Keep the schoolhouse doors open

Milfred and Hands urge school officials not to panic at the first outbreak of a COVID variant. Our political podcasters celebrate the return to five full days of classes a week in the Madison School District and elsewhere across most of Wisconsin this fall. Following a lost year of learning during the pandemic last year, schools should mask up -- as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends -- and require teachers to be vaccinated to help keep the schoolhouse doors open. After all, teachers are essential workers who are in close contact with the only population that isn't yet eligible for shots -- kids younger than 12. Though more contagious strains of COVID are concerning, none of Wisconsin's more than 7,600 deaths from COVID were younger than 10. And only three were younger than 20. So Madison shouldn't overreact -- something it's done in the past -- if cases rise in some school buildings. At the same time, rural schools with more conservative leaders shouldn't ignore responsible science-based precautions. "The areas that need the restrictions most aren't getting them, and vice versa," Milfred says. Hands predicts YouTube and Fortnite will be the biggest losers as school returns because kids will have to pay attention in class, rather than sitting on their phones at home.

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They're the "Click and Clack" of Wisconsin politics. Scott Milfred, editorial page editor for the Wisconsin State Journal, and Phil Hands, the newspaper's political cartoonist, analyze the most important issues and debates from the Badger State with political independence and a sense of humor. Instead of tedious talking points from the left and the right, "Center Stage" broadcasts from the sensible center with audio clips from the Wisconsin Capitol, from State Journal editorial board meetings, and from political events across the state.