We think schools are doing a pretty good job of educating our students and Pierre's uncalled for intervention in the classroom would be intrusive and unfortunate.

Rep. Don Kopp appears to think otherwise. The Rapid City Republican suggested earlier this week that legislation would be filed for this session requiring both sides of the global warming issue be taught in schools, if the issue is taught at all.

Pierre should not be micromanaging curriculum in our state's school districts. Clearly Kopp's suggestion is more couched in politics than education. He is talking about global warming, after all, and the political implications of that discussion still aren't fully understood.

But in our school's classrooms? Is that where we would expect to see the politics of global warming cloud the instruction of good teachers?

What Kopp is proposing is legislation that would require public schools that teach the threats of global warming to also teach students the skeptical view of climate change.

"If a school is paid for with public funds, if they teach global warming or show Al Gore's video, as most of our schools here in Rapid City did, then they will have to show the opposing view," Kopp said. "I believe that's only fair. If they only hear one side of the story, that's all they get."

He makes an interesting point for educators and the community - there are two sides to every story, multiple layers that should be considered in any discussion.

But the intrigue stops there. Pierre - primarily the politics of Pierre - simply does not belong in the business of managing classroom instruction.

Fortunately, that sentiment is already being echoed.

"I can say that from my experience, these types of things usually fail, because the schools don't typically like to be dictated to like that," said House Republican Leader Bob Faehn. "It's probably going to come down to the fact that that's really a school board decision, not ours. But who knows?"

Indeed. Who knows what will happen? We would hope what doesn't happen is that the political debate over climate change barge its way into the district's classrooms and give the Legislature new license to manage school curriculum at the local level.