Today, hundreds of teachers and thousands of students will once again be reminded the relaxation of summer has ended and the time to get back to work has come quickly again.

This school year will offer challenges and opportunities for the school community and students as well. It’s an election year, and that should offer students an opportunity to get involved. The youth of the Democratic ticket has spurred all kinds of young people to get involved and the rest to say this democracy thing might just matter. If nothing else, a presidential election gives teachers a relevant connection for civics or history class. There’s nothing like real events to bring those subjects alive.

By the time school adjourns next summer, Minnesota lawmakers may have crafted an entirely different way of funding schools. They may have implemented entirely different pay incentives for teachers. And they may have changed the way we measure student and school progress. That’s a full plate.

The K-12 Finance Division of the Minnesota House of Representatives Education Committee will be in Mankato on Sept. 25 to get the public’s input on some of these very pressing issues.

A meeting in Bemidji earlier this summer suggested the changes to state funding of education were not going to be tweaked around the edges. In fact, one proposal would have the state take over the local operating levies local taxpayers have been paying. That would certainly impact schools and taxpayers at the local level. There’s talk of counting all students as one pupil unit whether they were in kindergarten or high school. The current system is complex and cannot be easily understood when taxpayers don’t see why one student is a 0.5 and another is 1 for purposes of pupil count funding.

There, of course, will be dozens of opportunities for students to get involved in everything from sports to drama club. Education experts advise all students to get involved in something as a way to make new friends or involve themselves in challenges that students will not only benefit from as they pursue college or another career track, but also because it will be something they will remember for the rest of their life.

Back to school may get a bad rap, but it can be one of the most exciting times of the year.