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On this Wednesday, March 7, 2018, California Governor Jerry Brown speaks at a press conference in Sacramento, California.
(AP)
Governor Jerry Brown vetoed Thursday a bill requiring California colleges and high schools to start at 8:30 am at the earliest, saying the decision to start classes should be made by schools and not by the state.
Proponents of the bill cited research that delaying school start times could result in improved grades, attendance, and graduation.
A study by the American Academy of Pediatrics said that lack of sleep for teens was "an important public health problem that significantly affects the health and safety" of adolescents.
MP Anthony Portantino, who was wearing the SB328, cited this study and that of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that both schools started at 8:30 or later to help students sleep at least eight hours a night. .
According to the CDC study, California high schools start their school day on average at 8:07 am.
Critics of the Canada-Flintridge Democrats' legislation say that children could simply go to bed earlier.
But this is not so simple, according to the CDC study, noting that when teenagers cross puberty, their biological rhythms usually change, making them sleepy later in the night.
"The combination of delayed bedtime and early school hours results in insufficient sleep for a large portion of the teenage population," said the CDC study. He found that about 70% of high school students do not sleep enough.
Opponents of the bill do not challenge the research, but said school boards should decide how to run their schools, which Brown agreed.
"This is a unique approach that is opposed by teachers and school boards," Brown said in a statement Thursday, noting that several schools have already moved. "These are the best managed types of decisions in the local community."
The California School Boards Association and the California Teachers Association were among those who fought against the legislation. They argued for local control, saying schools should be the ones that assess the needs of their communities given the diversity of California's school districts.
Eric Heins, President of CTA, said that later start-up times could also result in unexpected costs and consequences, especially for parents who may have to organize their children or on time. There could also be additional costs for school districts if they needed to pay extra buses to cope with the changes in weather, he added.
Opponents had rejected a different version of the legislation last year. A revised bill, which provided for an exemption for rural school districts, was passed by the Legislature in August.
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