A quiz to determine if you are pro-life

By answering just a few questions, you can determine if you are pro-life. So, grab your pencil and a note pad. The rules are rather simple: Answer yes or no to the following 10 questions. Then add up the total number of yes responses. Ready? Here we go. Do you believe life begins at conception, …

We must stop destroying our institutions

America enters 2021 still in the grip of a pandemic. One of the reasons coronavirus continues to burrow ever deeper into our society is the attack on science has succeeded; sufficient numbers of Americans believe coronavirus falls somewhere on a continuum of flu to hoax. The undermining of science is just one example of the …

No, Mt. Lebanon families, we shouldn’t be opening our schools

Let’s start with the facts (and, no, unlike claims from the current presidential administration, there are no alternative facts). They alone will make clear Mt. Lebanon schools need to remain closed for the foreseeable future. First, Allegheny County had the state’s highest number of coronavirus cases earlier this week. I accept that on any given …

Mt. Lebanon, PA., residents have formed their camps

The community in which I live has formed camps. As you might guess, the argument involves whether our K-12 school buildings should open at the end of this month, which would allow for face-to-face or hybrid instruction, and whether school teams ought to be allowed to play. So that you know where I stand, which …

The teacher spoke. The student listened. But they were speaking different languages.

The teacher explained to the student what assignments still needed to be handed in if the student was to have any chance of passing the class. The student asked about this assignment and that one, trying to figure out how enough points could be earned to at least get a C as the final grade. …

Make up YOUR OWN mind about how your child(ren) will be educated this year

Parents, the calendar has turned to August; and that means if you have a choice as to how your child(ren) will be educated this year, it’s time for YOU to make it. Of course, health conditions around the country have taken this decision out of millions of parents’ hands. In areas where coronavirus cases remain …

K-12 online this year? Yes. Full stop.

If your community resembles the one in which I live, then you know there’s a fierce debate about whether the local K-12 school buildings should reopen next month to allow for in-person teaching. (Full disclosure: My younger son begins his junior year of high school in a few weeks; it’s for you to determine if …

What if the teachers bail?

The national conversation about whether K-12 schools should re-open next month or in September has principally focused on two items: the science about whether it's safe to re-open and the internal struggle many parents have as they choose what's best for their child(ren). Missing in that conversation: What happens if a whole lot of teachers, …

Tearing down statues alone won’t get the job done

Throughout the United States and around the world, significant discussions continue to take place about statues erected many, many years ago to honor long-dead men now under intense scrutiny for how they lived their lives. Here at home, there are a lot of people who want those statues to these slave-owning or misogynistic or racist …