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State needs to address child care crisis

By Anne K. Ard and Heather Smoyer Pennsylvania’s children and families are facing a crisis. Parents are unable to find reliable and high-quality child care due to a critical shortage of child care workers, Early Intervention providers and pre-K educators. Most Pennsylvanians believe that the well-being of all children is important to the health of communities. Parents know that laying a strong foundation for children while they are infants and toddlers is critical to their long-term health and thriving. Early intervention for children and families provides critical support and ...

Trump right to upend trade system

President Trump has proposed a monumental change in the system which we use to trade with other countries. This is a very large and complex issue and deserves an historical context to lay the groundwork for understanding. With this context, we can more fully appreciate our current circumstances. At World War II’s end, the United States was the world’s dominant military and economic power. It had vanquished adversaries on continents to the East and the West. The countries to our east (Europe) and our adversary to the west (Japan) incurred substantial physical damage, ...

Public media, communities, under attack

Imagine turning on your TV or radio and finding silence where “Sesame Street,” local news, and emergency alerts used to be. No more “Our Town” stories celebrating your neighbors in Blair County. No more trusted voices guiding your children through their earliest years. No more WPSU. That’s the future we could face if Congress approves the rescission package recently submitted by the White House. Among its sweeping cuts is the elimination of critical funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting — the lifeblood of local stations like WPSU. This funding represents ...

Test assessments are not education

Education faces a lot of criticism, some with good cause. The U.S. ranks low in reading and math compared with other developed nations. A recent trend to combat our shortcomings is to “assess” students regularly. These reforms began in K-12 education with renewed emphasis on standardized testing. Test scores are tied to federal and state funds to incentivize improvement. These assessment type reforms have now reached higher education. Colleges and universities must assess all aspects of their institutions — from teaching to athletics, student services to library use — to ...

Local government work important

This is Pennsylvania Local Government Week. It should not be the only time we celebrate and thank our local elected officials. Many evenings, while most of us are at home with family and friends, those who have stepped up to run for a local office, head to public meetings throughout our boroughs, townships, school districts, cities and counties. They are giving their time and expertise to keep delivering the municipal services, policies and public infrastructure upon which their constituents rely. When things go well, nobody notices. But when things go wrong, they usually hear ...

Does it have to be your daughter?

At this year’s PIAA indoor track state championships on March 2, young ladies from across the state traveled to State College for their shot at gold, something they had been working their entire lives towards. However, as they prepared for their events, they noticed that there were two males competing. They also noticed something else. These males had taken spots away from well deserving girls. Sadly, this is not an isolated instance as some claim. Since 2020 in Pennsylvania, 37 female athletes have lost first place, and another 13 lost second or third place. Overall, this injustice ...