ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) - Maryland lawmakers voted Friday to override Gov. Larry Hogan’s veto of a bill that lets local school boards decide whether school begins before or after Labor Day, a policy Hogan has described as one of the most popular actions he’s taken as governor.
The Maryland House of Delegates voted 93-43 to override the Republican governor’s veto, a day after the Senate voted 32-15 on Thursday along party lines.
The issue has sparked major disagreement between the governor and Democrats who control the General Assembly, after Hogan issued an executive order in 2016 to require schools to start after Labor Day.
The governor’s supporters say the longer summer breaks give families more time together and help tourism. Del. Kathy Szeliga, a Republican, said there had been bipartisan support for years, dating back to when a state task force recommended it in 2014.
“After years of bipartisan recommendations, including that of the General Assembly’s expert task force, this runs directly counter to the approach favored by the majority of Marylanders and those who served on the task force, and many of you who voted for that very thing sitting here on the floor of the house today,” Szeliga said.
But opponents of requiring school to start after Labor Day say the policy has many flaws, including shortchanging education and making it difficult for school districts to have 180 days of class. Del. Anne Kaiser, a Democrat, noted concerns with summer learning loss and less opportunity for students who come from low-income families to receive free or reduced meals.
“People are talking about spending time at the beach. For poor students, this is just one more week with less education and less food, and for other families too, the child care costs and summer camp costs, are expensive for families and more of a waste of time,” Kaiser said.
Del. Eric Luedtke, a Montgomery County Democrat, said the school calendar should not be mandated from the state, because local jurisdictions have unique concerns. For example, his county has large Muslim and Jewish populations, and students and staff can’t come to school on certain days in order to observe religious obligations. He also noted that two counties have been able to be exempted from starting school after Labor Day because of weather conditions.
“Why are the local conditions in one county more important than local conditions in another when it comes to school calendars? They aren’t,” Luedtke said. “The executive order does not respect the diversity of our state, and so I think it’s important for us to return the power to set school calendars to communities and to their duly elected representatives on their school boards.”
Hogan held a news conference in February to criticize the bill. He offered a compromise that would have allowed any local school system that decides to start school before Labor Day to be required to put the matter on the ballot for the voters of the jurisdiction to decide for themselves.
“Our administration’s bill would have offered genuine, local control over this important issue,” Hogan said Wednesday, when he announced the veto. “Senate Bill 128 masquerades under the guise of more local control, but instead does the complete opposite of what citizens want.”
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