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and schools in parts of Virginia were closed twice in the past four years due to excessive heat during the first week of classes.
On the other hand, there is a waiver in my legislation for those school systems that experience numerous closures because of excessive snowfall. In addition, an examination of scheduled opening and closing dates of school systems across Virginia for the past five years shows that opening after Labor Day does not force significantly later closing dates.
As a member of the House Appropriations Committee, I have supported increased state aid to improve the quality of education. The availability of funds for our public school system is tied directly to the health of Virginia’s economy.
Last year alone travel expenditures in our state totaled more than six billion dollars. Almost two-thirds of that amount was spent by out-ofstate visitors, a huge injection of money into our state’s economy. Without an adequate work force to service properly this flow of visitors, Virginia’s economy will suffer as the state is by-passed for other travel destinations.
What does this mean for quality education? In 1986 more than $300 million in state and local tax revenue was generated by the travel industry. The largest single beneficiary of that revenue is Virginia's public education system.
For these reasons, I believe all of us in Virginia — and especially our schools and school children — will benefit from a post-Labor Day school opening.
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