Commentary

In my role overseeing students who are teacher candidates participating in student teaching assignments and practicums, I have the pleasure of regularly visiting local K-12 schools. On one recent school visit, a colleague and I brought along a platter of baked goods to show our appreciation for the teachers and their hard work and dedication. ”Next time,” the principal of the school joked, “you can send us teachers.” She’s got a point.

I am grateful the Maryland legislature has taken bold, bipartisan action to protect Maryland families and firefighters from PFAS. The state Senate and House of Delegates voted unanimously to pass the George “Walter” Taylor Act to restrict the use and disposal of toxic PFAS chemicals. Del. Sara Love (D-Montgomery) and Sen. Sarah Elfreth (D-Anne Arundel) sponsored the bill, and Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. (R) signed it into law April 21. PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are a class of more than 9,000 toxic chemicals that are used to make a wide variety of products water and grease resistant.

The leaked draft of a majority Supreme Court decision by Justice Samuel Alito overturning Roe v. Wade means several things. First, it indicates that in the justices’ private conference, at least five members of the court voted to reverse the 1973 abortion precedent. They aren’t bound by that vote, which they can change up to the day the final opinion is released. Almost all first drafts undergo significant revision based on discussion and debate among the justices. So the second point to make is that Roe isn’t yet overturned, though it very likely will be.

A large majority of Americans — dissatisfied and disillusioned — believe the country is on the wrong track. Major institutions are mistrusted. The Congress is dysfunctional. The Supreme Court has become unapologetically politicized. Corporate news media — both national and local — and social media alike have become rigidly politically and culturally aligned.

You probably breathed a deep sigh of relief when you heard that Emmanuel Macron trounced Marine Le Pen by a 17-point margin in Sunday’s French presidential election. A Le Pen victory would have been a boon to Vladimir Putin, Viktor Orban and Steve Bannon and a disaster for NATO, Europe and France.

Across the country, there’s growing agreement on the need to teach financial literacy in our nation’s K-12 schools. Yet, if we want to truly set our children up for a lifetime of personal financial knowledge, we need to pass more state financial-literacy legislation that requires high-quality, stand-alone courses for graduation. That’s exactly what Virginia has done. In 2009, amid growing concern about the economy, it became one of the first states in the U.S. to require stand-alone classes in personal finance and economics to graduate, as part of the national W!SE Financial Literacy Certification program.

Amid the greatest labor shortage in a generation, organizations are scrambling to find workers. With many struggling to endure the moment, the most complete solution lies in overhauling our approach to talent.  Prior to the tumult of the past two years, a couple of trends amplified our vulnerability to the talent dearth we currently face. First, the birth rate has declined since 2000.