密歇根新闻广播 学校非得在劳动节后才开学 是不是很任性?

Schools in Michigan are not supposed to start the year until after Labor¹ Day. It is state law.

It's been that way since 2005, when Governor Jennifer Granholm signed the post-Labor Day school start law.

The tourism industry in Michigan had been seeking this for awhile, but had always been blocked by school lobbyists who successfully argued the school calendar should be a local decision. 

But in 2005, Michigan was in a deep recession. Unemployment was higher than the national average and tourism in northern Michigan was really suffering.

Signing the legislation was good politics. Republicans wanted the bill, and Democrat² Granholm was trying to get a jobs package through the Legislature. So, when GOP lawmakers sent her the bill she signed it.

It is hard to overstate how desperate Granholm and other policymakers were to jumpstart the economy and lay the recession to rest. It also gave Granholm another issue to point to as she was getting ready to run for reelection the next year.

August became Michigan's busiest travel month.

So, a dozen years later, when a bill was rolled out in this session to let schools once again start before Labor Day the travel industry and the Michigan Chamber³ of Commerce went to work to stop it.

But, they failed to block it in the Senate Education Committee, where only one Republican lawmaker from northern Michigan voted against it. The hearing showed the schools-versus-business divide.

Schools say they need the flexibility⁴ to set their calendars while resorts, hotels and restaurants say it's not just customers - they also hire high school students to work during their busy season. Repealing⁵ the law hits them on both ends of their business.

A compromise was proposed: no classes allowed on Mondays and Fridays in the month of August. But that wasn't enough to bring the tourism industry and the Michigan Chamber of Commerce on board. They appear to have stopped it on the Senate floor.

But that power play doesn't mean everything is now static. You can't stop change.

One effect we're seeing is more year-round schools. 

That's because schools districts can get a waiver from the state for, among other things, adopting what's called a “balanced calendar.” School would be interrupted by more but shorter breaks.

The idea is that students don't forget as much as they do during a three-month long summer break. Education reformers have been calling for this for awhile now.

More and more schools are adopting a version of a year-round calendar. We could see 100 new districts join the ranks of year-round schools by the start of the new school year.

1 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

2 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

3 chamber   

n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所

参考例句：

• For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
• The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。

4 flexibility   

n.柔韧性，弹性，（光的）折射性，灵活性

参考例句：

• Her great strength lies in her flexibility.她的优势在于她灵活变通。
• The flexibility of a man's muscles will lessen as he becomes old.人老了肌肉的柔韧性将降低。

5 repealing   

撤销，废除( repeal的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• In addition, repealing the alternative minimum tax would also help. 此外，废除替代性最低税也会有所帮助。
• Repealing the investment tax credit. 取消投资税款扣除。