c	If you are in support of a later school start date and would like for your school board members to support State Schools Superintendent Kathy Cox plan, please contact your school board members today. Cox wants schools to start later Voluntary delay would let standardized testing retakes be counted, she says By Brandon Larrabee | Morris News Service Tuesday, June 17, 2008 ATLANTA --- State Schools Superintendent Kathy Cox plans to press local boards to postpone the start of the school year until late August. storyPhotos(); This would reverse a previous hands-off approach to start dates and offer the possibility of better-looking test results. Schools would start next year's academic year no earlier than the third week of August under the plan, which would be voluntary, Ms. Cox said. In return, state Department of Education officials would have more time to crunch testing data from the districts, with the potential that fewer schools would fall short of federal standards. The extra time would allow for standardized testing retakes to be considered. More... Opinion Editorial Written by Lane Holt June 18, 2008 Changing your point of view is often difficult, but I’m proud Georgia has a State Schools Superintendent who has looked at the data and is now willing to change her mind about the benefit of a uniform, third week in August school start date. Research clearly shows that when the school year begins does not impact academic performance.  Yet, allowing our children to begin the school year at different times, knowing all children take our state-standardized test on the same day, puts some students at a disadvantage.  Would you want to start a running race 100 yards behind your competition? More...