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Wouldn't it be cheaper not to air condition the schools in August? Waiting until the later dates could only save money. Closing during cold weather also makes sense. The argument about exams needs to be explained. It makes me wonder what the background is on all of this because it is unlikely to be related to student outcomes and it doesn't seem to be about saving money.

Based on EOC, EOG, AP exams...block schedules....it should be a decision that has no state control...
I would rather start earlier in august...complete exams on block schedules before Christmas break....
Start the second block earlier and wrap everything up by Memorial Day...nothing is accomplished after
EOC's, EOG's, and AP exams anyway....AP books have already been taken up in our classrooms...
Please explain to me why learning must end because exams have been taken and what they will be doing between now and June 11th.....The vacation break will begin at the end of may and still give the tourism industry two full months...but is that really the concern of our educators? June/July would be summer vacation....

We will never get out of education more than we put into it.
We cut funding for education but protect that sacred cow called sports and then wonder why our children worship steroid-shooting 'professional' athletes.
We don't want to cut into summer vacation, or Christmas vacation, or Easter vacation and we need to be ready for snow days but how dare we hurt the deep pockets of the tourism industry but extending the year and increasing time in the classroom.
Some people seem more worried about the air conditioning bill than a better-educated population.
Get your priorities straight and the rest will logically follow.

Let's talk about this issue! WHY ARE WE DISCUSSING THIS IN A SHORTFALL BUDGET YEAR? If this bill passes, local school districts will waste valuable resources attempting to re-do the school calendar instead of focusing on the upcoming school year. I hope that if this bill passes, school districts will be smart enough to leave calendars alone that have already been approved for 2009-2010 and adjust accordingly for 2010-2011. It also may not matter, b/c there is a rumor that a 40 hour furlough is going to be passed and mandatory for all state employees. I bet many teachers would try and take them at the beginning of the year due to vacation plans that have already been made based on the current calendar.

Currently there are some 14 bills pending in our legislature (and these are just ones filed for the CURRENT SESSION) to overturn, redefine or restrict the 2004 "School Calendar Law." Somebody convince me that the state's school boards and administrators (the ones who have twisted the arms of legislators to sponsor these bills) have their priorities straight. The emphasis should be on WHAT goes on in the classroom and not WHEN it occurs. Here are a few truths. Good teachers productively teach. Good students will learn. Good parents support good teachers and set education as a priority. Conversely, mediocre teachers collect a paycheck but rarely get forced out of the profession. Disruptive students get a disproportionate amount of resources and consideration yet prevent willing teachers and learners from succeeding. Slacker parents enjoy the idea and pleasure of propagation but have no concept of the commitment necessary to nurture a productive next generation.

As a former teacher, I'd like to say that I saw some positives out there; I don't. All of the priorities are screwed up. Collectively we're rearranging the deck chairs while Rome burns. I fully realize that I'm using a mixed metaphor, but honestly, there probably aren't too many of us who can even relate to those references because they don't show up on standardized tests. Heck, there probably even fewer who know what a metaphor is. My consolation is that if our family can weather two more years of public education for our child, that will be it. I'll then do that Pontius Pilate thing and wash my hands. Sorry, there's another reference, and that one is not only historical, but also religious.

I hate to have such a fatalistic attitude, but I do. And frankly, I'm tired of fighting with educational "experts" who continue to conduct experiments on our children and school systems only to say a few years later: "Oops, that didn't work." Somehow our previous generations succeeded in acquiring a decent, well-rounded education via "classical" pedagogical methods, mastery of basic subjects and within the framework of a school calendar that ran from Labor Day 'til early June. Somebody just musta been more smarter back then.

I support this change.

Allowing each school district to have some leeway in their calendar would allow for them to schedule vacation days around local events that also bring tourism money to North Carolina. Our family would love to attend the State Fair during the week when crowds are managable, but school has always conflicted. Likewise, I would imagine the ski resorts would benefit from more vacation days in the winter. Our state has so many year-round attractions that it is a shame to limit the majority of vacation days to summer.

From a purely self-serving standpoint, I'd rather my child be in school in August when it is too hot to do much else. Those days are wasted vacation days in my opinion -- it's just too darn hot to do anything outside.

Here we go again with the calendar. I vote we allow the local school boards the freedom to set the school calendar. I believe that teachers and parents should be consulted about the calendar. I've complained about our local calendar a couple of times only to be told that the state puts so many restrictions on the calendar that the local school board has few options. Our experience has been that very little teaching goes on after mid May once the EOGs and EOCs are taken.

Administrators are just like CEOs they are too out of touch with reality to make responsible decisions. Let the ones in the trenches who know what's going on have a loud voice in the calendar decision. Do we really need all of these teacher work days? I'm all for building in extra days so that teachers don't have to take so much work home. However the teachers tell us that they still have to take work home because the teacher work days are filled with wasted seminars and meetings.

We are in a budget crisis so these times call for some creative solutions. Why don't we cut the instruction days down to 175 or lengthen the school days by 15 or 20 minutes and eliminate a few days? Are we really going to lose that much of valuable instruction time by shortening the calendar? I do like the idea of finishing up the first semester before the Christmas holidays as it makes for a clean break. With the current calendar where students return after Christmas to face the exams, teachers spend alot of time reviewing for the tests resulting in wasted instruction time. By this I mean that the students are not learning new material but rehashing the old material.

I also believe that each school system should be allowed 3 weather grace days. In other words, each system can miss up to 3 days without any need of making up those days. Again, are the test scores really going to suffer?

Speaking of test scores, I feel that the entire system should be revamped. The teachers are having to teach for the tests while omitting some basic skills. My children have been on the college bound trek and did not have time in their school schedules to learn some basic life skills such as: balancing your checkbook, learning how to budget, job hunting skills etc. We are teaching these principles are home but what about the famililes where this is not the case? Where are children going to learn these skills?

What about the Senior Project? Let's just add some more busy work onto the seniors. Is this project really going to prove what students have learned? Why not, have students complete so many hours of community service and then write a paper about the experience? This would be a win-win because the students would learn about the joy of helping others, the organizations would benefit, and the students would benefit from writing about the experience. Another idea: Why not have the students take a test to measure the basic life skills (checkbook balancing, budgeting, resume writing, etc.) so that they are prepared for life once they graduate?

Back to the topic at hand: For once, I would like to see at the local level a group of respected teachers (new and seasoned) and involved parents sit down with few state rules and come up with a calendar that would work for their area. I realize you can't please everyone but I do believe that a practical working solution could be arrived at and in the end the main goal would be reached: a school calendar which promotes learning while also maximizing resources.