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Satisfaction with K-12 education falls: Gallup

American satisfaction with K-12 public schools has fallen almost 10 percent in the past three years, according to a new Gallup poll. 

The poll, published on Thursday, found that 42 percent of respondents are currently satisfied with the nation’s K-12 education system, while 55 percent are dissatisfied.

That is a nine-point decrease from August 2019, when 51 percent of respondents said they were satisfied with the nation’s schooling system, which marked a peak.

America’s classrooms have become a battleground for COVID-19 safety measures and other cultural issues in the past three years, with many GOP candidates making “parental rights” in education a campaign cornerstone.

The Gallup poll found Republican satisfaction with schools far lower than Democrats: 30 percent of Republican respondents were satisfied, compared to 51 percent of Democrats.

Asked about their specific concerns, 15 percent of respondents cited poor or outdated curriculum in the nation’s education system, 12 percent said the U.S. education system is outranked by other competing countries, and 10 percent said schools are failing to teach the basic subject such as reading, writing, arithmetic. 

Ten percent of respondents expressed their dissatisfaction over political agendas being taught in schools, nine percent said students are not learning life skills, and 8 percent of respondents cited the lack of funding and resources for students and teachers. 

Twenty-six percent of respondents said they do not plan to have their children attend public K-12 schools this year, down from 28 percent from last year.

The new Gallup poll was conducted from August 1 to August 23 with a total of 1,006 respondents. The poll’s margin of error is four percentage points.

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Education secretary: Dramatic drops in reading, math scores should be call to action

Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said Thursday that the pandemic has had “profound impacts” on the nation’s schoolchildren and called for communities to “raise the bar for our students ” in the wake of a new report showing test scores for America’s 9-year-olds fell dramatically in 2020 and 2021.

In a USA Today opinion piece, Cardona highlighted a number of steps the Education Department and schools across the nation are taking to address the challenge, but pushed states and counties to do more, saying “we can’t take our foot off the gas.”

“This data should serve as a further call to action for states, districts and communities to use these funds quickly, effectively and on strategies we know work,” he wrote. “It must take a commitment from all of us to use data responsibly – not to punish or label schools or educators, but to allow local leaders to target resources to communities and schools that need them most.”

The National Center for Education Statistics released data Thursday as a preview of an upcoming National Assessment of Educational Progress report, known as the nation’s report card.

The data showed that during the pandemic’s first two years, reading scores fell 5 percent to the lowest level in 30 years and math scores recorded the first decrease in history after falling seven points.

The test scores reveal a stark divide between the nation’s schoolchildren along racial lines. Math scores dropped 5 percent for white students but 13 percent for Black students.

The pandemic led to vast changes in the country’s schools, including mask-wearing, social distancing guidelines and a new shift to virtual schooling during peak waves of the health crisis.

At the same time, state and local leaders have also taken steps in some states to limit the teaching of racial issues as well as gender identity and sexuality.

Americans are largely dissatisfied with the nation’s K-12 public education system. A Gallup poll released Thursday shows just 42 percent of Americans approve of the quality of the K-12 schooling, the lowest level in two decades.

The secretary said a “substantial portion” of students behind grade level in at least one school subject in 2021 caught up in time for summer break this year.

He said about half of students were behind grade level in at least one subject in the beginning of the 2021-2022 school year, but that number fell to 36 percent by the end of the school year.

“This progress is a testament to the enduring impacts our educators and school staffs can make on helping our students catch up, both academically and developmentally,” Cardona wrote.

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California residents asked to curtail electricity, avoid charging electric cars ahead of Labor Day

California is urging residents to curtail their energy use for a second day in a row as the state braces for a heat wave ahead of the Labor Day weekend.

Huge swaths of the West could see temperatures surpass 100 degrees, according to the National Weather Service (NWS). The California Independent System Operator (ISO) has issued a “Flex Alert” for Thursday, Sep. 1 from 4-9 p.m., due to high heat across the state and supply uncertainties.

The flex alert was issued for a second day in a row on Thursday and as the operator said is experiencing some of the highest load levels of the year.

Residents have been asked to pre-cool their homes before 4 p.m. and then set the thermostat to 78 degrees or higher from 4 to 9 p.m. They have also been asked to cease the use of major appliances and to avoid charging their electric vehicles during the flex hours.

In a release, the California ISO added that overnight temperatures are staying high, which can cause buildings and infrastructure to retain heat and result in increased air conditioner use.

“During multiple days of heat, generators that have been running at top speed can fail or
trip offline unexpectedly. We also have to expect the unexpected, meaning we need to be prepared for any unplanned event that could tighten energy supplies,” it added.

The 4p.m. to 9p.m. time slot was chosen as it is the “most critical time” on the grid, according to the operator as solar production is “going offline, but temperatures remain high.”

“Turn off all unnecessary lights from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. Cook your meals earlier in the day to save energy and keep your home cooler,” it added.

This comes as California’s governor Gavin Newsom (D) declared a state of emergency Wednesday to increase power production and urged residents to reduce electricity use as a heat wave spread over the West.

Temperatures that are expected to be 10 to 20 degrees above normal pushed up energy demand, primarily from air conditioning use, and tightened available power supplies. More alerts are likely through the Labor Day weekend, officials said.

Temperatures on Sunday and Monday could hit up to 100 on the coast and up to 115 inland, according to the Los Angeles Times.

“All of us have been trying to outrun Mother Nature, but it’s pretty clear Mother Nature has outrun us,” Newsom said. “The reality is we’re living in an era of extremes: extreme heat, extreme drought — and with the flooding we’re experiencing around the globe.”

However, state officials have been criticized over the guidance. House Republican whip Steve Scalise (La.) shared the notice in a tweet and said: “This from the same state that’s going to force everyone to buy electric cars by 2035.”

Includes Associated Press reporting

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Cook Political Report moves five House races toward Democrats

The nonpartisan election handicapper Cook Political Report on Thursday shifted its forecasts for five competitive House races in favor of Democrats.

The changes follow a spike in Democratic voter enthusiasm following the Supreme Court’s decision in June that overturned the landmark federal abortion rights protections in Roe v. Wade, Cook Political Report senior editor Dave Wasserman wrote. Democrats have outperformed expectations in every special election since the ruling.

They also also come as Republicans, some of whom predicted a potentially record “red wave” election year, have tempered expectations about the midterm elections this year.

Last week, a separate Cook Political Report analysis said Republicans still look like the favorites to win control of the House in the midterm elections. But the publication revised its forecast down from Republicans winning 15 to 30 seats to winning 10 to 20 seats.

The five House districts Cook shifted on Thursday are:

Alaska’s at-large district, from likely Republican to toss-up

The change comes after former Republican Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin lost a special election to Democrat Mary Peltola in the state’s first election using a new ranked choice voting system.

It was the first time a Democrat had been elected to the seat since 1971.

Peltola and Palin, as well as Republican Nick Begich and Libertarian Chris Bye, will be on the general election ranked choice ballot in November for a full term in the same seat.

Arizona’s 4th District, from lean Democratic to likely Democratic.

Democratic Rep. Greg Stanton will face Republican Kelly Cooper, a Marine veteran who was endorsed by Arizona GOP gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake.

Wasserman writes that, “Cooper, a Marine veteran who owns BKD’s Backyard sports bar and has questioned the integrity of the 2020 election, might be too far right for this left-trending, Biden +10 Tempe seat.”

Maryland’s 6th District, from lean Democratic to likely Democratic.

Democratic Rep. David Trone, founder of Total Wine & More, has pumped his campaign with $10 million after his panhandle district became less Democratic due to redistricting. He faces Republican state Del. Neil Parrott.

“Any Republican scenario for ousting Trone likely involved a Larry Hogan-esque performance in the governor’s race at the top of the ticket. But that went out the window when state Del. Dan Cox, whom Hogan has called ‘not, in my opinion, mentally stable,’ won the GOP primary,” Wasserman wrote.

New York’s 3rd District, from toss-up to lean Democratic.

In the open Long Island seat being vacated by Rep. Tom Suozzi (D), who unsuccessfully ran for governor, Democratic National Committee member Rob Zimmerman will face Republican George Santos.

Virginia’s 7th District, from toss-up to lean Democratic.

Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D) will face Republican former police officer Yesli Vega for the suburban Northern Virginia seat.

Spanberger has long been considered one of the more vulnerable Democrats in the House, and this year’s redistricting process shifted her seat away from the areas where she had the strongest support.

But an audio recording reported by Axios in which Vega expresses openness to the idea that it might be harder for women to get pregnant after rape, remarks that came just as the abortion issue was heating up, was thought to be a major help to Spanberger, who also holds a large financial edge. 

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Ultra-processed food linked with heightened risk of colorectal cancer in men

U.S. men who consume higher rates of ultra-processed food are at a 29 percent greater risk of developing colorectal cancer, according to new study results published in The BMJ. However, no association was seen among women in the study. 

Colorectal cancer is the third most diagnosed cancer in the country and the second leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide. 

Furthermore “ultra-processed foods (that is, industrial ready-to-eat or ready-to-heat formulations made of little or no whole foods) now contribute 57 percent of total daily calories consumed by American adults, which has been continuously increasing in the past two decades,” authors wrote.

In recent years, the consumption of ultra-processed foods has been linked with a host of poor health outcomes including coronary heart diseases, obesity, hypertension and metabolic syndrome, to name a few. 

To better understand any association between ultra-processed food intake and colorectal cancer, researchers assessed data from the Health Professionals Follow-up Study, the Nurses’ Health Study, and the Nurses’ Health Study II. As part of the studies, participants filled out food frequency questionnaires every four years. 

A total of 46,341 men and 159,907 women were included in the analyses. Between 24 and 28 years of follow-up 1,294 cases of colorectal cancer among men were recorded, and 1,922 among women. 

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Compared with men who ate the lowest proportion of ultra-processed food, those in the highest-consumption group had a significantly heightened risk of the cancer that remained after adjusting for body mass index. 

Among the at-risk men, risk was particularly high for distal colon cancer. 

“Processed meats, most of which fall into the category of ultra-processed foods, are a strong risk factor for colorectal cancer,” explained lead study author Lu Wang of Tufts University in a statement. 

“Ultra-processed foods are also high in added sugars and low in fiber, which contribute to weight gain and obesity, and obesity is an established risk factor for colorectal cancer.”

When divided into subgroups, researchers found increased consumption of meat, poultry, and seafood based ready-to-eat products and sugar sweetened beverages (i.e. soda and fruit-based beverages) posed the highest risk among men.

However, an inverse association was discovered between ultra-processed dairy foods like yogurt and colorectal cancer risk in women, authors noted. “Foods like yogurt can potentially counteract the harmful impacts of other types of ultra-processed foods in women,” said co-author Fang Fang Zhang, also of Tufts University. 

More research is needed to better understand the sex differeneces seen with regard to colorectal cancer risk and intake of processed foods and to determine whether the lack of association among women was due to chance or other confounding factors. 

Authors point to food additives as a potential root cause for the association documented, as these can alter gut microbiota and promote inflammation. Contaminants from food processing or packaging may also account for the link. 

“Chemically processing foods can aid in extending shelf life, but many processed foods are less healthy than unprocessed alternatives,” Zhang added. 

Because the foods are often cheap and readily available “we need to make consumers aware of the risks associated with consuming unhealthy foods in quantity and make the healthier options easier to choose instead.”

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Texas governor sends first bus of migrants to Chicago

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) announced Wednesday that the first bus of migrants from the southern border has arrived in the city of Chicago, IL. 

In a news release on Wednesday, Abbott said the migrants were dropped off at the city’s Union Station.

Abbott has been sending migrants to major Democrat-run cities protest of the Biden administration’s immigration policies in recent months. Busses previously dropped off migrants in Washington, D.C., and New York City. 

“President Biden’s inaction at our southern border continues putting the lives of Texans — and Americans — at risk and is overwhelming our communities,” Abbott said in his statement Wednesday.

“To continue providing much-needed relief to our small, overrun border towns, Chicago will join fellow sanctuary cities Washington, D.C. and New York City as an additional drop-off location.”

Abbott also said that he hopes Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot (D) will take responsibility for supporting the migrants upon arrival.

“Mayor Lightfoot loves to tout the responsibility of her city to welcome all regardless of legal status, and I look forward to seeing this responsibility in action as these migrants receive resources from a sanctuary city with the capacity to serve them,” Abbott concluded. 

In her own statement, Lightfoot said on Wednesday that her administration will work with community partners to ensure that the migrants will receive food, shelter, and protection, noting that they will not stand on the “racist practices” Abbott and his administration are currently doing. 

“This is not new; Chicago welcomes hundreds of migrants every year to out city and provides much-needed assistance,” she said in the statement. Unfortunately, Texas Governor Greg Abbott is without any shame or humanity. But ever since he put these racists practices of expulsion in place, we have been working with our community partners to ready the city to receive these individuals.”

New York City officials have expressed their disdain over Abbott’s bussing initiative, claiming that the governor placed wristbands with barcodes on migrants who were bussed to the city as an intimidation tactic. 

“We know that Gov. Abbott has been trying to dehumanize people, trying to foment anti-immigrant hatred, and while New York will continue to welcome asylum seekers, it’s also our moral responsibility to denounce this kind of behavior by Gov. Abbott,” New York City Commissioner of Immigrant Affairs Manuel Castro said last week.

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Biden congratulates Peltola following victory over Palin

President Biden spoke with Democrat Mary Peltola on Wednesday night to congratulate her on her victory in the special election for Alaska’s vacant at-large seat in the House of Representatives, according to the White House. 

“The two had a very warm conversation where he told her he looks forward to working with her to lower costs for working families in Alaska when she is sworn into her seat in Congress,” the White House said. “He also wished her a very happy birthday.” 

Peltola, a former state lawmaker, defeated Republican former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) by about three percentage points in a major upset on Wednesday, becoming the first Alaska Native elected to Congress. The White House statement did not mention Palin explicitly.  

Peltola was declared the winner of the special election on Wednesday night in a vote that was the first test of the state’s new ranked-choice voting system. Republican Nick Begich was also on the ballot, but his votes were redistributed to Peltola and Palin after the first round was tabulated.

The special election is likely to further fuel Democratic hopes ahead of the November midterm elections, though Palin’s controversial persona was thought to be a significant factor in the race.  

Peltola, Palin and Begich will all appear again on the ballot in November for the general election for the next full two-year term. That election will also use ranked-choice voting.  

Biden has periodically called Democrats who have emerged victorious in primaries or other elections to congratulate them on their wins.  

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Bennet neck and neck with Republican in Colorado Senate race: GOP poll

Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Co.) is polling neck and neck with Republican Senate challenger Joe O’Dea just two months ahead of the November midterms, according to a new GOP poll released on Wednesday.

A poll commissioned by the Republican Attorneys General Association and conducted by GOP strategist Dave Sackett of The Tarrance Group, which was shared with the Washington Examiner by the Colorado Republican Party, showed Bennet with 48 percent support among likely registered voters compared to the construction company executive with 47 percent.

A separate five percent said they were undecided. The polling falls within the margin of error, which is plus or minus 4.1 percentage points, essentially tying the two candidates. 

Among independent voters polled, Bennet received 49 percent compared to O’Dea’s 44 percent.

Bennet is seeking a third term in the upper chamber against O’Dea in a race that the nonpartisan Cook Political Report rates as “lean Democrat.” Bennet won his first term with less than a percentage point in 2010 and won reelection in 2016 by 5 percentage points. 

O’Dea has cast himself as a “political outsider,” winning his GOP primary in late June against state Rep. Ron Hanks, who was on Capitol grounds on the day of the Capitol riot and has questioned the 2020 election results. 

The construction company executive made headlines earlier this month when he said he wouldn’t endorse former President Trump.

“As far as Trump’s concerned, I hope he doesn’t run,” O’Dea said during a radio interview.  “I don’t want to see him as president.”

The poll was conducted between Aug. 22 and Aug. 25 with 600 likely registered voters polled. The margin of error is plus or minus 4.1 percentage points. 

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A funny thing happened on the way to the midterms

Remember how promising things looked for Republicans when summer was arriving? Remember how confident they were about the red wave that was supposed to wipe out Democrats in this fall’s midterms? They even threw in the word “tsunami” to make sure everyone knew what level of catastrophe was awaiting those woke lefties. Well, summer is now on the way out and a new reality is on the way in. Republicans aren’t feeling all that spunky anymore.   

Even a column in the conservative Washington Examiner is asking, “Is the red wave already crashing?” Under that headline we get a political reality check: “The mood has shifted among Republicans over the past several weeks, from a sense of unbridled optimism to one of sober reflection about their chances for victory.” 

So, if we’re to believe what passes for the prevailing wisdom, Democratic prospects for November have been miraculously resurrected. And, yes, it’s true that President Biden’s poll numbers have gone up recently — from abysmal to merely lousy.     

And so, to what should we attribute this revival of Democratic fortunes (if that’s what it really is)? Well, there’s the Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade in June, which we’re led to believe has fired up the enthusiasm of a lot of women voters.

When summer began, gasoline prices were heading north and Republicans were falling over each other trying to get in front of a TV camera to let everyone know it was all the fault of anti-fossil fuel Democrats. Now gasoline prices at the pump, while still historically high, are coming down — good news for the American consumer, but not so good for Republican politicians. 

And there have been some legislative victories for the Democrats — laws that were designed to reduce gun violence and supposedly deal with both climate change and inflation at the same time. Going into the summer, Democratic voters were — let’s call it — underwhelmed. Now, who knows, they actually may be energized. The enthusiasm gap that was a chasm a few months ago may be shrinking as we approach fall.

And then, of course, there’s the gift that keeps on giving for Democrats: Donald Trump. He endorsed a slew of rookie (and some would say, less than scintillating) GOP Senate candidates in key battleground states who aren’t doing all that well at the moment. According to polls, they’re trailing in Pennsylvania and Arizona, and barely ahead in Georgia and Ohio, a state that has gone reliably red in recent years.

So now, with the midterms just two months away, you could make a case that it’s not looking especially good for Republicans to take over the Senate — and even the apparent rock-solid lead the GOP had in House races at the beginning of summer isn’t looking so rock-solid now that summer is waning.

For all this, the Democrats should send Donald Trump flowers and a gift basket filled with all sorts of goodies. If there ever has been another defeated U.S. president who has put his party’s electoral chances in such a precarious state, I don’t know who he is. Way to go, Mr. Former President.

But it’s only September and Republicans do have a few things working in their favor. We may already be in a recession, crime is still a big issue, and so is the non-stop influx of illegal immigrants at our southern border.

And now we have Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan, which may not even be legal. I can’t see how that’s going to play well with folks who scrimped and saved and paid off their student loans — or anyone who didn’t go to college and is wondering why he’s subsiding people who did.

In politics, two months is an eternity, and so, a lot can happen between now and November — and probably will. The raid at Trump’s resort in Florida is still big news and the House committee looking into his alleged role in the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the Capitol will resume hearings this month — just in time to influence how swing voters feel about our former president and Republicans in general.  

And right on cue, just a few days ago, Trump took to social media to declare “the 2020 Election irreparably compromised.” He demanded that we “have a new Election, immediately!”

As I say, he’s the gift to Democrats that keeps on giving, which is why they want the midterm elections to be not about inflation or crime or illegal immigration but about Donald Trump. And knowing how much Trump craves being the center of attention, it’s not crazy to think he just might want the same thing.

Democrats can only hope. Republicans can only worry.

Bernard Goldberg is an Emmy and an Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University award-winning writer and journalist. He was a correspondent with HBO’s “Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel” for 22 years and previously worked as a reporter for CBS News and as an analyst for Fox News. He is the author of five books and publishes exclusive weekly columns, audio commentaries and Q&As on his Substack page. Follow him on Twitter @BernardGoldberg.

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Rick Scott: 'If you want to trash-talk our candidates to help the Democrats, pipe down'

Sen. Rick Scott (R-Florida) is criticizing members of his own party who have suggested certain candidates the National Republican Senatorial Committee has backed might not fair well in this fall’s midterm elections.

“Unfortunately, many of the very people responsible for losing the Senate last cycle are now trying to stop us from winning the majority this time by trash-talking our Republican candidates,” Scott wrote in an Op-Ed published in the conservative Washington Examiner this week.

“It’s an amazing act of cowardice, and ultimately, it’s treasonous to the conservative cause. Giving anonymous quotes to help the Washington Post or the New York Times write stories trashing Republicans is the same as working with the Democratic National Committee.”

The chair of the NRSC did not call out any elected officials or Republican pundits by name, but said “much of Washington’s chattering class disrespects and secretly (or not so secretly) loathes Republican voters.”

Scott’s comments appear to be the latest in a simmering feud between he and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) who last month turned heads in Republican circles when he suggested the House is more likely to flip into GOP control than the Senate.

“I think there’s probably a greater likelihood the House flips than the Senate. Senate races are just different — they’re statewide, candidate quality has a lot to do with the outcome,” McConnell said.

Those comments earned a sharp rebuke from former president Trump, who has spent much of his time post-White House campaigning and fundraising for Republicans loyal to him, including a number of GOP candidates in tight swing-state Senate races.

“Let me be clear — we will overcome the Washington naysayers and their anonymous quotes, we will beat the Democrats, and we will take control of the Senate this fall. Write it down,” Scott said Thursday.

“And when we do, we will be in a position to stop this confused and ridiculous president from further damaging our great country and present a positive agenda that will be good for all of America. As a side benefit, we will be able to ignore the fools who have been trash-talking Republican candidates and Republican voters.”

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