Last updated on 2013.02.05
Watch Senate Bill 216 this morning for a sign of what our Legislature really thinks of local control. SB 216 is part of the package of teen driving safety measures proposed by a Legislative task force (funded by the federal government) to reduce South Dakota's relatively high rate of teen driver fatalities. Among its findings, South Dakota's Teen Driving Task Force noticed data showing that when states increase requirements for driver education, fewer young drivers crash their cars.
Thus, for the sake of our children and those of us they might run into, Senate Bill 216 replaces every school's driver education program with a centralized, state-mandated driver education program created by the Department of Public Safety. The state would create core curriculum for driver education and "establish standardized testing methodology for students and standard training programs, licensing, recertification, and continuing education criteria for instructors."
The Senate Transportation committee, which hears SB 216 this morning, includes Senator Bob Ewing (R-31/Spearfish), who said at a January 26 crackerbarrel that he supports "total local control" for our school districts. Fellow Transportation committee member Sen. Ernie Otten (R-6/Tea) makes the same argument in favor of his preferred youth safety legislation.
So will Otten and Ewing reject this blatant usurpation of local control by the state and vote against SB 216 this morning?
Update 2013.02.05 06:32 MST: Of course not! SB 216 goes seven-up! Otten and Ewing joined a unanimous Senate Transportation vote for SB 216 yesterday. They said keeping kids safe is more important than local control. They thus destroyed the primary defense for the school gunslinger bill and ensured the defeat of HB 1087 in their august chamber. Rock on!