Education entrepreneurship is having a moment. 

After decades of frustration with traditional schools, after a pandemic that magnified the inadequacies and inequities of public education, and now with the rapid expansion of school choice programs in multiple states, entrepreneurs are remaking public education with a dizzying array of innovative models. These are ever more customized to the students they serve, ever more responsive to families who want something different and, thanks to school choice, easier than ever to sustain and scale.

Universities have always been a home for the world’s great arguments. Professors and students are supposed to debate the issues of the moment, gaining understanding of the other side’s views, refining and strengthening their positions, and learning how to solve problems. Argument thrives in a culture of openness, and maintaining that culture ought to be paramount for universities, as well as any institution that wants to shape public policy or debate.

In a recent study led by the University of Nebraska, alarming findings highlight the imminent threat to food production posed by the depletion of groundwater, particularly in the High Plains Aquifer—the largest in the United States. The study reveals a direct correlation between aquifer depletion and diminishing crop yields, emphasizing the urgent need for policymakers, resource managers, and growers to reevaluate their approach to water usage.

I wonder if State Senator Loren Lippincott of Central City was ever taught the definition of irony.