By NICK BUDD
Hays Post
Alan LaPolice, a GOP First Congressional District primary candidate, visited Hays on Tuesday, part of his campaign to unseat the U.S. Rep. Tim Huelskamp. LaPolice met with local groups and organizations to talk about issues facing Hays facing and how he plans to solve them as a government leader.
“A big factor in Hays are the job openings and positions, but the lack of skilled laborers such as welders,” LaPolice said. “Even though I am not a big fan of some of the government agencies, I think there should be a way for the rural development department of the USDA to help local businesses seek out the skill labor that they need.
“If there’s a department that’s well organized and doesn’t have a lot of red tape, they could help to organize getting the talent into the workforce,” he added. “They could also help to make sure that there is enough housing allocated for them.”
LaPolice grew up on a rural farm in Clyde. After graduating from high school, he joined the military, where he was served in the first Gulf War. After his stint in the military, he received attended the University of California-Berkeley, where he graduated summa cum laude with a degree in the performing arts and English literature. After a short stint as an actor, LaPolice joined the teaching profession where he held various teaching and administrative roles, including the role of district superintendent in Los Angeles.
After serving as a superintendent in a rural California school district, he moved back to Clyde where he has resided for the past 10 years.
Because of his 15 years of experience in education, LaPolice believes that is is one area that must be reformed.
“I’m a big fan of local schools, and the control that is best is local control,” he said. “Local control is better because you’ve got voters that actually know the members of their school board, and if they don’t like what they’re doing or if they don’t like a particular policy issue, they can either talk to them or vote them out.”
LaPolice also believes that the one of the biggest problems with the public school system is the “deprofessionalization of the teaching profession.” He said the one of the best solutions is to return autonomy to the classroom teacher.
“These teachers don’t come into the profession looking for a big paycheck. They go into it because they love teaching.” LaPolice said. “We need to support them and provide any resources that we can.”
In regards to the recently signed Kansas education funding bill, LaPolice did agree the tenure process needed to be reformed. He believes that if a teacher isn’t performing up to standard, they shouldn’t be guaranteed a job. But again said that decision should be made locally.
“That process needs to be revised,” he said. “If that gets revised at the local level, you won’t have a problem getting rid of bad teachers.”
Speaking of his primary opponent, LaPolice said Huelskamp has been “causing more problems than he is willing to find solutions for.”
“I got involved with the GOP asking them who I could endorse, support or campaign with and they told me there was nobody that was going to run against the incumbent, that he was doing a fine job, which I didn’t agree with,” he said. “After talking with some of my colleagues, we decided that I would run.”
LaPolice said one of his main goals is to gain back a seat on the House Agriculture Committee. Huelskamp was removed from that committee in late 2012.
“The First District has always had a voice on the Agriculture Committee ever since there’s been one,” LaPolice said. “Huelskamp used to have a seat on the Agriculture Committee, and he was geared to be the committee chair. But due to circumstances that I believe were in his control, he was ejected from the committee along with a seat on the Budget Committee, which was very prestigious.”
“This is the largest agricultural district in America, and we need representation on that committee,” LaPolice said. “We need a voice when that farm bill comes down so that it represents us.”
The GOP primary will be Aug. 5.