You wouldn’t know it, but all of the four following things are true:
1. Ohio was one of the pioneers in the public school movement in the early 1800s, which anchored much of the state’s success and growth that followed;
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2. Ohio was ranked fifth in the nation in the quality of its schools as recently as 2010 (ranked by Education Week);
3. Ohio’s Constitution authorizes the state to support a single system of common schools;
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4. Ohio Constitution states that “no religious or other sect, or sects, shall ever have any exclusive right to, or control of, any part of the school funds of this state”, Art. IV, Section 2)
Vance’s Likely Replacement in Ohio, and What It Says About Ohio if He’s Appointed
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Among its many qualities, who knew that the city of Miami was an overwhelming leader in the occurrence of Medicare fraud?
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Not me, until I read @Gladwell ‘s
latest book (“Revenge of the Tipping Point”).
But it turns out, South Florida is an absolute outlier when it comes to runaway Medicare fraud.
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And, Gladwell explains, that is due to a phenomenon he calls a place’s “overstory” — an element to a place that takes hold, shapes behavior, and continues on, unique from other places. It may start for a particular set of reasons, but then takes on a life of its own,
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Some are suggesting that we simply ignore Trump’s obsessive and wild antics regarding other nations (and allies), because they are a distraction from his “real agenda.”
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But as bad as that domestic agenda is (trust me, I know—I wrote an entire book about it), we dare not ignore his disturbing international machinations.
In the broader context of current tensions in the world,
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Trump’s unhinged rhetoric is dangerous at a level far above and beyond American politics.
The fact that so many others—members of Congress, oligarchs like Musk, media commentators, etc.—are joining him only makes it that much worse.
Along with @jenmercieca and @TheRickWilson , I was asked by @chaunceydevega at @Salon about my thoughts going into the New Year.
Here’s what I said:
“I enter the New Year knowing that Trump and his allies’ promises pose many risks to our nation…
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…the democracy we’ve known, our communities and the lives of countless Americans. So, clear-eyed about these risks, of course, I worry.
At the same time, with weeks passed since the election, the word that best describes my current mood is “resolute."
Why?
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Because I know that people in this country have overcome worse than what we must overcome now — waging their battle for democracy from far more perilous ground than where most of us stand today.
Today is the final January 6 we will have before Trump’s return to the White House, where he will use presidential power to erase his and others’ crimes against America from our collective memory and history books.
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Of course, they’ve been trying to whitewash it all ever since. And it’s worked to some degree.
But once Trump re-assumes the Presidency, he and his minions will use their official powers and legal processes to go much further.
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This will include minimizing their own actions and complicity, pardoning those who attacked the Capitol and committed violence, and attempting to punish those who worked to expose the truth to the nation and bring accountability.
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