Calendar call undermines local control

Deciding when a school year starts is a decision that should be left to local school boards, not the Iowa State Fair Board.

That seems like a no-brainer, but not to Gov. Terry Branstad and Department of Education Director Brad Buck. They've made it clear to 338 school districts that Des Moines knows better when it comes to creating a school calendar.

The department will no longer automatically grant waivers allowing schools to sidestep a misguided 1985 law requiring them to start no earlier than Sept. 1. The waivers, which are allowed under the law at the discretion of the department, permitted local school boards to set their own calendars based on local input and needs. As we've written before, that's where the calendar-writing authority belongs.

Now, district leaders can set their own start date only if they prove starting later will have a 'significant negative educational impact.” It's a vague standard that's left school leaders across Iowa scratching their heads.

We understand the concerns of Iowa State Fair officials, businesses and tourism interests who urged Branstad to take this action, contending that August start dates discourage trips and take away school-aged workers. They're the same interests who lobbied for the 1985 law and who have tried and failed repeatedly to convince the Legislature to end waivers. They've cast the debate as an effort to 'save Iowa summer.”

But this is really a debate about who has the best educational interests of Iowa's school kids at heart.

No one in the governor's office or the education department has provided any strong arguments for how this decision gets us to the 'world class schools” the governor is fond of saying he'll create. In fact, it's possible a later start will have a negative educational impact. Some districts will be forced to schedule semester exams after winter break. A later start also could complicate sharing of academic programs with community colleges, which start classes before September.

The questions, concerns and problems caused by the administration's action will be many. Many school boards now are preparing to scrap school calendars they only recently approved.

We urge state lawmakers to intervene and put these decisions in local hands once and for all by repealing the 1985 law. At the very least, the department should return to its automatic waiver policy.

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