Dear Editor,

The state has just passed a law requiring schools to start later and end earlier. The main reason for this, they say, is to help tourism.

I think this is a bad decision. In my opinion, we should be going the other way. Just because students aren’t in school doesn’t mean parents aren’t still working. I doubt the longer summer is going to cause people to take more vacations. Instead, they will have to pay for two more weeks of baby sitting.

Long summers don’t make sense anymore. I would suggest that we move to a system of year-round school, with two-week breaks between each quarter, and a three- or four-week break between the fourth quarter and the beginning of the next grade.

Students would not forget so much in the summer, and they would be less likely to get burned out. Also, those students who depend on school for breakfast and lunch would not have to go a whole summer wondering where their next meal is coming from.

We need to embrace change and realize that long summer breaks are no longer a good thing. Children are not going home in the summer to help with the harvest any more.

Todd Alexander, Calera