Here is the Heritage Take on the top issues today.Please reply to this email to arrange an interview. 
Teachers Union Factions Ramp Up Pressure on NYC to Go Remote Over COVID Surge <[link removed]> —Schools are still not super-spreaders of the virus, even under omicron. As I wrote last year <[link removed]>, teacher unions are exerting power over elected officials and school district leaders, and students are suffering as a result. Research finds that students who were required to participate in remote learning experienced larger learning losses than students who returned to in-person learning sooner. According to a paper published by the National Bureau of Economic Research <[link removed]>, “passing rates in math declined by 14.2 percentage points on average; we estimate this decline was 10.1 percentage points smaller for districts fully in-person.” Extended periods of learning loss such as this can have long-term consequences. Research by Eric Hanushek for the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development <[link removed]> estimates that students could see lifetime earnings decrease as much as 3 percent due to learning losses in the pandemic. Heritage Expert: Jonathan Butcher <[link removed]>
 
No Common Sense from Manhattan DA Who Decriminalized Most Misdemeanors <[link removed]> – Alvin Bragg, the new Manhattan DA, has essentially decriminalized most misdemeanors in NYC by instituting a presumption of non-prosecution. He’s also instructing his assistants to undercharge even violent offenders.  For example, armed robbers who use guns or other deadly weapons to stick up stores and other businesses will be prosecuted only for petty larceny, a misdemeanor, provided no victims were seriously injured and there’s no “genuine risk of physical harm” to anyone.  But even that
doesn’t tell the whole story.  He’s also instituting a presumption of non-incarceration for most cases.  That means most offenders will be released on bail back onto the streets.  And that even if convicted, his office will not “seek a carceral sentence” for most crimes. Heritage Expert: Zack Smith  <[link removed]>

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