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How a mother and former teacher became an advocate for school choice

School choice opponents typically have never needed or wanted an alternative to public schools. I should know: I was one of them. As a former teacher, I unflinchingly championed public education. But then Covid-19 happened. And like many other parents, I experienced our deeply flawed educational system firsthand. My kids’ schools shuttered in 2020 and remained closed for in-person classes for the year — even after they had the green light to reopen. For much of that time, our public schools offered only remote learning — no in-person schooling, homework, classwork, or ...

COVID-19 in 2024 — time to celebrate?

Wow! The CDC has changed the COVID-19 guidelines again. For some of us this may seem like the light at the end of the tunnel. Is it time to start celebrating? Maybe we should step back, take a deep breath, and think about all we have accomplished. We have managed to figure out much about COVID-19 and have made significant strides to stay safe. If we compare it to how things were early in the pandemic, we certainly should celebrate. We still have more to do, and my wish is that, when we all collectively take a deep breath, we also get rid of the “us against them” dilemma that made ...

Fact-checked response or careless misrepresentation?

In a February 10, 2024 column, Dr. Timothy Pagana mistakenly attributed some opinions to me which I would like to disavow. He says he read these opinions somewhere sometime in the Sun-Gazette, just in case, I suppose, you’d find these “citations” helpful in checking out the accuracy of his misrepresentations. I consider the column a disappointing piece in which Dr. Pagana identifies positions I have never held, inaccurately attributes them to me, and then attempts to refute them... to what purpose I cannot imagine. It’s off-putting when someone takes the plain sense of your ...

What ‘from the river to the sea’ means

Throughout the United States today, we hear and see college students, and others, chanting: “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.” What are they saying? What do they mean? The handlers of these naïve students and their supporters are attempting to create a caliphate in the Middle East, similar to that created by Mohammed in the 6th Century when the population in the Middle East was given the choice of Islam or the sword. Palestine from the river to the sea also existed during the reign of the Ottoman Turkish Muslim empire. That corrupt, anti-democratic totalitarian ...

What happens when Social Security runs out of money?

The standard line about Social Security leads voters to believe that even if Congress does nothing, the system will continue to pay scheduled benefits for nearly another decade. That is roughly the life expectancy of someone turning 80 years old today. For those of us who are 79 years old and younger, the problem with the analysis is that Congress is not in a position to do nothing as Social Security transitions from private banker to creditor. Over the next 10 years, Congress will have to refinance $2.7 trillion of debt held by the Social Security Trust Fund, much to the chagrin of ...

A community run ragged — it has to stop

I feel like I need to write about what happened in the community this week because it is VERY close to home. I am going to be careful what I say here because I don’t want to raise attention to anyone in particular and/or FAR worse, put anyone in danger. When I said it is close to home, I meant it. For starters, Caiden grew up with the boys that were at the restaurant during the shooting. The very same boys who were having that Birthday dinner. Two of them, in particular were very close to both of us. My boys grew up in Michael Ross pretty much and when you live in housing you ...