Political Quotes

“That is exactly the point. What happens when we pass legislation out of Washington that empowers Washington, that gives them more authority, it means that people at the local level have to spend more time focusing on Washington bureaucrats. In Michigan, when we moved the funding from the local level to Lansing, it meant that the local administrators now would have to spend more time focused on Lansing rather than the interest in their community. That does not mean that what we have done in Michigan is bad, but it is a recognition that that should be counterbalanced. Because where do we want the power and the influence for our local schools? Do we want it in bureaucrats in Washington, in Lansing, or do we want it in my hometown of Holland, with parents? Do I want it around a kitchen table or around a PTA table? I want it in my local school districts, because in some cases now in my local community, the parents kind of walk away and say, Pete, what can we do? We cannot raise the money. We had an inner-city school that a lot of people in the community wanted to keep open, but there was nothing that our superintendent could do to go to the community and say, this is not the most efficient way to run our school system by keeping this school open, but I really think it is important to the sense of community and the city of Holland that we leave that school open. He could not go to the community and say, if you agree with me, great, then give me the money to do it.”