Thumbs up, thumbs down

Thumbs down to the New Canaan Board of Education for removing the words “diversity, equity and inclusion”

from its goals for the new school year. It would be noteworthy for any school district to distance itself from DEI, but New Canaan happens to be a town that defines a lack of diversity. According to Census figures, the Black population in the town is less than 1 percent, while the white population is about 92 percent. The goal was rephrased after Republican members of the school board deemed them to be political. Three GOP members expressed particular opposition to the word “inclusive.” This won’t merely reflect poorly on one Fairfield County town, but on all of Connecticut.

Thumbs up to a plan that will pave the way for more electric vehicles on the roads and less pollution for everyone. The decision comes from California, which recently issued a regulation to phase out the sale of gasoline-powered cars by 2035, but because the largest state plays such an outsize role in the federal scene, the decision will have wide-ranging impacts. Connecticut could choose to take a similar step, but either way, there will be fewer gas-powered vehicles on the roads in coming years, which will benefit everyone’s health in addition to reducing the emissions that cause climate change. It will take some work to get production up to speed, but this is a change that will let everyone breathe easier.

Thumbs down to a scam targeting the Connecticut Department of Labor. Like all scams, this one should also put

state residents on alert, as the perpetrators are seeking to swipe Social Security numbers to try to collect unemployment benefits. It’s not a minor attempt at fraud. A firm that vets claims on behalf of employers reported that half of those filed over the span of a few days in July were fraudulent, according to Connecticut Business and Industry Association. It’s yet another reminder to beware of texts seeking personal information.

Thumbs down to continued thefts of catalytic converters in Connecticut. The trend continues despite the passage of a new law, effective July 1, that aims to prohibit scrap dealers in Connecticut from receiving detached converters and requires detailed paperwork on all sales. Numbers are up across the state; in Darien, to name one town, police reported eight thefts in all of last year and 22 so far this year. The new law was well-intentioned, but it shows that despite calls for lawmakers to “take action” on specific crimes, there is often little that can be accomplished legislatively to affect such trends. The problems are often much bigger that what can be changed in Hartford.

Thumbs down to college tuition rates continuing to increase disproportionately, averaging about $35,000 per year

in Connecticut schools. As President Joe Biden seeks to deliver relief on college loans, it does nothing to stem the rising tide of costs. Perhaps the most troubling detail is cited by Finaid, a website dedicated to financial aid information. The site estimates that tuition rises at about twice the rate of inflation, resulting in college costs doubling every eight years. You don’t need to be a math major to see that such figures are not sustainable.