The View from Right Field

Universal Preschool: “Investing” Versus “Spending”

Among the pieces of the Democrats’ $3.5 trillion package of social programs is a big “investment” in preschool education.  I think preschool education is really important.¹  When our children were little, we sent them to a local Montessori school starting when they were three years old.  We kept our daughter there until first grade, even though there was a public kindergarten, and we kept our son there until third grade.  We were more than happy to use our own money for our kids’ education, whether you call it “investment” or not.

What I am concerned about, however, when it comes to the Democrats’ plan for universal preschool is whether it is going to be “investment” in children or “spending” for more public education bureaucracy and staffing, etc.

Will Disneyland Be Opening Before Some Schools?

The Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday that, because of California’s easing of Covid-19 restrictions, The Happiest Place on Earth^® could be opening next month, on a reduced-capacity basis, after being closed for almost a year.  The union that represents some of the workers at Disneyland, who have been on furlough or out of a job since the park closed, said the workers “are excited to go back to work to provide Californians with a bit more magic in their lives.”¹

An interesting contrast, perhaps, to the things being said by many teachers unions around the country, but then not getting paid for almost a year can tend to give one a different outlook.  One might almost be tempted to say that, while the Disney workers want to be able to get back and act like Goofy¹ again, the leaders of some teachers unions have been acting goofy for a long time.
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¹ Disney World, in Florida, has been operating on a reduced-capacity basis, since July.
²  And Mickey and Minnie and Donald.

Dr. Seuss – and Phonics

I understand there are people out there who don’t like Dr. Seuss anymore.  Which is fine.  You can like who you want.  But I like Dr. Seuss.

I remember when our kids were young (a long time ago) and learning to read.  I was a big fan of phonics as the best way to teach kids to read (I still am), and when it came to the best books for phonics, it was Dr. Seuss by a mile. 

I’m not talking about Horton Hatches the Egg or How the Grinch Stole Christmas (though those are great books, too, especially Horton).  I’m talking about Dr. Seuss’s “Beginner Books.”  They were the best and probably still are.  Thank you, Dr. Seuss.

Do Ph.D.s Really Make People Special?

Given that just about everybody else in the world (or at least a lot of those on Twitter and in newspapers) has commented on Joseph Epstein’s article in Saturday’s Wall Street Journal, let me put in my two cents worth.  I read the article before “the ship hit the sand,” as they say, so my reaction was not affected by what other people said/screamed/etc. 

Basically, I thought the article was hilarious.  Because I did not see it as making a big deal about Jill Biden.  I saw the article as making a comment, an accurate comment, I might add, about the pretentions of some of those who have college degrees beyond a bachelor’s degree – and especially those who have some sort of doctorate.

We Need to Get Kids Back to School As Soon As We Can

A few comments on getting kids back to school.

1. We need to get kids back to school as soon as we can. If they are not in school, they are falling behind. And the least advantaged kids are falling behind more than the most advantaged.  For every month kids are not back in school, the inequality gap is growing.  If the inequality gap is important, and it is, we need to get the least advantaged kids back to school as soon as possible.

2. But we have to do it safely. And that makes if difficult. I understand other countries, in Europe, etc., are sending their kids back to school.  So why can’t we, people ask.  The point is that those countries have Covid-19 more under control than we do.  I am not judging anybody, but it is a fact.  While there are places in the United States where Covid-19 is under control, there are other places where it isn’t.

@BernieSanders Wants to Forgive All Student Debt. Buying Votes from the Left.

(Here.) Which means that anybody who scrimped and saved to get through college with as little debt as possible was silly.  And anybody who didn’t go to the most expensive school and take out the most loans possible was foolish.

Also, it looks like the price of a vote has gone up from the time when a Chicago precinct captain could buy a vote for a new garbage can.  But I guess that is inflation for you.

Finally, more subsidies for the upper middle class and above.  I'm beginning to wonder how much the Democrats care about the poor anymore.

A 40% Pay Increase for Teachers Plus Higher Standards?

Robert Maranto, a professor at the University of Arkansas and member of the Fayetteville school board, wrote in The Wall Street Journal Tuesday, about the need to both significantly increase teacher pay and improve teacher quality.  Professor Maranto suggests increasing pay 40% (from the current median salary of $58,000).  That would put the median salary above accountants ($68,000) and close to that of civil engineers ($84,000).  In a cutesy, but ultimately meaningless, comment, Professor Maranto says, “Surely educating the nation’s children is as important as balancing books or building bridges.”¹

Professor Maranto argues that we need to increase teachers’ pay to attract better people to teaching.  In years past, women went into teaching because other professions were effectively closed to them.  With women having more opportunities today, many of those who would have become teachers in the past are becoming doctors or lawyers.  Raising salaries would help attract brighter people into teaching.

Sexual Assault on College Campuses: Betsy DeVos Is Doing It the Right Way

A presidential administration is more than just the person at the top.  It includes all of the people working for the president, too.  Sometimes a lower level appointee can do something really dumb or stupid.  The policy they are trying to implement might be bad or the way they are going about doing it is wrong.  And this reflects on the president.

On other hand, sometimes it is the president who is the one doing something stupid while it is his or her appointees who are doing things the right way.  Just last week, we saw a great example of this coming out of Washington. 

Something I talk about a lot in his blog is “proper procedure,” what others call “rule of law,” I call proper procedure.  (See, for example, here and here.) To me, one of the most important things government, and the people in government, can do is to follow proper procedures.  Getting policy right is important.  Following the proper procedures is more important.  Because making sure government follows proper procedures, i.e., rule of law, is what preserves our rights and protects us from abuse of governmental power, something which is ever more important as government does more and more.

The Real Reason School Choice and Vouchers Are Right

The Wall Street Journal wrote about “School Choice Deniers” in yesterday’s paper.¹  The editorial  notes that, while most studies of voucher programs show benefits for the students involved, opponents of the programs focus on those studies which show no benefits or that show voucher students actually doing worse.  Which is, of course, the problem with focusing the argument for vouchers on academic studies of how well students do.  You can always find some study somewhere that will support your argument.

What opponents of vouchers can’t find is a voucher program without a waiting list or a lottery program without more applicants than spots.  Because the best indication of how well voucher programs are doing is not some academic study; it’s the number of parents who sign their kids up.2  Because it is parents who know best what is good for their children. 

Disturbing New Evidence of Segregation in Oak Park

The Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest reported this week on new evidence of segregation in Oak Park, Illinois, and its neighbor to the east, the Austin neighborhood of Chicago:

“There are hundreds of different squirrel species worldwide, but basically two, fox (or Sciurus niger) and gray (or Sciurus caroliniensis) squirrels, call the Chicago area home. 

The fox squirrel, the largest tree squirrel in the country, is distinguished by its rust-colored belly and its tint that appears tanned orange.  The gray squirrel's belly is usually white and it typically sports a large, bushy tail. 

‘Austin is almost all fox squirrels, right up to the border in Oak Park, which mostly has gray squirrels,’ [Dan] Protess [, producer of WTTW digital series “Urban Nature,”] noted.