A new study of teenage unemployment, with an eye on public policy such as the minimum wage, suggests that we might be failing young adults.
Rhode Island taxpayers have been fleeing the state since 2003, bringing their money and productivity with them; the trend can definitely be reversed, but it’s a choice that residents will have to make.
Rhode Island’s regular public school districts are losing enrollment as a percentage of population under 18. The Current explores how each city and town is faring.
With Education Commissioner Deborah Gist recommending that the charter expire for one of Rhode Island’s charter school specifically on the grounds of its math scores, the question arises whether private-sector methods and non-union teachers might underperform their public-school peers. Comparing several charter high schools in RI shows that the lesson may be the opposite.
A Gallup poll finding American confidence in public schools at an all-time low also points to a disconnect between Americans’ opinions of various institutions and the priorities of government.
Although enrollment is down in almost every Rhode Island city and town, expenditures have continued to grow at several times the rate of inflation.
NEA Executive Director Robert Walsh may disagree with findings of deteriorating opinions of teachers’ unions, but technology and events of recent years suggest reevaluation may be in order.
Teacher unionization may work in smaller, less-diverse systems, but that’s proof that those systems are different, not that the United States should match them.
Continuing talk of the “skills gap” in RI’s labor force (with the call for more resources) further defines the extent to which advocates are on the wrong path entirely.
Justin liveblogs from a Tiverton School Committee that promises controversy over tactics used while advocating for particular budgets.
A jumble of news and commentary headlines leads Justin to wonder where the cause and effect lie in entitlement and nanny-statism.
The intricate machinations suggested by Gary Sasse in the “tax-the-rich” debate raise the question of whether RI can afford the risk (or the wait) involved with technocratic designs.
Is it the bull or the bear for Rhode Island? Justin suggests that if Rhode Island is to cease to be a drag on its region, the model has to be quite different.
A consulting group under contract with two of RI’s most-struggling cities is sufficiently confident in its turnaround estimates to proclaim a specific dollar amount; Justin suggests they just go ahead and find the money.
Justin writes live and extemporaneously from the Senate Finance Committee hearing on Gov. Chafee’s municipal relief package of legislation.
A pair of articles point to the use of statistics in public policy debates, and Justin encourages everybody not to lose sight of the points being made.
Objections that low state contributions to public institutions of higher education should mean low authority over their operational activities raise the question of what the relationship between the schools and the state actually is.
Three incidents of public-school censorship lead Justin to conclude that “offense” is trumping a heritage that fostered social health and progress.
Governor Chafee’s legislative package for municipal relief includes a bill, S2823, that would expand and deepen the Dept. of Education’s authority over school budgets, including general oversight of municipal budgets, as well.
Democrats in Congress are looking to slow the expanding cost of financing college while people are beginning to notice the questionable priorities of the institutions that ultimately collect their money. Justin suggests that it would be better to rethink the entire system.
Observing some points in the national education debate, Justin suggests a shift in how we align funding with measures of success.
Justin sees a trend for private-school loans, even at the kindergarten level, as an indication of a staggering civic society, not a faddish excess of the 1%.
A Superior Court Ruling in Town of North Kingstown v. North Kingstown School Committee requires the school department to live within its budget but solidifies legal precedent requiring town governments to cover losses in state aid unless the budget makes estimates “expressly contingent” on actual revenue.
Noting a chronological coincidence of Saul Alinsky’s influence on teachers’ unions and leveling results (with higher expenditures), Justin suggests that reevaluation might be wise.
Reps. Williams and Guthrie opened yesterday’s House Labor hearing with an objection to a legislative alert from the Ocean State Tea Party in Action that inferred legislators’ opinions on teacher-related issues. Reviewing the transcripts allows readers to decide who is misrepresenting what.
Step increases for teachers are, indeed, mandated by law, but that does not change them into something other than raises or present the public with a single path forward.
Proposals from North Kingstown school superintendent Philip Auger could change a balance of power that some already see as out of whack.
Audio of Justin’s appearance on the Dan Yorke Show relates to the larger questions of structure and strategy that Rhode Island has to answer.
Far from receiving “no raises,” the increases in pay of the teaching staff in Woonsocket amount to $4.7 million over the period covered by their current contract.
The Current interviews Roman Catholic Bishop of Providence Thomas Tobin, part 2 of 3: no political box; healthcare and political lessons; school choice