ECU researcher vets net to create a school daze.

• Author: Richter, Chris
• Position: Tar Heel Tattler - East Carolina University

It's hard to know who would be happier if North Carolina public schools started 10 days later. Students would get a two-week reprieve from classes, and teachers would get paid the same for a shorter year. But happiest of all might be the tourism industry, which, East Carolina University hospitality-management professor Jim Chandler says, could get a $1 billion boost.

Chandler reached that total in a study for Rep. Connie Wilson, a Mecklenburg County Republican and sponsor of legislation that would require schools to start after Aug. 25. It would end school no later than June 10 and trim by 10 the number of days most teachers work, beginning in the 2005-06 school year.

Proponents say the early start eviscerates vacations, robbing revenue from the tourism industry. Opponents counter that the debate shouldn't be affected by research they call ill conceived. "I am really astonished that came out of a university," says John Dornan, president of the Public School Forum of North Carolina, a Raleigh education think tank.

Chandler used hotel revenue data from summer months for the last five years to estimate that extending the season 10 days would result in a $300 million increase. He figures that each dollar spent for lodging generates $2.33 in additional spending. Altogether, the increase would total about $1 billion.

He also conducted an Internet-based survey using Web...