What could Universal Early Childcare look like?
dchung.substack.com
dchung.substack.com
For example, Chicago public school teachers get paid more than any other school system in the US (from $60k for a new teacher to $114k for the most experienced) and the schools have some of, if not the worst educational outcomes: in 2019, 1 in 4 7th graders could not read at grade level
Children aren’t a blank slate when they get into school. Genetics, parenting, and culture all have an effect.
That said, the fact that teachers that make tenure basically can’t get fired for lack of performance is ridiculous. Imagine if you just had to be a good little coder for a few years, and after that as long as you put any amount of effort in at all you wouldn’t lose your job.
I certainly had teachers growing up that were terrible at their jobs. I also had some that were pretty good. Most were mediocre to the point where I don’t think they’d stay employed in a regular non-union type job. At the very least they wouldn’t be getting performance raises.
Had a friend who worked in one of the worst performing public schools in our city. According to him the main problem was that you simply couldn't keep good teachers no matter what you offered. Half the new teachers they hired didn't make it past the first year. Had they started firing teachers who underperformed on top of that they wouldn't have enough teachers left to keep the doors open.
edit: not disagreeing with the idea that tenure for teachers is a bad idea, just that I don't think that is the primary problem in these worst cases.
The core problem is poverty, not the school system.
If anything the CTU has been doing everything in their power to make sure the real problem, pensions, is never on the bargaining table. They are argument #1 against public employee unions if only because they are so obviously hosing their current members on behalf of their previous and soon to be previous members.
That said your broader point still stands, there is nothing strange about their compensation or outcomes when compared to peer organizations.
I have no idea where this idea has come from that stay at home moms are stuck at home. Most of the time they are out chatting, eating lunch at each other's houses, or doing something fun together
Those things are all easier to do as a stay at home parent than if both parents are working, because then you end up dedicating all of your non-work hours to family, chores and errands anyway.
This seems a silly question. During the workday, neither spouse can go mountain biking. Outside of the workday both spouses can go mountain biking. This is true whether one or both spouses are wage-earners.
I say this as a person who has been both a full time programmer and a full time care giver. Being the care giver was far more frazzling and non stop compared to my job. I found it far easier to pursue personal interests when I was working full-time compared to parenting full-time. Pretty much my only time without a kid in my life would be late at night, and even then you need to stay in the house to watch them, and you may be too tired and sleep deprived to actually be able to pursue an interest if it is pursuable in your own home.
Tired of the old "no life for the caregiver" trope. If I had a choice, between slaving away to enrich y rich CEO or take care of my kids my choice would be easy.
What the woman gets is nothing but a personal life. It's not necessarily a problem if she has married well, they plan well for her financial comfort after he is gone and they remain together "until death do us part."
It's primarily a problem if they divorce and now she needs to somehow launch a career from scratch. Those years spent raising kids don't tend to readily translate to a good resume and high salary.
Were you raising children or just "homemaking", which doesn't necessarily imply childcare?
You really can't think of any activities/interest people pursue that you can't do while toting a 2 year old with you? That's something I didn't think would require enumerating.
And this is also a reason why listing specifics is a fools errand(which makes me a fool), because in the multitude there will always be someone who said "actually I did that and everything turned out fine".
I smoked crack while pregnant, and my kid went to Harvard. See, no issues there.
But you want to insist I cannot be content with my life or if I am, I clearly must somehow be behaving badly.
You also cannot safely mountain climb while imbibing alcohol and any number of other things. Not everyone feels the need to do "reckless" things in order to feel content.
Mountain biking was an example of a hobby that is very difficult to pursue unless you have child care arrangements, whether it is day care, a baby sitter, or only while a partner has free time on a weekend.
I don't even mountain bike. I'm very confused how you're reading so much into the example, and simultaneously not by saying riding your bike in the city is what I was getting at.
I provided that link as the lowest effort, least argumentative means to show that I have already answered that question in this very discussion. And it's sort of annoying that you are turning this into a big deal because you clearly assume I am supposed know that googlryas and oh_sigh are the same person without telling me that because you already stated it once elsewhere:
Posting on another account because I'm rate limited. Sorry dang.
Yes, actually, a 3 year old and a 1 year old.
But in any case, when you have children, you are choosing the family life. Which means some things will no longer be an option. But that is true for every decision we make in life.
There is no way to have everything in life, even through the magic of taxation and government "universal" programs.
It's only, essentially, poor people who have to give up on their pursuits if they also want to raise a kid.
When my wife and I had our son everything became clear and we realized that success at work was just a means to an end.
Yes, actually, a 3 year old and a 1 year old.
What about parenting in such a way that you involve your kids in your personal interests? You can definitely dig into tough book or go mountain biking with your kids with enough patients and proper equipment.
As a case in point, my daughters attend a free mom's preschool (a few times a week) instead of us paying thousands of dollars. We haven't bought much clothes or furniture for them because there are endless amounts of hand-me-downs.
Unfortunately, as a whole, American civil institutions (and really worldwide) have declined. It's not just churches or marriage that has seen record reductions in membership. It's actually not even a crisis in religion that we're witnessing although many want to castigate it as that.
Rather, all social groups are in decline, whether that be the small social group of marriage, or the large social group of the extended family, or the even wider social group of a community club. Bowling clubs, fraternal organizations, athletic clubs, etc are all in decline.
It could look like a young child income tax credit
Why? We didn’t accomplish universal healthcare, women’s rights are under attack, climate change is unaddressed, nazis are growing in boldness and volume.
We, in the left, have failed in most of our latest crusades (certainly the ones in my life) because the regressive powers are entrenched and organized. Is this really the time to change focus again??
You, in the left, have failed because you're guilty of what you claim others are doing and do so while calling anyone you disagree with "nazi's" and "racists". making those "slurs" worth less than the promises you're failing to kill us all with.
Both are true: Real Nazis exist and the word is grossly overused as a slur