On Tuesday, the NH Department of Education released a Back-to-School Guidance document, which provides information and guidelines regarding COVID-19 for school districts throughout the state. The plan, and the Democrats’ response to it, illustrates one of the fundamental differences between our two political parties.
Related: We’ve come a long way since the Governor Approved Temporary Remote Instruction.
What’s most noticeable in the document is the Sununu administration’s overall philosophy: let’s allow local school districts to decide what works best for them. What works in one district might not necessarily work well in all districts. It sounds like common sense because it is.
That apparently doesn’t play well with New Hampshire Democrats, though. They clearly would have preferred a top-down diktat. House Education Committee Chair Mel Myler’s response to the plan is worth noting:
“Today, Governor Sununu failed the students and hard-working staff at New Hampshire schools. Let me be clear —flexibility is not a plan. New Hampshire has always prided itself on local control at the school level but during a pandemic, as the governor demonstrated when he closed schools in March, the state must lead.” (emphasis added)
So here we have one of the leading Democrats in our state legislature, actually arguing in opposition to flexibility. And (of course) using the “pandemic emergency” as a justification.
Since when has “NO flexibility” been in the best interests of constituents? For years, marketers have been selling consumers on the idea of “flexibility.” Google promotes its “flexible plan” for GSuite. Stripe offers “flexible billing.” Mailchimp boasts of its “flexible plans that grow with you.” Companies attract workers with “flexible schedules.” And Burger King started it all with their “have it your way” campaign.
What exactly does Mel Myler mean when he says that “the state must lead”? Here’s the translation: Myler wants top-down micro-management. He thinks the elites should tell the little people what they must do. And I strongly suspect that Mel wants to be the one in charge.
Top-down, one-size-fits-all has never worked well. Ask anyone who has lived under a “planned economy.”
Margaret Thatcher summed it up nicely: “When people are free to choose, they choose freedom.”
Kudos to Governor Sununu and Commissioner Edelblut for doing a great job on this one.
