This Recession’s Innocents
For release May 4 and thereafter (511 words) It will take years for scholars to fully understand the extent and severity of the 2007-2009 recession. For certain, though, children being raised by parents unable to find work earning income sufficient for a family’s needs will carry long-term psychological effects. Until now, such household catastrophes were Read the full article…
Now Indiana Schools Can Change
Senate Bill 575, the first of Gov. Mitch Daniels’ education-reform measures to get his signature, may end up being the most transformative. It’s all in the hands of Indiana schools. The law limits collective bargaining with teacher unions to salaries and wage-related items. This will empower 310 schools — their boards, superintendents and principals — Read the full article…
TIFs: Mr. Daniels, Meet Mr. Brown
Well, he’s back. Jerry Brown, after a stint as mayor of the City of Oakland, is once again governor of California. This time, however, the ultra-liberal governor has something to teach Indiana. For this is a different Jerry Brown; now he’s attempting to cut $1.7 billion from the state budget to correct a deficit that Read the full article…
Vouchers not so Free-Market
“The law of unintended consequences, often cited but rarely defined, is that actions of people and especially of government always have effects that are unanticipated or unintended.” — the Concise Encyclopedia of Economics. Before lawmakers put finishing touches on any private-school voucher bill, they should consider the law of unintended consequences. Opponents of vouchers worry Read the full article…
Does the ISTA Have a Case?
There is an intense argument under way in the letters columns of Indiana newspapers between the head of the Indiana State Teachers Association (ISTA) and a GOP state senator. One side thinks the other side’s estimate of the cost of teacher unionization is too high. The two sides, though, are not equally credible. The position Read the full article…
The GOP’s Redistricting Choice
Considering the Democratic histrionics that have stymied the 2011 legislature, you could hardly blame Republicans if they used the reapportionment process to stick it to the opposition. For the public’s sake, let’s hope they don’t. There are only two things that lawmakers absolutely must accomplish before adjourning for the year. One is to pass a Read the full article…
