"Best" is a combination of...
- minimizing cost to the district (number of buses, etc)
- high school starting later in the morning (adolescents need more sleep)
- ensuring adequate child-care options are available for little kids. Early start means more PM care, late start means both AM and PM care, etc.
Then you get compounding factors...
- high school athletics. Parents don't want high school to start too late, because then there is no daylight for football practice (yes, this is an actual argument I've heard... parents would prefer their kids play sports than maximize the kids education).
- race and income issues - either correcting existing disparities or avoiding creating them.
> "Best" is a combination of... - minimizing cost to the district (number of buses, etc)
No. The paragraph I quoted implies that the parents have some notion of "best" start times that has nothing to do with the district's perspectives. But the article makes no attempt to describe what that is! (Other than what I already mentioned and questioned.)
Child-care, and not having your kids practice football in the dark is the kind of thing that makes sense.
But what does school start time have to do with race and income?
The paragraph I quoted implies that the parents have some notion of "best" start times that has nothing to do with the district's perspectives. But the article makes no attempt to describe what that is!
My best guess... people are generally change-averse and parents are generally selfish a-holes. Lacking irrefutable evidence that the new time is better FOR THEIR CHILD, parents will violently protect the status quo (even if it's obvious to outside observers that the district as a whole would be better off with the change).
- high school starting later in the morning (adolescents need more sleep)
- ensuring adequate child-care options are available for little kids. Early start means more PM care, late start means both AM and PM care, etc.
Then you get compounding factors... - high school athletics. Parents don't want high school to start too late, because then there is no daylight for football practice (yes, this is an actual argument I've heard... parents would prefer their kids play sports than maximize the kids education). - race and income issues - either correcting existing disparities or avoiding creating them.