Congressman Visits Upper School
On Jan. 21, 2016, Congressman and La Jolla Country Day School alumnus, Jared Polis '93, visited campus to speak with Upper School students in the AP US History, AP Government and World History classes. Polis has represented Colorado’s Second Congressional District since 2008.
As a dedicated advocate for improving and reforming education, Polis has been active in starting charter schools in Colorado and serves on the Committee on Education and the Workforce. He believes that “education is the single most meaningful investment America can make in its economic future and in its people.”
In addition to his advocacy efforts on school reform, he’s also known in Congress for his leadership on immigration, civil rights, the environment and tech issues.
He shared the ins and outs of his daily work and his contributions to various committees including Committee on Rules and Committee on Natural Resources. The Committee on Rules, which oversees the amendment process for bills is “the most prestigious committee by far in the House,” said Jerry Fleischhacker, history and social science teacher who also taught Polis when he was a student at Country Day. Polis attributes his election to the Committee on Rules to his dedication to raising money, loyalty to the Democrats, work ethic and his ability to be a team player.
The affable Polis spoke to the importance of personal relationships in Congress. “I try to maintain very good relationships with everybody,” he said. He debunked the myth that Republicans and Democrats aren’t friendly with each other. “Generally, my relationships with Republicans and Democrats are great,” he said. “It doesn’t matter just like your friends here. You don’t care what party they are and their ideology…”
Polis will be running for Congress again this year and has hopes to run for secretary of education in the future. “It’s a great job,” he says. “It’s exciting and it’s always an intellectual challenge. You learn many new things all the time.”
