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Ban the Culture War from Classrooms
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Ban the Culture War from Classrooms
By Will Marshall
President and Founder of the Progressive Policy Institute
for The Hill
As America’s children start getting back to school this month, our country needs a grown-up conversation about public education’s future. The odds of having one this fall are slim.
It’s more likely that the midterm election campaign will intensify today’s noxious trend toward politicizing public schools. That’s reprehensible, because our children, who suffered severe learning losses and emotional stress during the pandemic, deserve better than to be treated as hostages in the nation’s vitriolic culture wars.
Republicans, who seem to be at war with all of America’s public institutions, are the worst offenders. But Democrats aren’t blameless, and even as they fend off the right’s demagogic attacks on public schools, they need to come to grips with the valid reasons why parental frustration is boiling over.
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New from the Experts
ICYMI: Statement from Ben Ritz, Director of the Center for Funding America’s Future project, on student debt cancellation
⮕ PPI Statement
Ben Ritz, Director of PPI's Center for Funding America’s Future: Six Reasons Biden Should Not Cancel Student Debt
⮕ Forbes
PPI's Director of Workforce Development Policy Taylor Maag: Remembering Why We Celebrate Labor Day and How We Keep Moving Forward
⮕ PPI Blog
Jeremiah Johnson, Policy Director for the Center of New Liberalism: The Case for Abolishing the National Environmental Policy Act
⮕ LiberalCurrents
Arielle Kane, former Director of Health Care at PPI: Big Transformative Change is Sometimes Slow
⮕ PPI Blog
Uncle Sam's New Plan to Lower Drug Prices ft. Arielle Kane, former Director of Health Care at PPI
⮕ Washington Examiner
How President Biden decided to go big on student loan forgiveness ft. Ben Ritz, Director of the Center for Funding America’s Future project
⮕ Washington Post
LISTEN: Hear more from Ben Ritz, Director of the Center for Funding America’s Future project, on student debt cancellation
⮕ KLS Radio, KNX-AM, and KTTH
Ed Gresser's Trade Fact of the Week: 1.4 million Americans have Pacific Island roots
⮕ Trade Fact of the Week
Ed Gresser's Trade Fact of the Week: Mexico is now the principal source of illicit fentanyl and methamphetamines sold in the U.S.
⮕ Trade Fact of the Week
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U.S. School Closures Leave Students Behind
By Paul Weinstein Jr., Senior Fellow at PPI
Since the Civil War, the president’s party has had a net loss of seats in 36 out of 39 midterm elections. However, this year could be different. With the Supreme Court’s decision to repeal a women’s right to choose, Democratic voters have become increasingly energized. That, combined with a slate of extremist Republic candidates, has increased the odds that Democrats will hold the Senate and turn what was expected to be a red wave in the House of Representatives into a drip.
But if Democrats want to further strengthen their chances in the Senate and the House, they will need to restore parent's trust in all our schools.
As Will Marshall, founder and president of the Progressive Policy Institute recently noted, faith in public schools is approaching a nadir. Less than 30% of Americans have confidence in their children’s schools, and since the onset of the pandemic, 1.4 million children have left the public school rolls.
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WATCH: Biden to Announce Student Loan Forgiveness
Featuring Ben Ritz, Director of PPI's Center for Funding America's Future
Political Reporter Tom Wait speaks to PPI's Ben Ritz in a news segment that looks at President Biden's plan to forgive student loan debt.
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Why U.S. Policymakers Should Renew TAA (For Everyone)
By Ed Gresser and Taylor Maag, on the PPI Blog
What should the Biden administration and Congress do as Trade Adjustment Assistance expires? Consider a new approach: Renew it but drop the trade clause and reach more workers.
John F. Kennedy’s Trade Act of 1962 marked a watershed in U.S. trade policy, leading after a few years of negotiations to the largest single tariff cut in American negotiating history. It was also, though this is less well-remembered, a watershed in worker adjustment policy. The 1962 Act created the Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) program, which helps workers losing jobs to import competition by offering benefits that went well beyond the support available for other displaced workers. Kennedy’s argument for it noted that reducing tariffs and opening foreign markets promotes growth, fights inflation, helps new industries grow, and raises consumer living standards; but can also increase competition and stress at home.
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Mark Your Calendar!
September 7: Join PPI and the Tony Blair Institute at "Regulating Tech in the Digital Age: Lessons from China"
⮕ RSVP Here
September 8: Women in Policy Alliance: Coffee and Conversation
⮕ RSVP Here
Be sure to keep an eye out for future PPI events!
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ICYMI: Korean App Economy Update
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PPI's Vice President and Chief Economist Michael Mandel released a new report on the Korean App Economy, which estimates 516,000 new App Economy jobs in Korea as of July 2022. The report shows the prominence of the App Economy in Korea — reflecting the employment of workers to develop, maintain and support mobile applications — has grown as more jobs require app-based skills.
The report is available in both English and Korean.
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RADICALLY PRAGMATIC:
What Role Does Natural Gas Play in Meeting Global Energy and Climate Goals?
Paul Bledsoe, author of a PPI report titled "The Role of Natural Gas in Limiting European Union Emissions: Key Opportunities to Cut Methane, Coal and CO2" sits down to explain the major implications for U.S. and global climate policy, as well as some of the key recommendations from the report.
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THE NEOLIBERAL PODCAST:
The Battle for Reproductive Rights in Kansas ft. Ashley All
How did a solidly red state like Kansas end up voting against an abortion ban? Ashley All, leader on the 'NO' campaign to ban abortion in Kansas, joins the podcast to discuss how they did it. We discuss Kansas's unique political history, what kinds of messaging works in red areas of the country, and what this means for other fights in other states.
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Don't Miss These PPI Reports
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