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

DATE: FRIDAY, February 4, 1994                   TAG: 9402040207
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: WARREN FISKE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND                                LENGTH: Medium

SCHOOL IN AUGUST? NOPE

Big-business interests prevailed over the pleas of educators Thursday as a Senate committee killed legislation that would have permitted public schools to open before Labor Day.

The Senate Education and Health Committee defeated the measure 7-6 after tourist industry lobbyists complained that early school openings would deprive them of the teen-age work force they need to run hotels, restaurants and amusement parks in the busiest week of the year.

"These young people are a major requirement for us to be able to accommodate guests in the last weeks of August," said Tim Wordsworth, a spokesman for the Virginia Hospitality & Travel Industry Association.

A diverse group of educators urged repeal of the post-Labor Day law, labeling it an unfair mandate that strips autonomy from local school boards. The bill - proposed by state Sen. Elliot Schewel, D-Lynchburg - would have let each locality determine when its school year should begin.

"The profit motive should not take precedence over what's sound education policy," said Richard Pulley, a lobbyist for the Virginia Education Association, which represents about 50,000 state teachers.

Pulley, joined by representatives of the Virginia PTA and the state Board of Education, said snow and inclement weather this winter have forced many school systems to close for a record number of days. To make up the days, some localities have extended the school year to as late as June 25.

Allowing localities to begin classes in August, they said, would end the possibility that snow could stretch the school year into July.

But representatives of the state's $9 billion-a-year tourism industry said post-Labor Day openings have been good for business. Since the law was enacted in 1986, tourism receipts in Virginia Beach have increased by 3 percent annually, they said.

Sen. Edward Houck, D-Spotsylvania, replied: "I can't believe, as we sit here as an education committee, that we would put the interests of restaurants and hotels above those of the education community."

"I'm just amazed how the tourism industry has fought this," said Sen. Brandon Bell, R-Roanoke County.

Keywords:
GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1994

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