David Ralston on Local Education Control: Disingenuous, A Hypocrite, Or….

Figuring out Speaker David Ralston’s political philosophy is like putting together a puzzle but the pieces don’t match the picture on the box.

Case in point on education.In May “the way it should be” done is by having  local school boards sort out their allotment of money. After all, the decent Speaker from Blue Ridge would be loathe to back “an effort by the state to interfere with local governments and control of schools,” on something as hot button as preventing gun violence in schools.

Way back in 2010 he outlined his style of government pretty clearly.

I think it’s a little bit disingenuous on our part to complain about mandates that Washington imposes on the state and then do the same thing on local governments here in Georgia. I’ve tried to make it a priority to reach out and say we want to work with you.

Surely it would seem that he would never want to interfere in, say, how a local school runs the first five minutes of it’s day? Right? Especially he wouldn’t care how one particular school uses it’s money!

I can’t be the only one who thinks that as outgoing Lt. Gov Casey Cagle hailed Ralston’s work in the General Assembly saying he and Ralston worked for “education reform that brings true local control to our schools” and then there’s this, tying Ralston to a veritable plaudit list of GOP local control of education cliches. Oh, and let’s not forget in 2017 the Georgia Center for Opportunity gave the House an A for, among other things, their legislative support for charter schools.

Surely with all that he would have the utmost deference to how a school operates and wouldn’t dare imply he wants the Georgia House of Representatives to look at the actions of a single school? 

Unless

• Somehow he’s had a radical change of heart in 12 weeks, one that would, frankly, put him out of line with his party
• He is lying in any one of these statements or
• Ralston’s a hypocrite who just loves the “control” part of “local control”

The latter seems the most likely seeing as how he’s also not in favor of local control when it comes to honoring the Confederacy. That should remain a key objective for the State of Georgia: ensuring Gens. Lee and Beauregard have the backing of the state, no matter how offensive that might be to millions of Georgians.