This week, editors Matt Welch, Katherine Mangu-Ward, and Nick Gillespie are joined by Senior Producer Zach Weissmueller to discuss why public schools have lost 1.4 million students since the pandemic even as their budgets have grown. They examine the rise of school choice, microschools, and other alternatives to traditional public education. They discuss why families are increasingly opting out and whether declining enrollment will finally force public schools to rethink how they operate.
The panel then discusses Vice President J.D. Vance's proposal to make federal childcare subsidies available to married couples with a stay-at-home parent. They also reflect on the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks and the ways the government's response permanently changed American life, from the formation of the Transportation Security Administration to warrantless surveillance and the growth of the national security state. Finally, a listener asks whether recent food safety scares can be blamed on cuts to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and how markets could keep food safe with a much smaller regulatory role.
0:00—School choice is winning.
