Lawmakers' new school start date legislation comes at a price

South Carolina lawmakers turned back an attempt this week to give educators the ability to set school schedules according to academic needs. By doing so, they preserved their new system in which all schools are run according to a schedule that benefits the coastal tourism industry.

But it came at a price. Lawmakers had to refuse to give each other the deference on local matters they usually cherish.

The General Assembly and the governor enacted a new law this year that requires all school districts to start the school year no earlier than the third week in August.

The purpose of the bill was to prolong the beach vacation season at the request of the tourism industry.

The law was justified with high-sounding rhetoric about giving parents more time with their children during the summer. But that rhetoric was a lie. The new law does not lengthen summer vacation. It merely delays it.

Summer breaks will start and end later, but they will not be longer. Parents will not have more time with their children. The pro-family speeches were a cynical cover for a legislature eager to play toady to tourism interests.

Educators who wanted to start school earlier in order to allow a semester to finish before Christmas break, to better allow for spring advanced courses and to better prepare for standardized tests found that their ability to make decisions based on academic concerns had been taken away from them.

In York County, they appealed to state Rep. Herb Kirsh. He introduced a bill that would exempt the schools in his county. It was the kind of bill that is routinely passed when lawmakers ask for it for their areas.

Not this time. Lawmakers knew that if they gave local control to York County schools, other counties would want it as well. They killed Kirsh's bill.

York County lawmakers were dismayed. Kirsh urged his colleagues to "stay out" of York's business. State Rep. Ralph Norman argued that the bill was "just giving an option to York County."

But lawmakers had already taken this power from local school boards. They weren't about to give it back -- even at the expense of losing their ability to pass local bills at their discretion.

Lawmakers should hear from educators in each county. They should hear protests about their power grab. They should hear anger about basing schedules on the economic interests of one industry rather than the educational needs of the state's children.

School boards should push each lawmaker to introduce local exceptions, forcing the legislature to turn them down until they realize that, without any justification, they have passed a foolish law that interferes with schools.