Americans’ present despair and disgust with the federal government does not extend to local government. Opinion polls by Gallup and the Pew Research Center underscore that Americans consistently view local government more positively than the federal government. In a hierarchy of favourability, local government comes out on top, followed by state government, with the federal government coming last—and less than half as popular as both local and state government.
Local government is better regarded because it truly responds to people’s needs. Local representatives are close to the people they serve; indeed, they live among them. Local officials are pragmatic and flexible; they focus on “getting things done” rather than ideological purity. They also have to provide the desired services within budget—unlike their federal counterparts—so they are seen as better guardians of people’s money.
Local government is government “for the people, by the people, of the people”. The local governing process can be influenced very directly by community activism, with committed people in the community really able to impact an outcome. Countering and even overriding “legal capture” by vested and special interests is possible in the local realm. No wonder local government is regarded more positively.
Two current campaigns in our area illustrate key aspects of local government’s openness to those it serves. The lack of pavements or “sidewalks” along some key arterial roads in our neighbourhood is dangerous for pedestrians. Fairfax County is receptive to concerns about pedestrian safety, and has added requests for sidewalks on these busy roads to the long list of presently unfunded transportation projects in the county. This list is available on the Internet. Very transparently, the county asks for community input to help prioritize the desired tasks. There is now a concerted neighbourhood effort to have stakeholders fill in the online survey to help escalate the prioritization of providing these long-coveted sidewalks. There will also be public meetings to discuss county priorities, with members of the public encouraged to attend to offer their viewpoints. Of course, the activists in our community are urging as many as possible to participate in these meetings. Many living along the two busy streets have also placed signs on their lawns to draw attention to the campaign.
The other initiative being pushed locally is a perennial issue in Fairfax County Public Schools. This is the campaign for later high school start times. Nearby Arlington and Loudoun Counties have already made the shift, while Montgomery County across the Potomac River in Maryland is also considering the adjustment.
Pushing the present FCPS high school start time of 7:20 a.m. to after 8 a.m. is the goal. The research is quite clear on the benefits of later school starting times for teenagers, given their natural circadian or biologically driven body-clock rhythms. The apparent benefits of more morning sleep and less sleep deprivation include increased academic achievement, improved performance in tests (especially in those held at the start of the school day), better school attendance, improved punctuality in arriving at school, reduced drop out rates, fewer car accidents, less reported depression, fewer health center visits, and less daytime sleepiness in class. Research seems to suggest that bed times do not shift to later if school start times are pushed back (one could be cynical about this finding, knowing teenagers’ approach to bedtime…). It is suggested that sleep appears to increase by the amount that school start time is delayed.
Resistance to implementing later high school start times is mainly due to the impact on bus transport to and from school. These transportation costs are why the change has not been made previously, despite attempts to do so. Presently, the same buses are used for at least three shifts: to transport high school, then middle school, and lastly elementary school children to their respective schools. Adjusting high school start times might mean modifying all schools’ start times (this is the approach Montgomery County’s superintendent recommends), particularly if the same number of buses and drivers are to be used. Other school districts have accomplished later high school start times by “flipping” the sequence of pick up, with elementary school children, for example, being switched to the earliest shift. Yet dislike of little children waiting in the morning dark for buses is apparently why rare school districts revert to earlier high school start times if they switched. Increased transportation costs—for more buses and drivers—appear to be the biggest impediments to changing school start times, especially in this era of reduced budgets.
Other constraints include leaving enough time for extracurricular athletic activities, especially considering after-hours use of school facilities by community groups; after-school employment of students; childcare of younger siblings; overall adjustments in family schedules; and the impact on commuting traffic.
Giving families time to prepare for such profound schedule changes is key. Providing details about the possible changes is essential, with information meetings being one important and necessary tool. Earlier this year, a meeting was held at the local high school and, more recently, at a community center for members of the public. The speaker at both events was Dr. Judith Owens of the Children’s National Medical Center Division of Sleep Medicine. The FCPS School Board has commissioned the Children’s National Medical Center to submit recommendations on how the board could start high schools after 8 a.m. Many of the earlier comments here are based on my notes from these two meetings. The latter meeting was well attended by local luminaries, including the district supervisor, our local school board member, plus one of the candidates running for the state House of Delegates. I was impressed that they all attended. Clearly, they wanted to hear the presentation and gauge community reactions to it.
SLEEP in Fairfax (Start Later for Excellence in Education Proposal) is a committed group of volunteers who have been working since 2004 for later FCPS high school start times. One has to admire their fortitude and perseverance. The momentum now somehow suggests that, this time round, their hard work toward this long-sought goal will have the desired outcome.
Local activists have an encouraging track record. A success in 2011, for example, was the extension of kindergarten to full day from half day in the last FCPS schools that didn’t yet have it.
So if you want to make a difference in your community, try influencing local government. Your odds are better here than at the federal level.
Watching in Washington 
dear Micheline
interesting, your blog. yes that’s what I always felt about the US (but also Russia and China): they are simply too big for civil recognition of ‘this is our state, this is our government’. you need a certain optimal distance between citizens and government.
if it’s too large, there is no identification such as ‘this is us’ from the civic perspective. the only way to keep a country together then becomes by state control – even extending to other countries as we see now by the intelligence leaks… or by media magnates as Berlusconi.
the ‘state identity’ in Italy and Germany was traditionally weak, therefore its artificial emphasis on Blut und Boden (Blood and Soil) as chauvinistic ‘power kit’ formed the cradle for fascism. (cf the more gradual processes of state forming in the Netherlands, France and England..) –
dictatorship by either large companies or central parties is apparently then what develops forcibly as a state form.
the result is: too much power in the hands of too few corrupts.
man’s soul is not capable of respectful handling of this temptation…
therefore, institutional sharing by the Demos or people of ALL Krates or power is the only way forward to real democracy. and the sharing of accumulated wealth by the so called owners of companies with the communities who worked hard to achieve this accumulation, is a prerequisite of Equity, Fraternity/Sisterhood and Liberty.
without sharing of wealth every democracy becomes a fake.
Martien Brands, your cousin from the NL
Hello Martien:
Great to hear from you–and get a view from one in a country with a much smaller territorial area and population than these vast “United States”. I appreciate your comments. Perhaps local government being effective and responsive to the people it represents isn’t such a surprise in the Netherlands? Here in the US, with government at the federal level presently being so dysfunctional, partisan, and log jammed, it is a welcome relief that local government can still “deliver the goods” for those its represents. Not to be taken for granted! Governing at the state (or provincial, the Dutch equivalent?) level, fortunately, trends too toward greater effectiveness than not. I do agree with you about sharing “the goods” at all levels, including locally. I think you will enjoy my next blog–it will address this issue. Should be forthcoming in the next few days!
Warmest wishes from a very chilly Washington,
Micheline