Sources:

https://thinkprogress.org/labor-day-is-now-a-battleground-in-the-fight-over-the-school-calendar-
7ff10db69315#.ds9ceqg03
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/md-politics/hogan-calls-teachers-union-officials-thugs-
on-social-facebook/2016/08/06/16c6adce-5c03-11e6-9aee-8075993d73a2_story.html
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/politics/bs-md-release-school-money-20151109-
story.html
http://www.cnn.com/2015/08/04/living/school-start-dates-august-parents-feat/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/md-politics/hogan-franchot-promise-big-news-on-school-
start-date-on-wednesday/2016/08/29/43ff2922-6e11-11e6-8365-b19e428a975e_story.html
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/sep/30/cut-summer-break-study-backs-longer-
school-year/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/post/summer-learning-loss-whats-true-and-
false/2012/07/19/gJQAl3B3wW_blog.html?tid=a_inl&utm_term=.d884bd375821
Harris Cooper et al., The Effects of Summer Vacation on Achievement Test Scores, Review of
Educational Research 66 (1996): 260.
http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2016/09/open-wallets-closed-schools/498788/
http://www.edudemic.com/learning-curve-report-education/
http://www.eduinreview.com/blog/2009/03/obama-proposes-longer-school-days-extended-
school-year/
http://www.wbaltv.com/article/gov-larry-hogan-adds-waiver-details-on-starting-school-after-
labor-day/7148597

http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/calendar/proposed-calendar-2017-18.aspx

http://www.wbaltv.com/article/photo-of-burned-bible-passage-found-at-dollywood-goes-
viral/8384778
http://ococean.com/explore-oc/meet-the-insiders/get-answers/single-question/2296/estimated-
costs-for-a-weekend
http://prospect.org/article/education-cure-poverty
http://www.centerforpubliceducation.org/Main-Menu/Organizing-a-school/Copy-of-Making-
time-At-a-glance/Making-time-What-research-says-about-re-organizing-school-schedules.html

http://roomfordebate.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/03/18/the-competition-for-low-wage-jobs/?_r=0
http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/about/statistics.aspx

First Constructive Speech (Amanda):

 Good morning! Today we are going to argue that Governor Hogan's decision to push the
school start date to after labor day should be repealed because it negatively affects lower-income
families, provides less time to prepare for standardized testing, and decreases student
productivity due to psychological drawbacks.
I will begin by outlining the background of the issue. Before the 2016/2017 school year,
MCPS has consistently started the school year in late August, or before Labor Day. Recently,
Governor Hogan has passed a mandate stating that all Maryland school must start after labor day.
This mandate only applies to public schooling, and includes an appeal process in which districts
apply for a waiver. Unfortunately, it is extremely difficult to complete this appeal process, due to
Hogans extremely specific requirements for a waiver to be allotted.
Primarily, I will explain how lower-income families suffer because of the schedule
change. According to Laurel Raymond, quote summer break often means the loss of the
subsidized meals they can depend on during the year end quote. An extra week of summer,
therefore, will mean an extra week without school-provided meals, resulting in child hunger.
According to MCPS, 33.2% of students currently receive Free and Reduced Meals through the
farms program. If the school year is shortened by another week, thats another week that 33.2%
of MCPS students lose a steady breakfast and lunch, food that is essential to child growth and
development. Due to Maryland law, children under 16 cannot obtain a work permit, decreasing
the amount of jobs that are available. These children cannot simply get a job to pay for these
meals, especially in the ever increasing job market, according to The New York Times. As well,
for parents on the lower portion of the socio-economic spectrum, especially those that work
multiple jobs, the condensed school year is a burden, because it increases the amount of money
families must spend on childcare.
To add on economic issues, pulling the school start time to before Labor Day would not
be as costly as Hogan and his associates make it out to be. There is currently enough money for
the education system of Maryland in Hogans budget plan, enough to pay for heating schools for
an extra week.
Secondly, most standardized testing is nation-based, meaning the date of the
examinations are fixed for all school districts. An extra week out of school would force teachers
to condense lesson plans, and have less time to prepare students for nationwide exams.
According to a study conducted by the National Center in Time and learning, the longer the
school year, the higher the average test scores. CNN corroborates this claim, explaining that
earlier start dates positively affect testing results.
Hogans decision to change the school start date is included by his connection
with the businesses in Ocean City, not to education. In Hogans official statement via The
Atlantic, providing his mandate that all Maryland schools start after Labor Day, changing start
dates would provide quote an economic boost end quote to Maryland businesses. This
primarily helps the amusement parks and shops in Ocean City, quote where Hogan held the
press conference announcing his executive order, end quote according to The Atlantic.Shouldnt
school dates be based on actual education, and not business? To reiterate, low income families
that do not have money for child care during an additional week of summer, let alone the
estimate $400 for one weekend trip for a family, according to Ocean Citys website.
In addition, the mandate order is unrealistic and unjust to school districts. After Hogans
order was announced, many school districts, including Montgomery County and Baltimore
County, attempted to appeal this decision. Shortly after the original mandate, Hogan adjusted the
order, expanding the specifics of appeals. According to WBALTV, quote This newly revised
executive order makes it more difficult for school systems to get a waiver to avoid starting
classes after Labor Day. end quote If it is much harder to act against Hogans order, it is almost
impossible for school districts to continue the school year as normal and still follow quote
executive order. end quote
Lastly, student productively decreases as a result of longer summer break and shorter
breaks throughout the school year. A 1996 meta-analysis by Harris Cooper states that quote
summer loss mostly applies to factual and procedural knowledge. end quote As well,
according to Daphne Sashin via CNN, a shorter summer break allows for more breaks
throughout the school year. In turn, quote Teachers are happier and kids behave better, end
quote increasing the value of the school year.
Due to the positive effects of pulling the school start date to an earlier time before labor
day, and the impossibility of continuing the school year as normal under Hogans plan, the
decision must be repealed. Thank you for your time.
(Negative side will cross question)
(Negative side will being constructive speech)
Cross Questioning 1 (Amanda):
-(question what comes up)
-ex: What is the rationale behind Hogans decision to start school earlier?
-ex 2: How would it benefit students?
-ex 3: Explain sources?
Second Constructive Speech (Wilson):
(also respond to negative positions, use loads of logos)
Good morning all! I would like to expand on the points that Amanda has already
described. Hogans change to the school schedule is very harmful to poor families and school
districts and only boosts the economy in rich tourist cities. The condensed school year makes it
even more arduous for families that struggle with child-care, leads to worse testing scores, and
only helps those that dont need the support.
First and foremost, for families that have to scrape together money over long breaks to
support themselves, summer break can be very dangerous due to rapid increase in child-care
costs. A report done in 2012 by The Boston Globe concludes that Maryland is the sixth most
expensive state for child-care. For families that cannot afford the annual price of $15,893.00 for
full time child care of school aged children, even an extra week of vacation can put a strain on
family budgets. It is better for Hogan to invest some of his cash surplus from the yearly budget
into the education system, specifically by expanding the school year. The said expansion would
cost more for the state government, but according to Hogans budgetary plan, roughly half-a-
billion dollars are left over from the compression of school start times. This means that the costs
of re-adjustment to school start times would be negated, as rudimentary expenses such as air
conditioning could be paid for with the money left over. Hogans financial plan does not allocate
enough money for schools even without the inflation of the school year. It is unwise to not be
spending where spending is needed most.
Furthermore, the longer school year means more preparation for county, state, and nation-
wide standardized testing. But exactly how much of a difference will be made with a longer
school year? A chart from Edu in Review reads that countries with more days in the school year
(such as Finland with 190 day, and Japan with an incredible 243 days) are more successful than
the US. Edudemic writes that Japan and Finland are the second and fourth best educational
systems in the world (respectively). Obama has proposed that school years be longer, but has
been shut down multiple times, which leaves the issue to the state-level government. Hogan
needs to make the change to expand the school year rather than cutting it short in order for public
school students to have better test scores.
The mandate that has been passed is too grueling for poor school districts, and as
mentioned before, benefits rich tourist areas like Ocean City. Hogans decision was swayed by
one of his advisors, Peter Franchot, who assists with state finances and budgetary spending. In
2014, Franchot made a task-force to try and push the start date. Franchot said that a shift would
mean millions in revenue and economic activity. When he had stated this, three school
organizations hosted in Maryland, one of which was MSEA (Maryland State Education
Association) strongly opposed the concept because it is wrong to change the education system
quote based on purely economic reasons unquote. Even with the strong economic gains in
tourist areas, the tax revenue would not go back to the schools because Hogan is not interested in
spending any more on education (as is evident due to his half billion surplus he refuses to give to
public schools).
Finally, longer school years mean higher test scores and better results for students.
Longer breaks, on the other hand, mean less time in school, which has been proven to decrease
student productivity. It is healthier for students to have more small breaks rather than a few large
ones (which Hogans schedule change calls for). Psych Central research says that quote a
similar phenomenon occurs in sensory perception, unquote. When students stop using the
information they learned, it is much more difficult to retain it. That is why it is better to have
breaks spread across the entire year rather than have long breaks and incredibly compressed
school years that strain student learning.
The change that has been made to school schedules brings more problems than solutions
to the table. Even then, those solutions only benefit tourism businesses and the state government.
The compression of the school year has harmed the education system and will continue to do so
until the action has been taken to repeal it. Why make a system that is already bad even worse?
Why make such a decision based on reasons not even linked to education? Why not act against
Hogans mandate if there is enough money to do so? This is wrong and inequitable to students.
Students should not have their education compromised to benefit other industries. Thank you.
(Negative side will cross question)
(Negative side will being constructive speech)
Cross Question 2 (Wilson):
-(question what is discussed)
-sources, refute claims, etc.
(Negative side will present rebuttal)
First Rebuttal (Amanda):
-(cant really plan whats going to be mentioned, rebuttals separated by idea)
-Doesnt cost very much/refuting cost ideas
-AC costs are limited
-Atlanta Public Schools analyzed the costs and determined
that there would be minimal, if any, savings by shifting the school year.
There are people working in the schools pretty much year-round. "Schools
are bustling with activities: summer school programs, summer camps and
maintenance activities. And you can't just shut down the air conditioning;
the technology requires a certain amount of climate-control to protect the
equipment," (Baltimore Sun)
-surplus in budget (Hogan just wants it to be cheaper)
-The Democrats pointed to a projected $500 million surplus
expected in this year's budget and announced last week, saying with the
new pool of cash, the governor could spend more on education while also
spending more on the state's pension system, as he has proposed.
-Mayer said the state is still facing a $1 billion cumulative deficit over five
years and still has a long-term pension shortfall with a price tag in the
billions.(Both from Baltimore Sun)
-Outdated custom of long school break
-Traditional end of summer is outdated
-from agriculture industry, not a thing anymore
-summer vacation as we know it is a pretty recent phenomenon. Fall and spring,
school was out so children could help harvest the crops and help with planting,
said John Rury, a historian of American education at the University of Kansas.
-keeps kids safe (?)
-how even argument? If in school, keeps kids off the streets, limits exposure to
crime, etc
-heatstroke- if in a school environment, have access to AC, keeps them a cool
environment
-some baltimore schools dont have AC, yes, but the surplus in the budget allows
for the costs of AC
-All about Ocean City
-so businesses can make more profit off of families
-many families dont have money/have to work throughout the summer, dont
have extra time for breaks
 -explain connection between Hogan and Ocean City Businesses
-statewide mandate doesnt really work for all counties
-currently, most Maryland counties start before labor day, only one that doesnt is
the one w/ ocean city
-solution should be district to district aka specific not broad (not one general
solution)
LINE BY LINE REFUTING
In these speeches, the argumentation continues to be advanced. Each
speaker should have
narrowed down the number of arguments, focusing on the most important.
These speeches are about solid line-by-line debating and excellent
argumentation. These speeches you should use a declining amount of
quotations
(Negative side will present rebuttal)
Second Rebuttal (Wilson):
-(Same as above really, bring up anything talked about & wrap it up, this is the last
chance to speak)
-In conclusion, you, the judges, should support our position to change the current school
start date precedent set by Governor Hogan.
-no quotes
-If they bring up private schools and how theyre more successful with less school days,
point out that the same private schools require large tuition fees, therefore virtually none
of the students are in the lower portions of the socio-economic chain. Because of this, it
can be implied that longer breaks are not as big of an issue (since the families have the
money to withstand the childcare expenses).
LINE BY LINE REFUTING
The 2AR sums up all the reason to vote for the plan, and provides clear
summaries and plenty of
comparisons. The affirmative should have narrowed down to one or two key
positions. No new quotations may be read. When youre the one being cross-
examined, be honest and provide the most thorough answers that you can.
Feigning ignorance looks bad. However, if you genuinely dont know, then
dont be afraid to admit it--maybe the question makes no sense.

Lastly, student productively decreases as a result of longer summer break and shorter
breaks throughout the school year. A 1996 meta-analysis by Harris Cooper states that quote
summer loss mostly applies to factual and procedural knowledge. end quote As well,
according to Daphne Sashin via CNN, a shorter summer break allows for more breaks
throughout the school year. In turn, quote Teachers are happier and kids behave better, end
quote increasing the value of the school year.
 Due to the positive effects of pulling the school start date to an earlier time before labor
day, and the impossibility of continuing the school year as normal under Hogans plan, the
decision must be repealed. Thank you for your time.