The compass parents owe kids

by Patrick McIlheran

When a certain past-his-prime candidate for governor in Virginia last fall gaffed, “I don’t think parents should be telling schools what they should teach,” the shocker was how many progressives chose to be his backup chorus.

Terry McAuliffe choked. His many defenders revealed their souls.

Michigan’s Democratic Party huffed that schools oughtn’t teach children “only what parents want” but, rather, “what society needs them to know.”

An education professor in a Washington Post story attributed parents’ objections to a “paranoid style” of politics. He and his co-author lectured those paranoiacs that “the structure of schooling cannot simply replicate in every particularity the values and beliefs of a child’s home.” They approvingly noted that education “may well divide child from parent,” presumably if those parents have beliefs that education professors dislike.

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States with competitive tax structures are attracting residents and businesses from high-tax neighbors. Can Wisconsin get in on the act? The Tax Foundation’s Katherine Loughead and Scott Manley of Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce join Badger Institute President Mike Nichols to discuss the challenges posed by Wisconsin’s tax structure as well as reforms – income tax elimination, flat tax adoption, bracket consolidation – that would benefit Wisconsin residents, grow the economy and attract more people to the state.

Listen to our latest podcast, "A tax reform path to prosperity"

“Everyone has seen the enormous amount of ‘help wanted’ signs throughout Wisconsin. Employers are desperate to fill vacant jobs, and the lack of willing workers has reached crisis levels. There’s an abundance of high-wage jobs and a large number of workers available. The Stronger Workforce Initiative will help remove the government-created barriers between the two.” Sen. Chris Kapenga (R-Delafield) discussing a newly introduced, seven-bill package aimed at addressing Wisconsin’s employee shortage. The bills focus on tightening eligibility for unemployment, FoodShare and Medicaid.

One of the bills in this Stronger Workforce Initiative package requires the Wisconsin Department of Health Services to implement a work requirement for able-bodied adults without dependents. The work of Angela Rachidi, an American Enterprise Institute scholar and Badger Institute visiting fellow, was instrumental in the drafting of this legislation.

“Wisconsin policymakers urgently need to address the worker shortage — and the growth of reliance on government programs — if the state is to fully recover from the pandemic-induced recession,” Rachidi wrote in a Badger Institute commentary last November. “A key part of the solution will be rolling back expansions to government benefits and reinstating work incentives.”

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Badger Institute Senior Vice President Michael Jahr joined a panel of experts discussing the importance of expanding dental therapy opportunities, which would broaden access for those seeking affordable dental work as well as grow jobs in our state.

Do you believe parents should have a direct influence in what their children learn in school?

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A standard bearer of conservative thought in the Badger State, our biannual Diggings magazine takes an in-depth look at policy and cultural issues that affect Wisconsin residents. Click here to read Diggings.