COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - Ohio lawmakers who want schools to wait until after Labor Day to start classes for the year say that would help the state's tourism industry.

Republican State Rep. Bill Hayes says what he describes as the state's third-largest industry loses business when schools reopen too early.

The Columbus Dispatch reports a bill Hayes has co-sponsored would give school districts a way to opt out on the post-Labor Day requirement.

The same measure would determine the length of the school year based on the number of hours students are in class, not the number of days.

At a state House hearing on Wednesday, a member of a central Ohio school board complained that provision would hurt education quality by allowing districts to cut weeks off the school calendar.

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