Articles By: Online Editor

Unfunded pension liabilities drastically underestimated

(NCAP) Recent reports state that due to over-estimated discount rates, the public employee retirement pension liabilities of many state and local governments have been under-estimated by 75-86 percent. Read the article <here>
July 30th, 2010 | Fiscal Policy, Policy | Read More

Financial Regulation Bill Exempts SEC From FOIA Requests

Under a little-noticed provision of the recently passed financial-reform legislation, the Securities and Exchange Commission no longer has to comply with virtually all requests for information releases from the public, including those filed under the Freedom of Information Act. The law, signed last week...
July 29th, 2010 | Accountability, Recent News, Transparency | Read More

D.C. teachers pressed to perform

(NCAP) With a new union contract under her arm Chancellor Michelle Rhee, of the the District of Columbia, has fired 241 under-performing teachers. Recent teachers’ union negotiations have given teachers their own report cards, with large raises and the boot on either ends of the scale.  Read...
July 28th, 2010 | Accountability, Education | Read More

New Orleans Schools After Katrina

July 28th, 2010 | Education | Read More

The politics and policy of online education

(Reason Magazine) From the perspective of education reformers and policy wonks, beaten down by a decades-long war of attrition, online education has swept onto the scene with astonishing speed. Paul Peterson, the Harvard education scholar, calls the rate at which the online education sector has grown...
July 27th, 2010 | Education | Read More

Audio: The Ideology Behind Federal Health Care Reform

These two audio excerpts are from a presentation on the health care reform law by Burke Balch, director of the Powell Center for Medical Ethics. To say that the federal health care law is “sweeping” is an understatement, given that the American public has seen nothing like this before in...
July 26th, 2010 | Health Care, Recent News | Read More

It begins: Some insurers won’t issue new policies for children

Some major health insurance companies will no longer issue certain types of policies for children, an unintended consequence of President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul law. Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty said several big insurers in his state will stop issuing new policies that...
July 26th, 2010 | Recent News | Read More

Budget manipulation and its effects on taxpayers

The Mercatus Center at George Mason University takes a serious look at state budgets and the inflation of them caused by gimmickry, fiscal evasion, and fiscal illusion; all common practices which pass extra costs off to taxpayers. Read the full report <here>
July 22nd, 2010 | Transparency | Read More

Responsible ways to stop digging the debt hole

(The Heritage Foundation) When Gallup recently polled Americans on the biggest threat to America’s future well-being, the escalating national debt tied terrorism at the top. They’re right to worry. Washington’s debt is on a completely unsustainable path. The Congressional Budget Office...
July 20th, 2010 | Economics, Policy | Read More

Are Michigan Public Schools Underfunded?

(The Mackinac Center for Public Policy) A common claim by Michigan’s public school establishment and its political allies is that, despite spending $20 billion annually on education, our schools are “underfunded.” Comparisons to other states and to historical funding levels show that the claim...
July 20th, 2010 | Education | Read More

Education Vouchers Raise Property Values in Texas District

(National Center for Policy Analysis) The sudden increase in property values and demand for housing in Edgewood indicates the desire of parents to move into the district’s boundaries in order to qualify their child for the voucher program. While the exact number is unknown, many voucher users attended...
July 18th, 2010 | Education | Read More

State rolls millions in to General Fund

(AlaskaWatchdog.org) After several years of internal discussion and organization, the Legislative Finance Division has completed a project that adds more than $750 million into the General Fund in an effort to simplify State finances. Legislative Fiscal Analyst David Teal said the Budget Clarification...
July 16th, 2010 | Fiscal Policy, Policy, Transparency | Read More

State tests new parole system

(AlaskaWatchdog.org) The Department of Corrections is partnering with the Anchorage Police Department to test drive a new program intended to deal with probation violations more quickly and effectively. Commissioner Joe Schmidt said the program, Probation Accountability with Certain Enforcement, would...
July 15th, 2010 | Recent News | Read More

Troopers call for evidence database upgrade

(AlaskaWatchdog.org) After struggling with more than a few gaps in their evidence database, the Alaska Wildlife Troopers are on the brink of updating a system that has been in place since 1984. Director Col. Gary Folger said the current system does not sort or categorize items in any kind of searchable...
July 13th, 2010 | Accountability | Read More

Charter schools face uncertain future

(AlaskaWatchdog.org) Facing rising costs and limited room for expansion, Alaska charter schools may soon be a thing of the past. Mary Meade-Olberding, charter school supervisor for the Anchorage School District, said charter schools face a number of district-imposed restrictions that make expansion extremely...
July 13th, 2010 | Education | Read More

Group claims exemption from open records law

(The State) A state education association has asked a federal court to decide whether South Carolina freedom of information laws violate the group’s First Amendment rights. The case centers on whether the South Carolina Association of School Administrators must comply with an open records request....
July 12th, 2010 | Education, Transparency | Read More
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