Democrats fight Hogan at their peril

It comes as no surprise that the loudest voices in opposition to Gov. Larry Hogan’s common-sense measure to start the school year after Labor Day are coming from the most partisan Democrats who will stop at nothing to stop the governor from enacting the change he was elected to deliver (“Hogan and Franchot: Profiles in pandering,” Sept. 2).

If it had been Anthony Brown’s signature issue that mandated a post-Labor Day start, I doubt we would hear this much griping and vitriol from Democratic legislators, the teachers union and the like. That’s because Gov. Martin O’Malley’s own task force of teachers, administrators, parents, business owners and legislators voted overwhelmingly to recommend starting school after Labor Day and found absolutely no evidence to suggest there was a detrimental impact on students in doing so.

In fact, over 70 percent of Marylanders, two governors, the comptroller and dozens of Republican and Democratic legislators are in support of starting school after Labor Day. Even Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller was for it before he was against it, having supported the measure in 2013 under Governor O’Malley. It wasn’t until Governor Hogan made his announcement that Senator Miller found the idea “extraordinary and legally questionable.”

If Maryland Democrats want to remain relevant in the state’s fast-changing political landscape come 2018, it would behoove them to start working with our pragmatic, wildly popular governor in the best interests of all Marylanders instead of picking partisan battles that only serve to divide us. If they don’t, it’s entirely possible that many of them will be looking for new jobs after the next election.