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August 18, 2004
Readers respond to the N.C. tourism vs. local control debate
We've heard some different takes on the North Carolina story we reported last week. Here's what South Carolina school board member Thomas Ballou sent us:
"I thought your recent post didn't give this matter a fair hearing. This is a complicated issue that has also been discussed at length here in South Carolina. It has been portrayed as tourism vs. education, but I think there is more to it than that.
"School start dates have been pushed earlier and earlier, ostensibly to provide more instruction time before standardized tests in the spring. I have yet to see any proof that a week or two extra in August will make any difference on a test in April or May. This is yet another example of the standardized testing-tail wagging the educational dog. We have become too beholden to standardized tests as the ultimate standard of excellence; there are lots of other things we can and should do to improve education for all children besides worrying about starting a week or two earlier.
"Meanwhile, the earlier start dates in some areas (usually the south) make it very difficult to participate in continuing education programs in other parts of the country where start dates tend to be much later. It looks like there is a serious, teacher-led commitment to use this time for professional development; time will tell if it is effective. I think the fact that the NCAE supported this should tell you that it was not without merit.
"I am not a big fan of the state telling school boards how to run their schools, but this is not exactly the first time they have done so, and in any event there is a state interest in having reasonably uniform start dates."
This is a thoughtful response, and valid arguments can be made about how long the academic calendar should be and how much it should be aligned with other educational and youth programs. But we think these are precisely the kinds of considerations local school boards are best placed to weigh against the academic challenges the children in their communities are facing and their evaluation of how well the traditional agrarian school calendar meets their needs in the 21st century. And from the coverage we've seen, the educational needs of students didn't seem to be a motive behind the state's move to take that local discretion away.
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Posted August 18, 2004 12:00 AM
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