Students line up as they return to school in Durham County. (File photo)

It’s been two decades since state legislators bowed to tourism industry lobbyists and passed a law forbidding local school districts from starting the traditional calendar school year prior to the last week of August.

It was a familiar case of industry campaign cash trumping recommendations of education experts and the wellbeing of children.

In the years since, local school districts — anxious to take advantage of completing their first semester prior to the Christmas break — have repeatedly tried to buck the rule and often gotten into hot water for doing so.

Now, thankfully, it looks like legislative leaders may be backtracking a bit. Under a Senate bill introduced last week, the permissible start date would be set a week earlier — the Monday closest to August 19 — and it’s a welcome proposal.

The bottom line: The bill isn’t perfect as local districts would prefer more flexibility and tourism special interests are still being given way too much say-so in the matter, but in a legislature that so often ignores the best interests of kids, it’s better than nothing.

For NC Newsline, I’m Rob Schofield.