WATCH: Honoring Keene, eyeing Talarico and fixing Maryland schools

OPINION:

I’m Anath Hartmann, deputy commentary editor for The Washington Times. Here’s a look at some of the op-eds we’re running this week.

Last weekend, former Washington Times Opinion Editor David Keene passed away at the age of 80. Political strategist and Keene mentee Christian Josi writes a touching tribute to the man he says, “really made me.”

When working for Keene several decades ago, Josi was tasked with running the American Conservative Union and then-fledgling Conservative Political Action Conference. Together, they “raised attendance from 1,500 to 11,000 in three years.” President Trump, Josi writes, should posthumously honor Keene for his work.

Also this week, Everett Piper talks Talarico, that’s James Talarico, who earlier this month defeated Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett in the Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate seat in Texas, and in recent polling is pulling ahead of Republican challengers John Cornyn and Ken Paxton. 

But beware, because the 36-year-old is Obama 2.0, Piper says. In addition to age, family background, and communication style, there’s another striking similarity between Mr. Talarico and his Manchurian precursor, Piper writes. James Talarico, while claiming to be a biblical Christian, really is not.

Finally, I write a piece on the increasing cost and simultaneous decreasing quality of public education in the D.C. area, specifically in Maryland, a state with one of the highest effective tax burdens in the country. 

Funding for Maryland public schools has risen 16% in the past three years, while the state’s dropout rate has gone up and its four-year high school graduation rate has fallen. Meanwhile, violent incidents seem to be on the rise in public schools in Maryland’s vaunted and pricey Montgomery County. 

I write that to keep its taxpayers, the DMV should consider cutting its middle and upper middle class residents who choose to send their children to private school, but must sacrifice financially to do so, a tax break.

To read these stories and other hard-hitting commentary, visit WashingtonTimes.com/opinion.