I'm sure lucky I can swim.

Seeing what the state legislature is doing to Texas public schools, I'm ecstatic that I got out when I did. Now they've pushed back the start date to after Labor Day, for the great reason of providing longer summers to strengthen families. I'm not making that up or even exaggerating; behold what State Senator John Carona said in the Dallas Morning News today (unfortunately, he's my senator):

Texans want their summers back for good reasons. Longer summers provided by the traditional school year give families more opportunities to spend quality time together without school-time distractions of homework and extracurricular activities. Shorter summers result in loss of time with noncustodial parents and extended family. The time lost with family members whom children don't see day-to-day translates into a loss of traditions and values that are handed down from one generation to the next.

Well, geez, why don't you just dissolve all the "independent" school districts and administer all Texas schools directly from Austin? If Texans want their summers back, they'll get their local school boards to do it. That's why we have school districts. (Admittedly, public schooling is still an unnatural monopoly, but that's another issue altogether.)