Texans for a
Traditional School Year
News Release
March 12, 2003
For More Information Contact:
Tina Bruno @ 210-559-5277
STARTING SCHOOL
LATER PUTS MORE STUDENTS IN TEXAS CLASSROOMS
Uniform School Start Date Increases Student Attendance by 60
Percent
(San Antonio) – Sixty percent more Texas public school students
were present on the first day of class this school year versus
three years ago, according to data released today by Texans for a
Traditional School Year.
The group reported that 102,427 students were absent from class on
the first day of the
2002-03 school year -- as compared with attendance figures for the
first week of September. A similar study in 1999, prior to the
passage of the uniform school calendar law, showed 250,000
students not in school during the same time period.
The dramatic swing in first-day attendance came as more than 90
percent of Texas school districts complied with a new state law
mandating that the school year begin no earlier than the week of
August 21.
“The numbers clearly show that the uniform school calendar bill
has had a positive impact on Texas students,” said Tina Bruno,
spokesperson for Texans for a Traditional School Year.
Opponents of a uniform school calendar claim that students will
miss the first few days of school regardless of when school
starts. Yet the study by Texans for a Traditional School Year
shows school district attendance increases the closer we get to
Labor Day.
Starting in the 1990s, an increasing number of districts adopted
calendars that shifted away from the traditional post-Labor Day
start, with some starting classes as early as the first week of
August.
Bruno said Texans for a Traditional School Year, a grass roots
coalition of educators, parents and business leaders, originally
looked into the school calendar issue based on conversations with
teachers.
“Teachers have told us for years that early-August school start
dates were not good for students. All our study did was to confirm
what they saw every year,” Bruno said. “As the school start
date moved farther away from Labor Day, many teachers saw fewer
students in the chairs. And by the time September rolled around,
their classrooms were close to full.”
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