In a stunning reversal of an inclusive platform amendment, the Missouri Democratic Party has decided that pro-life Democrats are not welcome after all.[...]
The so-called alt-right movement is reprehensible, and legitimate conservatives have denounced it up and down. But the media keeps trying to paint the conservative movement and the alt-right movement as two peas in a pod. It’s simply not true. The principles of conservatism, centered around human rights, dignity, and liberty, are diametrically opposed to the principles of the alt-right, centered around white supremacism and bigotry. For evidence of that, look no further than the infamous video in which alt-right figure Richard Spencer repudiates and denounces the pro-life movement.[...]
Recent statewide policy proposals in both Delaware and Ohio have captured the attention of national media outlets and highlight a growing phenomenon of government infringement on parental rights, one which has triggered a political firestorm. Moreover, the status of these proposals still remains up in the air, putting legal protection for parental rights in a precarious position in both states -- as well as, potentially, the rest of the country.[...]
Last week, two congressional Republicans introduced a concrete plan for a concept that is gaining ground in the GOP: paid family leave.[...]
New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez recently announced a new initiative that should give workers in "The Land of Enchantment" much to celebrate -- reforming the state's onerous occupational licensing requirements. Governor Martinez's focus on this issue during her final months in office is the icing on the cake to her successful two-term governorship, and the positive impact of her policy changes will be felt long after she leaves office.[...]
Last week, Politico’s Morning Education discussed how the Preschool Development Grants started under the Obama administration for four-year-olds were adding thousands of new early childhood slots around the nation. The report also mentioned, “States also used funding from the program to align roughly 25,000 preschool slots to federal early learning standards.”[...]
Education policy makers are vocal in their lamentations about the current teacher shortage. Although state school leaders across the country espouse their state has it worse than every other state, the reality is that nationwide, fewer and fewer students are going into teaching. Even Teach for America -- which has notoriously staffed classrooms with non-teacher, Ivy League grads who don’t really want to be teachers, either -- has shown a decrease in applications. “The erosion is steady. There’s a steady downward line on a graph. And there’s no sign that it’s being turned around,” said Bill McDiarmid, past Dean of the University of North Carolina School of Education, in an NPR interview. But, why?[...]
The fact that ‘pro-life Democrat’ sounds like an oxymoron is a tragic commentary on the state of our nation’s politics.[...]
While much of the attention in Washington D.C. has turned to the GOP's "Tax Cut 2.0" blueprint, yesterday The New York Times reported that a "Tax Cut 1.5" may be in the works. According to the story, the Trump administration is considering a unilateral move to index capital gains to inflation.[...]
As the number of school shootings increase, social media and mental health data are becoming very hot commodities. The federal School Safety Commission talked about how data sharing can be improved to prevent school violence at both of its July 11th and July 26th meetings. The trend in both meetings was to see the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) as creating a barrier to sharing information that could have prevented tragedies like the Parkland shooting.[...]