Maine children should enjoy their summers, but passing a law to keep them out of school until after Labor Day is a bad idea.

Rep. Bernard McGowan, who likes to hire high school students to work in his restaurants and convenience stores, has proposed such a law that he says would keep Maine’s workforce at work until September and would make it easier on parents who want to take late-summer family vacations.

The school year must not be set for convenience sake, but because of solid educational policy. That’s not the case here.

Back in the day, school never started until September. But, as more educational regulations were adopted the school calendar changed to accommodate those regulations. Most schools now open near the end of August and students get a day off early in the term to celebrate Labor Day.

McGowan isn’t suggesting that teachers stay home, just students, and that school districts could push the start of school into September by eliminating mid-winter teacher workshop days and stacking these training sessions at the start of the year. From an education standpoint that won’t work.

It’s important for educators to have mid-term training sessions to respond to training needs as they develop through the year. While most of these sessions are pre-planned, plans can and should change to reflect what’s going on in school. If the training sessions are stacked at the start of the year, there is no latitude for special training that educators find they need during the year.

Let’s also look at this from the students’ perspective.

Delaying the start of the school year and preserving mid-term training sessions will mean that students will be in school well into June. Teachers in all grades already say it’s tough to maintain focus in the classroom as summer heats up outside, and delaying the end of school will make that worse.

While it may be just as warm and pleasant in the fall, students have been out of school for a couple of months and are generally eager to be back in the classroom to work and to socialize. In June, after 10 months of schooling, they want out and there is less chance that teachers will be able to keep students’ attention as July approaches.

The consequence of a shift in the school calendar is less attentive students and less constructive classwork.

Last year, Labor Day fell on Sept. 2. This year, it will be Sept. 1. Next year, Sept. 6.

Labor Day always falls on the first Monday of September, which changes year to year. Tying the start of the school year to a moving target just doesn’t make sense.

When Maine considers a change in education policy the primary consideration must be on how that helps students, not merchants.


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