Later school start equals more money for state?

Students return to Baltimore City Public Schools Monday, and several other jurisdictions have had full classrooms for the last week.

If Comptroller Peter Franchot had his way,  students wouldn’t start school until after Labor Day so families could spend more time together as summer winds down, an argument that some say has value.

But Franchot, a potential gubernatorial candidate in 2014, also has an economic argument he says is worth several million bucks.

The comptroller, responsible for collecting the state’s taxes, says Ocean City generates $5 million in tax revenue each week in August.

Adding another week — or in some jurisdictions, two — for family vacations might make Maryland’s ocean-side resort town a more valuable taxpayer.

Franchot later added that students seeking summer jobs might have better luck finding one in Ocean City if business owners didn’t fear losing those students to public schools as the town makes its final push into the off-season.

The economic argument is “equally compelling” to the family life argument, Franchot said.

Ocean City Mayor Richard W. Meehan, at the Board of Public Works meeting Wednesday to seek approval of further renovations of the Roland E. Powell Convention Center, happily piled on to what could become part of Franchot’s future platform.

“Honestly, I think it’s un-American to start school before Labor Day,” Meehan said.