All the talk this past week has centered on Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer, who handed down an edict declaring there shall be no more working from home for her company's employees (something that's easier done for Mayer, who had a nursery built next to her office). Many have seen this as a step back for both the Internet company and workers' rights (particularly the rights of working mothers). On the other hand, some bosses of the world have said such a move is necessary to boost productivity (for the record, if you ever find yourself on Donald Trump's side of an argument, you may want to rethink your position. As a dad who occasionally works from home, the absurdity of a blanket statement that all workers are more productive in the office is clear to me. There are far fewer distractions and interruptions in my home office than there are in my office office (no disrespect meant to my lovely colleagues, of course), and as many have said before, my workday at home begins earlier and often ends later.

But I don't really think that's what matters here. The stigma on employees who work from home, either part-time or full-time, has been around for as long as these benefits have been on offer. And while Mayer and the Donald may want to deepen that stigma by painting telecommuters as less than their co-workers, the backlash has actually been able to open up that conversation about the importance of balancing one's home life and work life, and how that can be beneficial for both the company and the employee. That conversation alone, and the fact that Mayer et al seem to be going against the consensus here, is hugely valuable. It is a shame that Yahoo! employees had to take the fall, but here's hoping they take Mayer seriously in her desire to have work and life be completely separate, and turn off their photnes and computers when at home.

Though computers dominate almost every aspect of our lives, the cryptic ones and zeros of programming are still not often taught to school kids. To combat that, tech titans like facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and Microsoft's Bill Gates—among others—are throwing their weight behind Code.org: a non-profit with a mission to make programming not only more available to students everywhere, but also less intimidating. 

Code.org’s initiative attempts to alter society’s perspective on the complexity of coding, presenting it as a skill akin to learning how to play an instrument or playing a sport. The creators of Twitter, Dropbox and Paypal serve on the advisory board. According to the website, Code.org’s founders’ vision is that “every student in every school has the opportunity to learn how to code.” The site itself includes links for teachers and students alike to petition to bring computer technology courses to their schools, and for software engineers to volunteer their services. The organization is working towards integrating coding classes into high school curriculums across the nation, and stressing the importance of coding knowledge in the future job market.

With 129 Chicago neighborhood schools still wondering whether their doors will be shut, the Chicago Public Schools board has announced it will close two underperforming charter schools, and put six more on a warning list. Many critics of the schools' utilization program have held the district's feet to the fire over what they see as a loose leash on charter schools. According to the Tribune story:

"Schools CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett said the newly instituted 'warning list,' which includes six charter schools, will allow officials 'an opportunity to look at charter school performance on an annual basis and to act immediately if a charter school is not performing, rather than to wait for a renewal cycle.'  If the schools fail to improve by September, when new test data are received, an improvement plan will be put in place. If the school fails to raise grades by the following spring, a process will begin to close the school, officials said."

In the past, when charter schools proved to be underperforming, the district simply allowed the school to bring in new staff and revamp the school. Its' certainly heartening to see charter schools held accountable in the same way public schools are, and no doubt many will be happy to hear the district finally imposing sterner measures.

With charter schools, the threat makes more common sense, particularly for the for-profit charters: No schools, no profit. But the trend in CPS's thinking—that closing schools is the most efficient way of improving education in the city—is disturbing, and should at least give pause to some who are happy seeing charter schools receive similar treatment. At some point, don't we have to address the fact that CPS's default means of improving schools has become to close them?

Know a dad who might need a tip or two about what sort of gear might make his life a little easier? Check out this clip of our editor-in-chief, Amy Carr, chatting with Sylvia Perez and Linda Yu of ABC 7 Chicago. All of the items shown on the television box are also in our story about cool stuff for dads. And what's even better, you can win some of the gear by sending us a photo for our "hot dads/cute kids" photo contest.

And if you watch the clip above, you can marvel at how un-creepy I seem while maneuvering a baby doll in and out of a Baby Bjorn. On television. Enjoy!