Browsing: Viewpoints

Many — if not most — kids counted as enrolled in the Milwaukee Public Schools miss at least three weeks of class throughout the year. In some schools, nearly all kids are chronically absent — that is, absent on more than 10% of possible attendance days.

When Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce, the state’s business chamber, last month put out the results of its semiannual survey of CEOs’ sentiments, the outlook was grim: 22% rated the Wisconsin economy as “strong.” Only 10% said the same of the national economy, with 28% calling it “weak.” That’s a gloomier number than the WMC found in summer 2020, amid lockdowns.

A new bill, SB275, would allow for the creation of specialized business courts. Judges with business expertise or interest could volunteer to hear those sorts of cases while still handling some other types of litigation. Complex civil cases would move along more quickly, freeing time for criminal cases and other matters.

To bring about change, parents need to know what a school is teaching. They also need the leverage to object. School choice is not the only tool, but it is a necessary first tool, because parents’ power to change schools comes from their power to leave schools for better ones.

If you’re not married to whomever you hooked up with nine months before your baby was born, you’re very unlikely to be together 15 years later. That makes it a lot harder to pay the bills.