The chairman of the education committee in the Iowa House believes he’s got a compromise that could end the controversy over when Iowa schools should start classes in August. Representative Ron Jorgensen, a Republican from Sioux City, has drafted a proposal that would require Iowa’s K-through-12 schools to start the fall semester on or after August 23rd. Jorgensen says there’s been of lot of discussion about the issue.

Governor Terry Branstad has been a critic of having schools start earlier and earlier in August, complaining it hurts the state’s tourism industry and makes it impossible for families to go to the Iowa State Fair. Two months ago the Department of Education put schools on notice that no more automatic waivers would be granted, so schools would have to start in the week in which September 1st falls. Brian Johnson is a lobbyist for the Iowa State Fair, the Iowa Lodging Association and the trade group for Iowa’s restaurant industry. He says August 23rd seems better than August 11th, the date on which some schools started classes last year.

Schools say they need to start early in order to conclude the fall semester before the long holiday break, plus many high school students take community college courses and community colleges start earlier than the last week of August, too. The House Education Committee’s chairman says setting August 23rd as the start date accommodates those two concerns from schools. Republicans and Democrats on the committee met privately for about an hour yesterday to discuss Jorgensen’s compromise. A committee vote on the idea could come Wednesday.