Students in two Alabama school systems - Madison County and Huntsville City - went back to class yesterday. For others, the new school year starts in the upcoming days.

And that's not right, according to State Rep. Craig Ford, D-Gadsden.

"Instead of spending the last few weeks of August working summer jobs or on family vacations, teachers and students are preparing to head back to school. Why?," Ford asked in a recent Facebook post. "It wasn't always that way."

In 2012, Alabama's Legislature passed a bill mandating that school could not start earlier than the Monday two weeks before Labor Day and last no longer than the Friday immediately before Memorial Day. Proponents said the longer summer break would boost tourism dollars, money that would flow back to the schools. Critics of the longer summer said it allowed students to forget much of what they learned.

The legislature failed to renew the measure in 2015, however, and systems reverted to the earlier start date. Alabama schools are required to provide at least 180 full instructional days or the hourly equivalent of 1,080 hours each year.

Ford said there are numerous benefits to a longer summer break, including additional time for professional development for teachers, the ability for older students to more easily work summer jobs and cost savings from the high utility costs related to summer heat. To counteract the time away from the classroom, Ford said he's in favor of expanding summer learning programs.

Ford said he'd like to see the act will be renewed in the next session of the legislature.

"When the Flexible School Calendar Act of 2012 was passed, it focused on what was best for students and teachers," Ford said. "The act pushed back the school year to late-August and offered a twelve-week summer vacation. The bill was supported by teachers and parents alike. It didn't force schools to start at a particular time, but did guarantee a full summer break."

Alabama isn't the only state where people question early August school starts.

In Maryland, Gov. Larry Hogan recently signed an executive order mandating that public schools not start before Labor Day and must end by June 15. Michigan, which has had a no-classed-before-Labor-Day law for 11 years, granted waivers to 123 districts to allow local schools boards to set their own start times. And in Kentucky, Gov. Matt Bevin signed a law allowing local districts to lower the number of instructional days from 170 as long as the school year consists of 1,062 instructional hours. Schools opting to cut the days will not be allowed to begin classes prior to the Monday closest to Aug. 26.