Yes, and...
School Choice, Vaccine Hesitancy, Divorce Law
This week, I saw a social post from Kentucky's governor, Andy Beshear. It said, in bold white letters against a blue background, "Every 4-year-old in the commonwealth of Kentucky deserves to go to preschool."
I thought of the classic improv response: "Yes, and..."
Yes, every 4-year-old deserves to go to preschool, and that means we need many new or seriously renovated buildings. It means we need so many new preschool teachers. It means we need to understand what the curriculum for preschool looks like and build a whole lot of trust around that curriculum so that the people doing these (difficult) jobs can do them without dealing with political drama every day. It means a ton of communication and training about the variety of needs kids bring to preschool. It is possible, and it is hard. It will take a lot of money, and it will take a lot more than just money.
"Yes, and" has been a theme this week as I discussed school choice, vaccine hesitancy, and divorce laws on More to Say. After extensive research, making the episodes, and hearing listener feedback, may I share some terribly written and-and-and-paragraphs with you about my feelings on these topics?
School choice: Yes, public schools are essential to our democratic republic and our ideas of liberty and equality, and they cannot be everything to every student and family. And our tax dollars for public schools are contributions to the big project of public education rather than contributions for individual students' educations. And it is way too hard for families whose students have needs that public schools can't meet to attend schools that can meet those needs unless they're wealthy. And some private schools claim to meet needs better than public schools while actually having less transparency and accountability to do so. And we need less racial and socioeconomic segregation in schools that school choice laws might be able to address, and we're mostly seeing school choice laws passed and practiced that actually increase segregation. So I believe in school choice as a philosophy that kids need different things. There needs to be some flexibility around funding to get there. Still, I think most school choice programs right now have not been carefully crafted to achieve that goal.
Vaccine hesitancy: Yes, we have decades of data showing that vaccines like the MMR are safe, effective, and necessary to eradicate diseases like measles. And vaccine hesitancy is on the rise in the face of that data, and "listen to science" isn't persuading people of anything (except that they find other people very bossy and obnoxious). And some people, a small overall percentage, have allergies or medical conditions that create risk around vaccines, and they should not be put on the defensive about making the best decisions they can with their medical professionals. And I think the vast majority of people should get vaccinated as a moral imperative to support those who cannot. And I think governments should not mandate vaccines (outside of certain government jobs in which vaccination is imperative), and I think governments should not restrict employers' abilities to decide whether they will require vaccines for employees.
Divorce laws: Yes, no fault divorce laws are unsung heroes in advancing liberty and equality, especially for women. And, sometimes (often?), people feel those laws are applied in ways that are exceptionally unfair to them, especially when it comes to support obligations and custody decisions. And there is a movement in some conservative circles to roll back these laws because of a sense that they are anti-family, and I understand the intuitive appeal of that argument, and I think data does not support it. And, I worry that no fault divorce laws will become a new target in the "what are we going to focus on now that Roe v. Wade has been overturned?" project, and I realize that sounds hyperbolic, and everything sounds hyperbolic until a legislature or court acts on it. And I wonder if we'd not be better off if marriage became more of a matter of contract law and less of a pro-family vehicle for policies.
Eight years into making Pantsuit Politics with Sarah, six years into it being my full-time job, here's what I know: if you know what you're talking about, you're going to write a lot of terrible paragraphs. It's all complicated. There are always competing interests, contradictions, and tradeoffs. If you can live with "yes ands," it's also the fun of working on big, consequential problems and trying to find paths forward that benefit the most people (and figuring out what "benefit," "most," and "people" mean, and....).
Beth: (Sarah shared this keychain car escape tool* on the Good Morning News Brief this week, but many of you pointed out that the tool won’t work on all types of glass) If you have laminated glass, here’s What to do if your vehicle is submerged in water (NPR)
Literally Every Single One of You: Teenager Ilia Malinin lands a record SIX quads to capture world figure skating title (YouTube) also, he skated to music from Succession (ICYM our coverage of the final season of Succession, our collection is here)
Heather: In Houston, Housing Affordability Helps Reduce Homelessness (Cato Institute)
Mike: This hits just right
Michele: The article is about my friend’s local library board firing their director and their 5 librarians over push back from them on banning books. Autauga-Prattville Public Library board fires executive director (WSFA12)
Renee: Timely and interesting The Forgotten History of Hitler’s Establishment Enablers (The New Yorker)
Heather: As someone with a background in US & world history, this opinion article is phenomenal in scope & depth. How to beat the backlash that threatens the liberal revolution (The Washington Post)
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