Three Challenges Facing K-12 Education
Three Challenges Facing K-12 Education
Plus: What Do the Polls Really Tell Us About Americans’ Support for Ukraine?
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BRUNO V. MANNO: Back-to-School Season a Reminder of the Continuing Crises in K-12 Education.
AS SUMMER BREAK ENDS and children across the United States return to the classroom—with most public K-12 schools reopening their doors by the end of August—it will feel for millions of families like a return to normalcy. But it’s important not to forget that our schools and students are still suffering from the aftereffects of the last few years’ turmoil: the pandemic-induced closures, mask mandates, social distancing, and distance education—resulting in lasting problems that some researchers have taken to calling “education’s long COVID.”
Here are three broad challenges still facing the COVID generation of K-12 students.
🎥 PODCASTS AND VIDEOS 🎧
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MARY TOWNSEND: Effective Altruism Is a Short Circuit.
IN BERTHOLD BRECHT’S PLAY The Caucasian Chalk Circle, an otherwise sensible girl saves a small child when she doesn’t have to. The estate she works on has been overcome by an opposing army, and the wife of the slain governor has run off with a heap of her dresses, leaving a child behind. The girl’s fellow servants tell her to walk away, pointing out that the army will be all too interested in the governor’s heir, but she doesn’t. She spends an entire night staring at the child, caught in the throes of what Brecht calls “the terrible temptation to do good.”
CATHY YOUNG: What Do the Polls Really Tell Us About Americans’ Support for Ukraine?
ALMOST FROM THE FIRST DAYS of Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, the narrative of Ukraine’s fortunes in its war of self-defense has been a rollercoaster ride. Ukraine is doomed; Ukraine is succeeding brilliantly against the odds; actually, Ukraine isn’t doing nearly as well as we think it is; the Ukrainian counteroffensive is a triumph; Ukraine’s war effort is stalled and morale is sinking; any day now, the new Ukrainian counteroffensive will smash the occupiers.
Meanwhile, the question of public support for U.S. military aid to Ukraine looms large over this optimism/pessimism cycle: Will Americans continue to support assistance for Ukraine even if it’s not yielding the expected results? Right now, American media and punditry are hovering between cautious optimism and anxious pessimism, about both the course of the war and the battle for public opinion in the United States. Yet, always discounting for the risk of wishful thinking, the real picture on both counts may be considerably better than the pessimistic narrative suggests.
🚨OVERTIME🚨
Happy Thursday! It’s rainy on the drive back to Ohio, but we enjoyed our respite in Saint Louis this week. JVL shared that New Yorker item on Monster Trucks and as I started preparing Overtime this morning, I was mere blocks away from where the first “Bigfoot” truck was made.
Let’s help “Abdullah”… For those of you who read Will Selber’s powerful item earlier this week, you remember “Abdullah.” He hasn’t made it over here yet. There’s a GoFundMe (that Will told me about) that I hope you’ll join me in supporting.
A woman threatened to kill a federal judge… Hearing a Trump case, naturally. The FBI came and said hello and she threw in another threat. I guess Trump is right! They are coming for average Americans who also commit federal crimes.
The Hard-Tweeting Defense Lawyer… GOP Candidates Have Learned to Fear.
Saint Louis needs a new homeless shelter… But nobody wants it near them.
DeSantis has locked up the “awkward” voting bloc! But is it big enough?
“Defend Trump and Hammer Ramaswamy…” This is the advice DeSantis’s Super PAC is giving him. Bold strategy, Cotton, let’s see if it pays off for him.
The Ron DeSantis slump… Where did his campaign go wrong?
Trump Republicans spent years stoking Americans' hatred… Now MAGA voters are ready to turn the GOP's violent rhetoric into a revolution, writes Max Burns.
Is ProjectVeritas getting a rebrand… Or is it closing up shop?
Book reviewers are blasting Jordan Peterson’s publisher… For making their criticisms look like praise.
Here’s Why… Only Three of the 16 Fake Trump Electors Were Charged in Georgia.
And in suburban Saint Louis… Teenagers now need a parent’s note to visit the library due to “unsafe” crowds.
Why Bill Watterson Vanished… A very well done piece by Nic Rowan at The American Conservative.
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