Cars and school grades

I don't know what's happened to Joe Manchin. He's riding a wave of popularity, and he's tossing out nanny state ideas that really irritate some people.

One recent example is the idea that the state will suspend a kid's driving license or not allow the teen to get a license in the first place if his or her grade point average drops below a C.

Some problems with that:

What does a school grade have to do with driving ability? I was a good student in high school, but I was a terrible driver. I recognized that fact, which is one reason I didn't bother getting my license until I was half past 21. That and the fact I had nothing to drive and no reason for ID.

Do schools want to send lists of names to the DMV every six weeks? Why add this burden to school administrators, who have more important things to worry about?


Will Manchin come back and also try to tie driving privileges to school attendance, community service or some other worthwhile goal? Where does it end?

Here is the most troublesome part to me: Why should the DMV have access to any of my kids' school records? Who else will have access to them as school performance and attendance is tied to other privileges that really have nothing to do with education? Whatever happened to privacy?

Summary: Understandable ide, but still a bad one. State Sen. Bob Plymale said he wants to see the details. If I were a cynic, I would interpret that as meaning he hates the idea, but he's not going to say so openly. Maybe Plymale is receptive. Here's hoping he and other legislators don't bother putting this on their agenda.