Lawmakers make school decisions without education needs in mind

South Carolina lawmakers have chosen tourism over education and politics over good government.

They did so when they passed legislation that sets a uniform start date for all schools in the state. If a bill that has passed both the House and Senate is enacted, no public school in the state will be allowed to start before the third week of August.

That will take the decision away from local school boards, which had been setting the calendars for their schools. Some had started the school year as early as the first week in August, while others had waited until Labor Day.

There were reasons for the differences -- not that it matters to lawmakers.

School boards in the Upstate started school earlier because they wanted children to have more instruction time before they took standardized tests. They also wanted students to be able to finish a complete semester before the Christmas break.

Along the coast, schools started later because the tourism-related businesses there needed high-school age employees until Labor Day.

That's how the system is supposed to work. School trustees respond to the needs of their communities, setting the schedule to meet local requirements.

Not any more.

The drive for a statewide school start date began with coastal tourism businesses. They wanted a later start date to prolong their tourism season. They wanted more Upstate and Midlands families coming to the beach in August.

They have been successful. They were able to cloak their agenda in the guise of giving families more time together, even though summer breaks won't be longer, just later. Lawmakers bought their arguments and passed the bill.

In doing so, they took control away from the school boards. State Sen. Phil Leventis was correct when he said the debate was not about school start dates, it was about home rule.

Lawmakers eroded home rule just to make points with the tourism industry and a few parents who insisted on approaching the General Assembly rather than their school boards.

Lawmakers often claim to be committed to

home rule. They also claim that education is their highest priority. They have shown those claims to be false.