What Local Control?

State Legislator Wants to Set Uniform School Calendar

By Howard Rothman, 1-25-06

	Rep. Lynn Hefley

So, did you hear the one about the lawmaker from Colorado Springs who walks into the Capitol and says she wants to standardize the starting and ending dates for each school year by requiring that every district across Colorado realign its calendar to her schedule? Unfortunately, it’s not the opening line to a joke. GOP Rep. Lynn Hefley is promoting House Bill 1150, which says all schools will start on the Tuesday after Labor Day and end no earlier than the Friday after Memorial Day.

I’m sorry, Rep. Hefley, but that’s what my local school board is elected to do. And if my neighbors and I don’t like the calendar they set, we can take it up with them at a meeting. Or at the polls.

Now, I’ll grant you the school calendar has gotten somewhat wacky in recent years, with almost every student in Colorado returning to class on various dates well before Labor Day and shutting down for summer at assorted times before Memorial Day. It certainly wasn’t like that when I grew up, but why is this a problem that the state needs to solve? I thought Republicans were for less government, but apparently they have a different philosophy when it comes to schools. First they step in on the state level with CSAP, which was supposed to make schools better and more accountable — two lofty goals that most would agree have yet to be achieved. Then the national party gets behind the No Child Left Behind act, which is supposed to… well, I’m not really sure what NCLB is supposed to do, but plenty of people believe it’s actually had a negative impact on education and should be repealed. And we haven’t even gotten to touchy subjects like textbooks and intelligent design.

As a parent, I like the idea of local control and it’s what I’ve largely based my residency decisions on since my oldest daughter first entered the Colorado public school system 16 years ago. In that time I’ve tried to understand and influence decisions like this as an active member of my school community. I’ve also supported, and opposed, various school board candidates in hopes of advancing the positions I support. Like everybody I won some and lost some, but the elections and decisions that resulted were all determined by folks in my neighborhood in accordance with locally prevailing wishes. We didn’t need a state representative from Colorado Springs then and we don't need one to set the starting and ending dates for our school year now. It's a little thing — they often are — but it's no joke.

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