough winter.

Why should Richmond dictate policy on a matter such as this?

During a time when educators, legislators and the public are struggling with complex issues of local control vs. state standards in Virginia's schools, this is one call that should be easy.

Who better to determine when the school year should begin and end than the local school board? Who is more familiar with the weather, the geography, the customs and the will of people in a particular school district? An assembly of state legislators?

But the mandate, of course, is based not on what's good for the schools, but on what's good for the tourist industry.

Frequently, parents, educators and community leaders advise teen-agers that they are foolish if they sacrifice success in school, which will pay off in the long run, for late-night jobs flipping burgers, earning enough now to buy gas and CDs and expensive sneakers - as long as Mom and Dad are picking up the real cost of living. Education must come first.

That is what we tell them.

With decisions like the post-Labor Day school-opening law, teen-agers are shown something different. Out in the "real world" of responsible adults, education is maybe not literally first. Maybe a close second. Maybe not even that close.

Keywords:
GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1994

by CNB