A top conservative women&#8217;s organization has rolled out a sweeping family policy agenda that aims to make it easier for Americans to raise children, care for aging parents, and afford family life — all while avoiding any new federal entitlement programs.
Independent Women&#8217;s <a href="https://www.independentwomen.com/flourishing-families-report" target="_blank" rel="noopener">&#8220;Flourishing Families&#8221;</a> project, shared exclusively with The Daily Wire, includes proposals on maternity leave, child care, education, elder care, housing, health care, workplace flexibility, and taxes. Each issue is addressed with a focus on choice and finds ways to help families while avoiding big government policies that conservatives recognize don&#8217;t work.
Among the report&#8217;s most notable proposals is so-called &#8220;Earned Leave,&#8221; Independent Women&#8217;s signature paid leave plan that seeks to give new mothers and caregivers more time at home without creating a new taxpayer-funded benefit.
Rather than establishing a federal paid leave entitlement, the proposal allows moms to voluntarily access a portion of their Social Security benefits they&#8217;ve already earned after a child&#8217;s birth or adoption. Parents who use the benefit would &#8220;repay&#8221; the cost by delaying their retirement benefits for several months later in life, making the proposal budget-neutral.
<a href="https://www.independentwomen.com/flourishing-families-report" target="_blank" rel="noopener">READ THE FULL &#8216;FLOURISHING FAMILIES&#8217; REPORT HERE</a>.
&#8220;The weeks after welcoming a new baby are one of the most important times in a family&#8217;s life,&#8221; Independent Women President Carrie Lukas told The Daily Wire. &#8220;Many parents want more time at home with their newborn but simply can&#8217;t afford to take unpaid leave. Earned Leave was designed to solve that problem without forcing taxpayers to finance a new government program.&#8221;
Lukas said parents could plan ahead by filing paperwork with the Social Security Administration before the birth of their child, allowing them to access benefits immediately after welcoming a child.
The idea has significant support. Independent Women commissioned a national poll of more than 2,000 Americans that found Earned Leave outperformed a traditional tax-funded federal paid leave program, according to Lukas. The survey found 78% of Americans believe workers should have as much control as possible over benefits they&#8217;ve earned, while 67% said paid leave proposals should remain budget-neutral and avoid imposing costs on people who never use them.
&#8220;Everyone recognizes that new parents — especially moms — need time off after the birth of a child,&#8221; she said. &#8220;The problem with government entitlement programs is they often impose costs on everyone while changing incentives for employers who are already providing benefits.&#8221;
Lukas emphasized that Earned Leave gives Americans access to benefits they&#8217;ve already earned, as opposed to state-run paid leave systems that are funded through mandatory payroll taxes. &#8220;Most people won&#8217;t use it because they won&#8217;t want to delay retirement,&#8221; she said. &#8220;But for families who truly need it, it can be a lifeline during one of the most important moments of their lives.&#8221;
&#8220;We believe it&#8217;s possible to support families without making government bigger,&#8221; Lukas added. &#8220;Earned Leave is about giving parents more flexibility and more choices using benefits they&#8217;ve already earned rather than creating an entirely new government program.&#8221;
Another notable proposal deals with elder care. Heather Madden, Independent Women&#8217;s vice president for policy initiatives, said the organization&#8217;s American Caregivers Act was specifically designed for older Americans who don&#8217;t require full-time medical care, but still need help at home.
&#8220;There are many older Americans who don&#8217;t need a nursing home or intensive medical care, but also can&#8217;t safely manage entirely on their own,&#8221; Madden told The Daily Wire. &#8220;They may simply need someone to drive them to appointments, prepare meals, help around the house, or provide companionship.&#8221;
The proposal would allow qualified organizations to recruit, screen, train, and place college students with seniors who need non-medical assistance. Students would receive housing and a stipend in exchange for helping with daily tasks, which would in turn give families a lower-cost alternative before more intense care becomes necessary.
&#8220;Instead of forcing families to choose between doing everything themselves or moving a loved one into a nursing home before it&#8217;s truly necessary, the American Caregivers Act gives them another option,&#8221; Madden said.
The proposal wouldn&#8217;t just benefit seniors. &#8220;It would also provide much-needed relief for family caregivers who are balancing careers, raising children, and caring for aging parents,&#8221; Madden explained. &#8220;Public policy should make it easier for families to care for one another, not leave them with impossible choices.&#8221;
Madden also noted the program could help lower the cost of college for participating students, comparing the initiative to the State Department&#8217;s au pair program.
The report also makes school choice and parental rights a focus, acknowledging that parents, not government officials, know what&#8217;s best for their children.
For example, Independent Women calls for expanding Education Savings Accounts, charter schools, and other school choice options. The group also proposes strengthening parental rights laws that guarantee curriculum transparency, access to student records, and parental consent on issues that relate to gender and sexuality.
Education Savings Accounts would allow families to use public education dollars for approved educational expenses, including private school tuition, tutoring, homeschooling materials, and other learning services. The concept has already proven popular in states that have adopted similar programs. Florida, for example, enacted an Education Savings Account-style scholarship program that has been widely praised by participating families and supporters as a major expansion of school choice.
The report also outlines changes for increasing housing affordability by reducing regulations, strengthening health care price transparency, protecting flexible work arrangements, and reforming tax and welfare policies to reward work while making it easier for Americans to start and sustain families.

Family

READ IT: The Sweeping Family-First Policy Agenda That Won’t Make Government Bigger

childcare

Education

Family policy

Paid Family Leave

Parental Rights

public policy

Women

The University of Michigan&#8217;s College of Literature, Science, and the Arts will eliminate letter grades from first-semester transcripts for incoming freshmen under a new pilot program to help new freshmen acclimate to college.
Instead of traditional letter grades, students will receive a &#8220;Pass&#8221; (P) or &#8220;No Credit&#8221; (NC) during their first semester. The <a href="https://lsa.umich.edu/lsa/academics/lsa-first-semester-grade-covering-pilot-program.html">university says</a> the change is intended to reduce stress tied to early grades and improve student mental health.
&#8220;Beginning in fall 2027, the College will designate all LSA first-year students’ first-semester grades as pass (P) or no credit (NC) on their transcripts,&#8221; the website explains. &#8220;While LSA students will still receive grades and instructor feedback in every course as they always have, final grades will not be recorded on their external transcripts and will not be reflected in their GPAs. LSA students’ official transcripts will state that all grades in the first semester are automatically designated as P/NC.&#8221;
The College of Literature, Science, and the Arts had <a href="https://lsa.umich.edu/content/dam/lsa-site-assets/documents/LSA-At-A-Glance.pdf">nearly 20,000</a> undergraduate students enrolled last year, making it the largest of the university&#8217;s schools and colleges.
One goal, according to the program, is to encourage students to try new things and take classes across a wide variety of subjects without worrying that their grades will hold them back if they find those subjects a struggle. Another is to ensure that students can build confidence in their academic abilities as they first acclimate to campus culture and the demands of college-level coursework.
&#8220;Helping all students establish early momentum has been recognized as the most important element in U-M’s campus-wide Student Success Initiative. We believe that covering grades will help students start strong and curb the mental health crisis unfolding among college-aged individuals,&#8221; the website reads.
The only students eligible for this pilot program will be incoming freshmen who start at the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts in the 2027 fall semester, and the &#8220;grade covering&#8221; will apply only to their first semester grades.
Although they will not appear on individual transcripts, some people will still have access to the students&#8217; actual letter grades and official GPA. The financial aid office will be able to access official grades to determine whether students are meeting required standards for scholarships and grants, and the athletic department will also be able to access grades to determine athletic eligibility.

College of Literature, Science, And The Arts Building at the University of Michigan

Prestigious College To Hide Freshmen’s First-Semester Grades

College

higher education

Mental Health

Michigan

Schools

University of Michigan

In May, India’s Chief Justice Surya Kant decided to make known his thoughts on the country’s young people.
“There are youngsters like cockroaches, who don’t get any employment and don’t have any place in the profession,” Kant said, in reference to college graduates who go into careers like journalism. He later retracted his statement following public outcry.
But by then it was too late.
“What if all the cockroaches come together?” 30-year-old Abhijeet Dipke tweeted on May 15. With that, the satirical Cockroach Janta (People’s) Party (CJP) was born.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
What if all cockroaches come together?
— Abhijeet Dipke (@abhijeet_dipke) <a href="https://x.com/abhijeet_dipke/status/2055493761912741903?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 16, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The CJP’s name is a send-up of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which has held political power in the country for over a decade. Thousands of the party’s cockroaches — as they like to be called — are swarming the streets of India, demanding greater accountability in the government and education boards.
They have reason to be angry. India’s education system is going down the drain, and it’s flushing its cockroaches along with it.
Each year, millions of students compete for top spots at colleges and in the government. To say that students’ test results determine their future would be an understatement. In a country where over 65% of the population is under the age of 35 and roughly 11 million students graduate from high school each year, every point earned on a test can be the difference between life on the streets and a well-paying job that will support their families.
But the job shortage is not the only challenge Indian students face as they enter the workforce. Over the past decade, repeated exam paper leaks have plagued the country’s education system, erasing years of students’ preparation and hard work. 
On July 24, the CJP called for the resignation of India’s Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, accusing him of failing to safeguard exams. The next day, he resigned.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Pune!!! Wow!!! <a href="https://t.co/6JHDzjyE8C">https://t.co/6JHDzjyE8C</a>
— Abhijeet Dipke (@abhijeet_dipke) <a href="https://x.com/abhijeet_dipke/status/2080683292655861874?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 24, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
This is a major scandal. Poor Indians often spend their nights under street lamps, using what little glow they can capture to prepare for entrance examinations. Stories fill the Indian tabloids of parents who sacrifice everything they own for their children to study for these tests.
But the CJP does not limit itself to protesting against the corrupt education system. Cockroaches also advocate for greater social change in India, such as freedom of the press and women’s safety.
The CJP has called for media conglomerates to have their exclusive licenses canceled so independent media can flourish. Cockroaches are also voicing their disgust over the increasingly dangerous conditions for women. In New Delhi — which is notorious for being the most dangerous city for women in India.
When women don’t reciprocate a man’s attention, sometimes a man will throw acid on the girl’s face to permanently blind her and disfigure her skin. In addition, when a wife’s family is unable to meet the monetary and property demands of the husband’s family in the form of a dowry, the woman may face severe abuse and even death. By calling attention to what has been going on in India for years, the CJP is showing they want India to be better.
Many prominent Indians have joined the satirical party, including Kirti Azad, a famous cricket player who helped India win the 1983 cricket World Cup. To spread even more awareness, Sonam Wangchuk, a well-known Indian activist, went on a hunger strike for 26 days. This increased the CJP’s popularity and even sparked discussions with members of India’s Parliament. After Wangchuk ended his strike, Modi urged him to follow his doctor’s advice and said he would pray for Wangchuk to have good health.
History is rife with examples of student-led movements that demanded more from their political leaders. Take the Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia. Protesters jingled their keys in the air to tell the ruling Communist Party it was time to pack their bags and lock the doors behind them. Despite being met with violence from police, protesters continued to rattle their keys and demand an end to communist rule. The movement was successful and eventually led to the end of communism in the country. 
While CJP protests are largely nonviolent, cockroaches have faced tear gas, police batons, and other acts of intimidation from authorities. But that hasn’t stopped them from challenging corruption and demanding accountability. Only time will tell whether the CJP succeeds in bringing about meaningful change. But if change can begin with the jingling of keys, why can’t it begin with the marching of cockroaches?

INDIA-POLITICS-EDUCATION-PROTEST

India’s ‘Cockroach Party’ Is Sparking National Debate

Foreign Policy

Free Press

India

Modi

political parties

Young people

Minnesota schools and hospitals will provide dolls with removable genitals to children as young as four in order to allow them to express their sexual identities.
MyGender Dolls were created by staff at the University of Minnesota, a publicly funded university. They are intended for use as an educational toy for children ages four through ten.
The idea for the dolls came from University of Minnesota professor Rachel Becker-Warner. Associate professors Dr. Dianne Berg and Nic Rider then developed the dolls for a research project, later turning it into a commercial venture.
MyGender Dolls website describes the <a href="https://mygenderdolls.com/">toys</a> as “a new play-based therapeutic approach for trans and gender diverse children — and the clinicians who support them.”
“We make gender fun! Our award-winning dolls and services are community-informed, research-driven, culturally-attuned, and grounded in gender-affirming clinical practice,” the website said, adding that the dolls will be released to educators this year.
The New York Post <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/07/25/us-news/taxpayer-funded-transgender-dolls-to-hit-classrooms-this-fall/">said</a> the toys are “like a trans Mr./Mrs. Potato Head” and come with removable internal and external genitalia, and over 100 interchangeable pieces of clothing including underwear and skirts.
“The concept is similar to classic paper dolls; kids can select bodies, genitals, clothes, and other accessories as a way to visualize their anatomy and genders,&#8221; according to a deleted summary of the project from the University of Minnesota&#8217;s Eli Coleman Institute for Sexual and Gender Health (ISGH) <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/us/transgender-dolls-available-minnesota-schoolchildren-young-4-under-walz-backed-program-report.amp">recovered</a> by Fox News.
“I think everyone should know that there’s diversity in gender identity and that what is ‘real’ is not what your body parts are, but how you think and feel,” Berg <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CtxIqcgp-oQ/?img_index=2">stated</a> on social media and in a now-deleted article in the university’s Discovery Magazine.
Berg also admitted that she and other medical professionals have been using the dolls on their child patients to help them explore their identity and get them to talk about their private parts.
“We were able to explore and brainstorm not just what our bodies are able to do now but what we want our bodies to do and look like in the future,” Adjunct Assistant Professor Elizabeth Panetta said.
The University of Minnesota Medical School’s Institute for Sexual and Gender Health paid the families of “trans and gender diverse children” between $20 and $60 to play with the dolls and “talk about gender and bodies” in groups.
Governor Tim Walz (D-MN), who received the “Distinguished Sexual and Gender Health Champion Award” in 2023 from the University of Minnesota’s ISGH, has been giving $15 million annually to “increase the medical school’s research capacity” and “ensure its national prominence.”
Dr. Quentin Van Meter, past president of the American College of Pediatricians, called the dolls a “grooming tool” that would likely only create anxiety and confusion.
“The younger kids — many of them still believe in the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy. And you’re then presenting them with paper dolls that kind of look fun, and you can change clothing, hair, genitals … It’s well beyond their ability to sort out fantasy from reality.”
“Until age 7 years, kids don’t really understand the immutability of the sexes,” Van Meter <a href="https://www.thecollegefix.com/uminn-scholars-launching-transgender-doll-project-for-4-year-olds/">told</a> the College Fix, adding that gender dysphoria is “emotional trauma caused by ideologues as parents or teachers or counselors.”
A university spokesperson told The Post that no public funds were diverted “to support MyGender Dolls’ commercialization efforts,” but refused to mention whether taxpayer funds went into either the research and development of the dolls or to the salaries of the professors who worked on the project.

university-minnesota-medical-school-launching-135407417

Trans Dolls With Removable Genitals Will Be Used To Teach 4-Year-Olds

grooming

LGBTQ

Minnesota

Tim Walz

Transgender

University of Minnesota

Arizona State University, long known as one of America&#8217;s biggest party schools, is now offering a bachelor&#8217;s degree for aspiring influencers. 
The university&#8217;s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication recently unveiled a Bachelor of Arts in Content Creation, a program designed to prepare students to &#8220;become an influencer and strategic storyteller who thrives in the rapidly evolving creator economy.&#8221;
According to the university, the program is aimed at students who &#8220;dream of monetizing&#8221; their social media presence. Courses include How To Become An Influencer, On-Camera Presence, Podcasting, Social Media Foundations, The Digital Audience, and Interpersonal Influence.
ASU says the degree goes beyond creating social media posts.
Students will study multimedia production, audience analytics, personal branding, social media strategy, and integrated communications while participating in internships, brand partnerships, and content creation trips in Phoenix, Los Angeles, and abroad.
Jessica Pucci, senior associate dean at the Cronkite School, <a href="https://www.azfamily.com/2026/07/21/learn-how-be-an-influencer-with-asus-content-creation-major/">said</a> students will analyze performance metrics across multiple platforms, test different content strategies, and use data to grow their audiences.
Their senior capstone project requires students to spend an entire semester creating content on a platform such as TikTok, Instagram, or YouTube while demonstrating measurable audience growth. 
&#8220;They will have a platform of their choice with real content and real followers and a real audience behind them,&#8221; Pucci said. 
University officials say the program reflects the rapid growth of the creator economy, which Goldman Sachs <a href="https://www.goldmansachs.com/insights/articles/the-creator-economy-could-approach-half-a-trillion-dollars-by-2027">projects</a> could reach nearly $480 billion by 2027. 
Supporters say the coursework teaches practical skills that many successful creators eventually have to learn through trial and error.
But the announcement has also drawn plenty of skepticism <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/07/24/lifestyle/arizona-state-university-now-offers-a-content-creation-major/?utm_campaign=nypost&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_source=twitter">online</a>, with critics questioning whether students need a four-year degree to learn skills many internet personalities developed on their own.
Arizona influencer Anna Elizabeth, who also works as a medical assistant, said she wishes the program had existed when she began building her online audience. 
&#8220;How do I get brands to notice me?&#8221; she said. &#8220;It&#8217;s a little bit difficult to understand that portion if you haven&#8217;t done it for a long time.&#8221;
Even some faculty members questioned whether the degree justifies its cost. ASU philosophy professor Owen Anderson asked on <a href="https://x.com/dr_owenanderson/status/2080107269468066231">X</a> whether the major would satisfy new federal accountability standards requiring degree programs to improve graduates&#8217; earning potential compared to workers without a college education.
Arizona State is not the first university to embrace the influencer economy. Syracuse University recently established a Center for the Creator Economy, while Graceland University and Arizona&#8217;s Grand Canyon University offer degree programs focused on digital content and social media.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL: OCT 14 Washington at Arizona State

Infamous Party School Launches Hilarious New Major

Arizona

Arizona State University

Influencers

Instagram

Podcast

podcasts

Social Media

TikTok

Universities

YouTube

A New York town is facing backlash from residents over a proposal to place an Islamic all-boys school in a Long Island residential neighborhood. 
Residents of the hamlet of Bay Shore raised concerns over a plan from the United American Muslim Association to convert a former Catholic school building into an Islamic boarding school for boys. Members of the neighborhood <a href="https://www.facebook.com/saxonsaysno/">group</a> “Saxon Says No” showed up in force to a zoning meeting Tuesday to voice their opposition to the school. 
The group says that the Town of Islip, which oversees the hamlet, would be bypassing zoning regulations if it approves the project without input from locals. 
“This appeal is about zoning, due process, and protecting a residential neighborhood. We respect every person&#8217;s constitutional right to worship,” the opposition group <a href="https://communitywatch.ai/the-appeal/">said</a>. “This appeal is not about religion — it is about whether the Town of Islip is properly applying its own zoning laws.”
Many residents believe that the proposed 120-student boarding school would bring increased traffic to the area as well as lead to groups of roving teenage boys running throughout the neighborhood. 
“The proposed use by the new property owner is far more intensive than what is appropriate for a quiet residential neighborhood,” Saxon Says No leader Kevin Colgan said during a meeting on the project, <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/07/24/us-news/long-island-residents-fume-over-all-boy-muslim-boarding-school-in-residential-neighborhood/">according</a> to The New York Post. 
“This is about protecting the integrity of our zoning laws — not opposing any individual or organization — zoning laws exist to preserve the character, integrity, and quality of life within our neighborhoods while ensuring that land uses are appropriate for their surroundings,” Colgan added.
The building being proposed for the school was sold to the United American Muslim Association for $5 million by the Roman Catholic Montfort Missionaries. It used to be a Catholic school, but has not been used for that purpose in decades. 
The New Jersey-based United American Muslim Association describes itself as an organization seeking to “provide permanent solutions” for Muslims in North America “primarily by providing appropriate places to worship and providing an Islamic education for the youth.”
One local, Anna Chan, said her family purchased a home in the neighborhood with the belief that it would remain a residential area. 
“When my family chose to purchase this home 10 years ago — we relied on the zoning protections when making one of the largest investments of our lives — a community of single-family homes where the zoning was intended to preserve its residential character,” she <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/07/24/us-news/long-island-residents-fume-over-all-boy-muslim-boarding-school-in-residential-neighborhood/">said</a>. 
Bay Shore resident Elizabeth Byrne argued that the school would completely reshape the neighborhood’s family-focused feel. 
&#8220;I just feel like it&#8217;s going to totally compromise the environment and the history that has been here for years,&#8221; she <a href="https://longisland.news12.com/2026/07/22/islip-town-to-hold-public-hearing-today-on-proposed-islamic-boarding-school-in-bay-shore/3W9QjN4ZmFuV115h2DgbLQ">said</a>. &#8220;I think it&#8217;s going to destroy it.&#8221;

Islamic moon – the sign on the mosque

Former Catholic School Could Become Muslim-Only Boarding School

Islam

Long Island

Muslims

New York

A teachers&#8217; union boss said during a keynote speech at an American Federation of Teachers (AFT) conference that President Donald Trump makes her reach for the alcohol.
Rhonda “Randi” Weingarten, the president of AFT, routinely — and publicly — disagrees with Trump and many other top Republicans, and she said as much in her keynote speech.
After welcoming the crowd, she mocked the White House’s Independence Day celebration, <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/weingarten-gestures-wildly-anti-trump-rant-later-says-drives-her-drink">according</a> to Fox News. “While you missed the UFC cage fight on the White House lawn, it’s not too late to check out the tire marks in the Reflecting Pool,” Weingarten said.
During the following <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNWaPpSIm5o">panel discussion</a>, Weingarten asked what keeps them up at night with the many things “confronting the country.”
“Because part of what authoritarians do — and also part of what Donald Trump does — whether you consider him an authoritarian or not, is the throwing out of so much stuff that people just throw up their hands and say: ‘Oh no, what are we going to do? All I want to do is stay home and’ — for those of us who drink — ‘have a glass of wine’ — or for me, some vodka,” she said.
Weingarten became progressively more upset as she ranted about Trump and “oligarchs” such as Elon Musk.
“But this is what they don’t have: the power of the people,” she said, becoming increasingly animated.
“That is not a mere slogan. It is the potential to work together, to bargain together, to protest together, to vote together, to act together, to bring about change — real, lasting, life-improving change,” Weingarten said.
“That is the power and potential of our movement and of the A – F – T,” she said, lengthening the organization’s acronym dramatically as she claimed that the AFT could work for “good” against “corruption.”
Weingarten went on to say that she wants an America built where “the trans nurse, the Palestinian teacher, the Jewish student, and every person, regardless of race, religion, ethnicity, gender, or place of origin, feel welcome, safe, and valued.”
“And one more thing: We get sh*t done,” Weingarten said. “My apologies to the children.”

Teachers Union Boss’s Trump Confession? Pass The Vodka

Alcohol

American Federation of Teachers

Donald Trump

Politics

Randi Weingarten

Introduction
For generations, Americans assumed that sending a child to college was the safest financial decision a family could make. Today, that assumption deserves far more scrutiny. For many students, college remains an excellent investment. For others, it may become the biggest financial mistake of their lives.
In <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/why-americas-colleges-are-far-more-fragile-than-they-appear-part-i?row=0&amp;elementPosition=1&amp;rowType=Web+Search+Overlay" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Parts I</a> and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/why-americas-colleges-are-far-more-fragile-than-they-appear-part-ii?row=0&amp;elementPosition=4&amp;rowType=Web+Search+Overlay" target="_blank" rel="noopener">II</a> of &#8220;Why America’s Colleges Are Far More Fragile Than They Appear,&#8221; we were descriptive, outlining the mounting financial pressures facing colleges and universities, pressures that have reshaped the economics of higher education in ways families can no longer ignore.
This article is prescriptive. Rather than diagnosing higher education’s structural problems, we want to help families make better decisions before investing tens — or even hundreds — of thousands of dollars in pursuit of a college degree. College deserves the same level of scrutiny as buying a home or starting a business. Yet many families conduct almost no financial analysis before making this six-figure investment. They focus on dreams, traditions, prestige, and acceptance letters while overlooking financial risk.
Increasingly, that is a costly mistake that could haunt them for decades.
The premise that all students are “above average” and ready for college is fiction. According to the <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/bps/?utm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">National Center for Education Statistics</a>, 43% of students who enter postsecondary education complete no credential after six years. Most of those dropouts — roughly 60-70% — have student loan debt when they leave. Federal student loan balances now exceed<a href="https://thecollegeinvestor.com/student-loan-debt/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> $1.8 trillion</a>, or about $40,000 per borrower, not including another $40,000 on average for parents using Parent PLUS loans.
The fastest-growing cohort of student loan debtors is <a href="https://www.newamerica.org/insights/seniors-with-student-loans-15-years-of-debt/?utm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">seniors aged 60+</a> — not because so many elderly are going back to school, but because they are turning 60 while still carrying old debt, or borrowing for their younger relatives. This group has grown sixfold since 2004, and their debt has grown 19-fold.
Employers think today’s college graduates are less prepared for jobs. A <a href="https://www.luminafoundation.org/resource/aligning-education-and-work/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2026 Lumina-Gallup report</a> found that 58% of employers believe the class of 2026 is less prepared than graduates a decade ago. Another study found 75% of <a href="https://workplaceintelligence.com/college-graduate-skills-study/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">HR managers</a> believe most college educations are not preparing people for their jobs, and 91% say onboarding recent graduates costs more because they lack readiness. The same study found that 85% of graduates themselves say they wish their college had better prepared them for the workplace.
One likely contributor is that so many of them weren’t prepared to enter college at the outset. According to a new analysis of scores from <a href="https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/act-only-1-in-5-high-school-graduates-in-2023-fully-prepared-for-college/2023/10?utm_source=perplexity" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ACT college-admissions tests</a>, only one in five high schoolers in the class of 2023 graduated ready to succeed in their core introductory college classes.
Many graduates also struggle to find jobs aligned with their credentials. For years, <a href="https://www.newyorkfed.org/research/college-labor-market#--:explore:unemployment" target="_blank" rel="noopener">40–45%</a> of college graduates have worked in roles that do not require a degree. Nearly <a href="https://freopp.org/whitepapers/does-college-pay-off-a-comprehensive-return-on-investment-analysis/?utm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">half of master’s degree programs</a> leave students financially worse off.
A college degree still provides value for many students — but the value of a diploma now varies widely depending on the institution, its cost, the student’s likelihood of graduating, and the chosen field of study.
Meanwhile, many institutions have expanded recruitment far beyond the traditional college‑bound population. Financial pressures have pushed schools to pursue enrollment growth aggressively, including among students who may not be academically or financially prepared for the challenges ahead. As we previously outlined, many institutions now target these groups specifically — often including underrepresented students who face greater risks.
Of course, some students attend college for reasons unrelated to economics. Wealthy families, or students seeking the educational or social experience, may not prioritize cost‑value analysis. But for everyone else — the overwhelming majority of the market — a far more critical assessment is essential. That assessment begins with this fundamental question: Does college make economic sense for me? Answering that question should involve an unbiased financial analysis.
Assessing the Odds and Risk
With the cost of a degree at a top‑tier university often exceeding $300,000, a non‑wealthy family would be unwise not to evaluate the likely economic costs and rewards. Historically, many families avoided such analysis — confident that the economic payoff would exceed the cost, or citing a student’s “passion” as justification. Few parents would buy their teenager a $300,000 Ferrari simply because he was passionate about sports cars. Yet many spend comparable sums on degrees without demanding any evidence that the investment will pay off. The financial stakes — and potential damage — are similar even at less expensive schools if the family cannot truly afford the investment.
Return on Investment (ROI)
Colleges often highlight “the college premium,” noting that graduates tend to earn more than non‑graduates. <a href="https://www.aplu.org/our-work/4-policy-and-advocacy/publicuvalues/employment-earnings/?utm_" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Schools</a>, and even the <a href="https://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2020/beyond-bls/the-college-payoff-a-look-at-income-and-wealth-premiums.htm?utm_" target="_blank" rel="noopener">federal government</a>, frequently imply this is a causal relationship — a classic error of conflating correlation with causation. This is like claiming gym memberships cause longer lifespans. In reality, the correlation reflects underlying factors: higher incomes, healthier lifestyles, better diets, and lower smoking rates.
Additionally, college ROI projections often rely on one or more flawed assumptions:
Assumption #1: The student graduates. 
Only <a href="https://nscresearchcenter.org/yearly-progress-and-completion/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">61%</a> of first‑time, full‑time undergraduates finish within six years. <a href="https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ987305.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Underprepared students</a> have even lower graduation rates and are a growing portion of the overall student population. Some <a href="https://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/files/2024-report-economic-well-being-us-households-202505.pdf?utm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">60—70%</a> of those who leave college without a degree take student loan debt with them, and they are <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/use-work/resource-library/report/statistics-brief/federal-student-loan-debt-burden-noncompleters?utm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">five to six</a> times more likely to default on those loans than graduates.
Assumption #2: College takes four years. 
The average time to graduate is <a href="https://www.earnest.com/blog/average-time-to-earn-degree" target="_blank" rel="noopener">five to six</a> years, with only <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=569" target="_blank" rel="noopener">44%</a> finishing in four. Additional years mean more tuition, room and board, fees, and living expenses. With college inflation at 3–4%, years five and six cost 16% and 20% more than year one. ROI calculations rarely include this.
Assumption #3: The major never changes. 
Up to <a href="https://www.clrn.org/what-percentage-of-students-change-their-major/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">70% of students change their major</a> at least once, often to less rigorous and less lucrative majors — <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2018/2018434/index.asp?utm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">especially true between STEM and non‑STEM fields</a>, and with <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0272775718304680?utm_source=chatgpt.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">women disproportionately</a> making this switch. Only <a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10863898/?utm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">10-15%</a> of students who begin as “pre‑med” matriculate into medical school. The earnings expectations vary greatly across these majors, making huge differences in long-term ROI projections.
Assumption #4: Opportunity costs don’t matter.
Two major opportunity costs are often overlooked:
<ul>
<li aria-level="1">Alternative uses of the money</li>
</ul>
Assume that a family is considering spending $35,000 per year to fund a student’s education. Alternatively, investing $35,000 per year in an S&amp;P 500 index fund for five years at a conservative 9% annual return would yield $228,000 after five years — and $1.97 million after 25 more years with no additional contributions. Might that be a better investment — especially for one of the four out of five students whom ACT identifies as unprepared for college?
<ul>
<li aria-level="1">Lost earnings during college</li>
</ul>
The median annual wage for non‑college graduates is $47,500. Four or five years of earnings — and savings — must be included in any realistic ROI analysis.
Assumption #5: Wage premiums stay high. 
The wage premium for college rose sharply from the <a href="https://www.frbsf.org/wp-content/uploads/wp2025-01.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">1980s through the early 2000s</a>, but since the mid-2010s, <a href="https://www.frbsf.org/research-and-insights/publications/economic-letter/2023/08/falling-college-wage-premiums-by-race-and-ethnicity/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the premium has been largely flat or slightly down</a>. More recently, a number of bachelor’s programs have been projected to have <a href="https://www.universityherald.com/articles/80290/20260419/college-majors-worst-return-investment-2026-ranked.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">negative ROIs</a>.
Conclusion
Families should approach the college decision with the same discipline they would apply to any major investment: understand the risks, weigh the expected return, and make decisions based on evidence rather than emotion. Doing so will not eliminate risk, but it can greatly improve the odds that a college education, if chosen, becomes a sound investment rather than a costly mistake.
Our purpose is not to discourage students from attending college. Rather, it is to encourage informed decision-making based on evidence instead of flawed assumptions. College remains one of America’s greatest institutions when the right student chooses the right school and the right course of study at the right price. But it is not a one-size-fits-all path to prosperity, and the downside risks are far greater for some than others.
College is neither a guaranteed ticket to prosperity nor a decision that should be made on faith or passion. It is an investment. Like any investment, it should be evaluated on expected return, probability of success, and financial risk. Families who approach college with that discipline will make better decisions — and avoid turning one of life’s biggest possible opportunities into one of its biggest financial mistakes.
***
Greg Salsbury, Ph.D., serves on the Board of Advisors for <a href="https://starrs.us/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">STARRS.US</a> and is the former president of Western Colorado University. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Southern California, an M.A. from the University of Illinois, and an M.A. from the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism at USC.
John Kawauchi, MBA, is a former VP of Enrollment Management and Marketing at Western Colorado University and Lake Superior State University, after spending most of his career in Retirement Planning and Product Marketing in the Financial Services industry. He earned his MBA from the University of Chicago and a B.S. from Cornell University.

Students of human medicine in Leipzig

Why College Can Be The Biggest Financial Gamble You’ll Ever Make

Angie Sullivan, of the &#8220;I&#8217;ve Had It&#8221; podcast, told her cohost Jennifer Welch that she was inherently distrustful of parents who actually enjoy spending time with their children.
Sullivan made the comments in the broader context of a conversation about homeschooling — which she also does not like, for a variety of reasons — and she said that it was &#8220;weird&#8221; to imagine mothers wanting to spend all of their time with their children.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
‘I’ve Had It’ co-host Angie Sullivan on homeschooling&#8230;.
“You would not believe how many people in Bible study homeschool their kids, and you just think, ah, I worry about that.”
“I just think homeschooling is a bad idea from soup to nuts. I don’t care if you’re a nuclear… <a href="https://t.co/GKbhROgDGs">pic.twitter.com/GKbhROgDGs</a>
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) <a href="https://x.com/CurtisHouck/status/2077129530045559032?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 14, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Sullivan began by suggesting that it was a red flag that so many women involved in Bible study also chose to homeschool their children.
&#8220;You would not believe how many people in Bible study homeschool their kids, and you just think, eeehhhh, I worry about that. And then you see those witness booklets or whatever they&#8217;re called that the Duggar&#8217;s used, and they&#8217;re like, top out at eighth grade &#8230;&#8221; she said, scrunching up her face in obvious revulsion in a clear attempt to tie all Christians and homeschoolers to the Duggar family&#8217;s more recent trials.
&#8220;I just think homeschooling is a bad idea from soup to nuts. I don’t care if you’re a nuclear physicist. I think it’s just f*cking weird as f*ck that you want your kids around you all day, every day, and all night,&#8221; she added, suggesting that she would have strapped her own children to her back and &#8220;crawled&#8221; if that was the only way to get them out of her house and to school each day — if only just &#8220;to get them where I wasn&#8217;t.&#8221;
&#8220;So, I don’t trust somebody that wants to be with their kids 24/7. I think a lot of dumb people do it because it’s just easier, and that’s a concern,&#8221; she said, arguing that homeschooling was somehow &#8220;easier&#8221; for parents than putting children on the bus and washing their hands of the entire situation.
She then complained that kids who homeschooled could get all their work done in a few hours because they were not tied to the school&#8217;s schedule, arguing that gave the kids too much free time: &#8220;I just can’t think of very many good things about homeschooling.&#8221;

One Story. One Future: GLAAD Celebrates Pride 2025

Popular Leftist Podcaster Doesn’t Trust Moms Who Like Their Kids

Liberal Woman Doesn't Trust Moms Who Actually Like Their Kids

Homeschooling

Jennifer Welch

Media

A black historian is no longer employed at Tufts University after it was revealed that her prize-winning book cited sources that didn’t exist. 
Initial reviews praised Kerri K. Greenidge&#8217;s book — titled &#8220;The Grimkes: The Legacy of Slavery In An American Family&#8221; — for her focus on the slaveholding Grimke brother fathering children with an enslaved woman. Previous histories had focused more on the Grimke sisters — Sarah and Angelina — who had rejected their heritage and become prominent abolitionists, also championing women&#8217;s rights.
The book retold the story through the sisters’ biracial nephews, citing letters from the University of Michigan’s archive that apparently are not there. But when Greenidge was confronted with that information, she suggested that her work was only under scrutiny because she was black.
“I am heartbroken that a field I have given my life to can treat me this way,” Greenidge said in an interview on Friday. “The attack on black women academics is real.”
She claimed she has never fabricated anything, but admitted some citations could be misattributed. “Are there citations that were misattributed? Probably.” 
Myra C. Glenn, a retired professor of American history at Elmira College, <a href="https://muse.jhu.edu/article/932227">first</a> raised concerns about the book’s credibility in a March 2024 review. “All too often Greenidge lacks the evidence to substantiate many of her major claims. Her work is also riddled with factual errors and repeatedly omits needed endnotes.”
Glenn <a href="https://muse.jhu.edu/article/932227">alleges</a> that Greenidge negatively portrayed the two abolitionist sisters as being “alternately cruel and relentlessly judgmental” toward their bi-racial nephews without evidence. Glenn argues the negative portrayal of the sisters ultimately “serves a larger purpose” by laying the foundation for the book’s central narrative. 
Another allegation claims Greenidge fabricated a dramatic scene by writing that the Grimké sisters &#8220;led thousands of antislavery women through prayer&#8221; and helped them escape the burning Pennsylvania Hall during an anti-abolitionist mob attack in 1838. Glenn said that numerous sources had previously documented that no one was in the building as it burned. 
After Glenn expressed her doubts, other scholars followed. The book, labeled one of the 10 best books of 2022 from Publishers Weekly, is no longer listed on Greenidge’s author page. Patrick Collins, a spokesman for Tufts University, told the New York Times that Greenidge was no longer employed by the university on Thursday. While the email did not specify whether Greenidge left the university or was terminated, Collins said the university had recently become aware that the book &#8220;contained multiple errors of fact and failed to give appropriate credit to the work of another.” 
Like Collins, Greenidge declined to detail the nature of her departure but did criticize Tufts&#8217; peer review panel. Greenidge claimed two of the panelists were hostile toward black women in academics and that the university’s review was prompted by a white female scholar. Greenidge said that she plans to get a restraining order against that woman. 
Collins responded saying, “The independent review by outside experts in the field was fair, fact-based, thorough, and objective. We stand by the review and strongly deny any allegations of bias.”
Problems with Greenidge’s “The Grimkes” ultimately led to questions about her book “Black Radical.” Stephen Fox, a historian who wrote a book on the same story, said, “It seems well done, except when you look at the footnotes. I started to think maybe it wasn’t just sloppy,” before adding “I think it’s something deeper.”

Pretty African American Woman

Black Historian Cries Racism After Scholars Call Out Fabricated Citations

Racism

The state of Texas recently implemented a new education curriculum that includes passages from the Old and New Testaments. Committed secularists, liberal and progressive religious leaders, and even many evangelicals quickly pounced on the inclusion of Hebrew and Christian texts in the state’s educational program.
CNN breathlessly <a href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/texas-is-poised-to-require-millions-of-students-to-study-bible-stories/ar-AA26zDMV?ocid=BingNewsVerp">warned</a> that “Texas is on the verge of requiring its more than 5 million public school students to study Bible stories, as the state emerges as a leader in a national conservative effort to infuse Christian teachings into American classrooms.” But Texas is not proposing theocracy, or implementing some sort of evangelical proselytization program. It is doing what Americans have done since 1776: ensuring that students have the best and most comprehensive education in order to make them citizens of a republic dedicated to the proposition &#8220;that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights.&#8221;
The American republic just had its 250th birthday, and ever since the 13 colonies cast their lot among the independent and sovereign nations of the world, education has formed a vital part of the United States’ republican identity. Certainly, the new American union saw state churches and the oppressive religious structures of the Old World as a cumbersome inheritance they could, and did, cast off. But that was not something the colonists agreed on at the outset of the American Revolution in 1775, nor was it the reason for their Declaration of Independence in 1776.
The late Joyce Appleby, one of the 20th century’s great historians of the era of American independence, noted that even though the elites who began the war for independence believed the revolution was for a regime dedicated to natural rights, most of those same elites “saw few radical implications in this affirmation of natural rights.” John Adams, George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, and most of the revolutionaries who eventually identified with the Federalist Party “expected continued federance; they supported the authority of patriarchal families, established churches, and legitimate governments.” The Federalists who wrote the United States’ constitution were not secularists, and they were comfortable with the Bible as a essential part of the schooling that made good republican citizens.
Of course, Thomas Jefferson and his Jeffersonian Republicans did work to remove religion from the oversight of government, but not even Jeffersonians believed that the Bible could safely be removed from the sources of knowledge that made educated citizens. And therein lies the basic confusion about what Texas is doing: Secularists, and evangelical Christians, believe learning the Bible is an intrinsically religious act. Reading the Bible is certainly a religious act for Christians and Jews, but the Bible is also a major source of the moral framework of Western Civilization that gives modern Americans the freedoms we enjoy. The reason it is good for Texas’ public school children to know the Bible is the same reason it’s good they know <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-ancient-lesson-christopher-nolan-may-have-completely-stripped-out-of-the-odyssey">Homer</a>; it’s an important part of the Western canon and a vital piece of the catechesis that creates cultural literacy necessary for liberal democracy. 
The Bible is full of the folk tales found in classical Jewish literature; the Old Testament tells of Moses and Pharaoh, David and Goliath, King Solomon’s wisdom, Joshua and the walls of Jericho, Gideon’s small band of warriors, and so much more. Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey tell stories of Achilles, Agamemnon, Hector, Paris, Helen, Odysseus, Penelope, and other figures of Greek mythology. The United States too has its folklore: Pecos Bill, Mike Fink, Daniel Boone, David Crockett, John Henry, and Paul Bunyan are the American versions of those Biblical and Greek figures, and they are all — Hebrew, Greek, and American — important for young Americans to know and learn about. The American republic can only have a healthy society if its citizens are educated enough to know not only that Paul Bunyan, Hercules, and Goliath are all big strong men, but that they are each an example of a very different type of big strong man.
Understanding the moral dimensions of the Bible is vital for the formation of a moral republic. But if secularists, and also some evangelicals, have their way, American students in the 21st century will not have the opportunity to learn the great moral stories their parents and grandparents did. Both groups are arguing that the any reading of the Bible must be a religious act and therefore cannot be done by public schools. This proposition is a twin form of religious and secular fundamentalism that says a pupil cannot study the Bible as literature. The Bible is one of the greatest, if not the greatest, sources of moral literature the West has. It would be a grave mistake to rob American students of its moral and literary influence. Texas has decided to give that gift to its public school students. Other states should do the same.
***
Miles Smith IV is an associate professor of history at Hillsdale College.
This article is part of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/introducing-upstream-a-lifestyle-and-culture-section-of-the-daily-wire" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Upstream,</a> The Daily Wire’s new home for culture and lifestyle. Real human insight and human stories — from our featured writers to you.

GettyImages-YLF_031

The Battle Over America’s Moral Foundation Is Back

Bible

History

Public Schools

Religion

Upstream

People don’t read as many books as they once did, and that makes me sad. I love books. I want everyone to love books and for children to learn to love reading. And yet, for over 30 years, most children have learned to hate reading, and they have now become adults who hate to read.
Why? Because their schools taught them to.
In 1987, California adopted a destructive and now discredited method of teaching reading called Whole Language. Whole Language rejected phonics and instead treated words like symbols. Teachers stopped saying, “sound it out.” For example, a child would be taught to recognize the word, “frog” but could not sound out any other word starting with “fr.” When confronted with words like “friend” or “freeze,” the child would have to be “cued” with a picture or a hint. As a result, children learned to guess. Some learned to do it well and eventually came to phonetic pronunciation on their own. Many did not and remained functionally illiterate, able to read only what they could recognize, but unable to “sound out” words they had never seen before.
By the early 2000’s, all 50 states had at least some school districts using Whole Language, and some of the most populous states, such as California, Texas, New York, and Massachusetts, mandated Whole Language in all schools. State teachers’ unions and the National Education Association all supported its adoption. But the experiment on America’s children failed miserably.
The nationwide use of Whole Language over three decades has caused incalculable damage and is the worst pedagogic injustice in U.S. history. An excellent documentary podcast, <a href="https://features.apmreports.org/sold-a-story/">Sold a Story</a>, details the rise and fall of Whole Language and the people who profited from it, including <a href="https://slate.com/human-interest/2023/10/reading-phonics-literacy-calkins-curriculum-public-school.html">Lucy Calkins</a>, who finally admitted in 2022 that she was wrong all along. (Oops! Sorry about the functional illiteracy, kids.)
Now, I would think an 800-pound gorilla like the Whole Language fiasco might at least be mentioned once in an 8,600-word article about America’s reading problem. I was wrong.
The massive lament by Rose Horowitch declares <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/2026/08/reading-crisis-postliterate-age/687618/">The End of Reading is Here</a> in The Atlantic’s August edition, and she fears for the Republic if people don’t read more. Daily Wire columnist Jonathan Minnema says she is wrong in a much shorter article: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-age-of-reading-isnt-over?row=0&amp;elementPosition=0&amp;rowType=Web+Search">The Age of Reading Isn’t Over.</a>
I agree with Minnema that reading will be just fine because Whole Language has now been banned in 42 states. What bothers me most about Horowitch’s article is her utter lack of curiosity as to the root cause of declining literacy. She certainly cites some depressing figures:
<blockquote>
&#8230; it’s true that Americans’ basic reading skills are declining. Fourth- and eighth-grade reading scores have slid for the past decade&#8230; In 2024, in a national test, <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/reading/achieve.aspx%232009_grade12">just 35 percent of high-school seniors</a> were “proficient” at skills such as analyzing complex fictional themes and evaluating the effectiveness of an author’s argument&#8230; Adult-literacy scores have also dropped: Nearly 30 percent of American adults <a href="https://ies.ed.gov/learn/press-release/u-s-adults-score-par-international-average-literacy-skills-below-international-average-numeracy-and">cannot paraphrase or make inferences from a multipage text</a>. In 2017, that number was less than 20 percent.
</blockquote>
Scary stuff. Horowitch’s own magazine published a story on Whole Language and Lucy Calkins in <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2024/12/lucy-calkins-child-literacy-teaching-methodology/680394/">2024</a>, yet she doesn’t mention it. Daily distractions from video slop and social media, though bad, do not somehow prevent students from acquiring reading skills in any functional classroom. The popularity of such junk is not the cause, but rather the result of the Whole Language era. Kids who dislike reading and see it as an uninteresting chore will entertain themselves somehow.
People are indeed spending less money on books. According to data from the <a href="https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MRTSSM451211USN%23">Federal Reserve Bank</a>, annual retail book sales peaked at $1.4 billion in 2007 and fell sharply thereafter to $650 million in 2025. Just after the 2007 sales peak, new technologies entered the world: the iPhone (2007), the iPad (2010), E-readers (2007), and Netflix streaming (2007).
But something else happened in 2008: thousands of kids crippled by Whole Language began to graduate from high school. As if on cue, average critical reading SAT scores also began to decline in 2008 as more students began taking the test. Young adults who hate reading probably won’t buy books, ever again.
Ms. Horowitch’s essay is ultimately cowardly and predictably elitist. Rather than seeking a more likely systemic or bureaucratic cause for the disaster she sees, she instead fixes blame on parents:
<blockquote>
Things are about to get worse, and fast. The next generation reads much less than today’s adults did when they were kids. Kindergarten teachers say that many of their students don’t know nursery rhymes or fairy tales&#8230; (In the study of 236,000 American adults, only 2 percent read to a child on a given day.)
</blockquote>
Perhaps I ask too much of Ms. Horowitch, a Yale graduate who also attended the elite Phillips Exeter Academy, a $60,000-a-year high school in New Hampshire. She was certainly not subjected to the vagaries of the Whole Language era. But a journalist with 8,600 words at her disposal has a duty to investigate the likely causes and origins of any danger to the Republic.
***
Harry Angell is a petroleum geologist and a visiting fellow at the California Policy Center. He is also the author of The Anastomosing Dendrite, a Substack newsletter.

Two girls (4-5) (8-9) sitting at table, reading book, (B&W), close-up

Smartphones Didn’t Kill Reading; The Schools Did

DW Opinion

Literacy

Lucy Calkins

Reading

Whole Language

Menu