North Star Politics

Some days, wading through muck of political news we go through to find posts to write up, something jumps out. Today, it was an amendment offered by Rep. Marty Seifert to the House education omnibus bill.

Early in a debate that stretched into the night, House members defeated a proposal that would have barred districts from making the school day any shorter than it is this year.

House Minority Leader Marty Seifert, R-Marshall, had tried to tack the timekeeping measure onto the bill. He said the school day is eroding even though students are expected to learn more. The amendment failed 72-59.

We have no idea about the merits of the amendment, but the hypocrisy here is simply overwhelming. The Minnesota GOP's platform includes the statements:

B. Making Minnesota’s education system more effective and efficient by
reducing the federal and state bureaucracies’ control.

and

M. ... and [O]pposing any new state or federal laws which seek to centralize educational authority at the expense of local school boards.

We can't count the number of times we've heard members of the GOP decry state legislation that reduces "local control" in education. Apparently that's only true for DFL-backed proposals.

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