Education insanity, no home rule


The Okaloosa County School system wants to start classes on August 4. State says they can’t do so. The state legislature passed few couple years ago a law saying school districts must start the school year two weeks before Labor Day. Flexibility in school calendars is only offered to districts deemed high performing.

This is insane. I thought Republicans believed in home rule, letting local officials make decisions. Instead, we can’t control our school start dates, regulate fertilizer or control gun ranges in neighborhoods.

Home rule is only important when the state wants to cut a program and push the costs down to the local level.

Maybe we should suspend all state representative elections and eliminate their salaries. The lobbyists can pick who they like and pay the salaries and benefits.

Read more on Okaloosa County.

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Author: Rick Outzen

Rick Outzen is the publisher/owner of Pensacola Inweekly. He has been profiled in The New York Times and featured in several True Crime documentaries. Rick also is the author of the award-winning Walker Holmes thrillers. His latest nonfiction book is “Right Idea, Right Time: The Fight for Pensacola’s Maritime Park.”