House Education Committee chairman John Kline announced over the Labor Day weekend that he will retire in 2016. The seventh-term Minnesota Republican, who turned 68 on Sunday, represents the 2nd District, a swath of territory to the south and southeast of the Twin Cities. A former Marine Corps helicopter pilot, Kline worked briefly as a management consultant before he was elected to the House. He became chairman of the Education Committee in 2010.
In a statement on the committee website, Kline said, “Strengthening our nation’s classrooms and workplaces has been at the forefront of the committee’s agenda since I was first selected to serve as chairman, and it will continue to be my leading priority in the months ahead.”
Kline criticized school-food regulations in June as the “most far-reaching and costliest in a generation. Current law requires the department to prescribe how much money schools charge for meals, what food can and cannot be served in schools, and how much of it can be served …. These regulations have created an environment where students are not getting the nourishment they need, and food and taxpayer dollars wind up in the trashcan.”