Incentive Pay Shows Promise for Boosting Test Scores
For release noon May 26 and thereafter (675 words) State School Superintendent Tony Bennett has the right idea with his plan to give incentive grants to schools that raise graduation rates. The program, which Bennett is funding with cost savings achieved by his office, will award up to $20,000 to educators at high schools Read the full article…
Economics 101: Now Is a Good Time to Bone Up
For release May 20 and thereafter (791 words)In the past few months, as the U.S. stock market declined and unemployment increased, several former students indicated to me that they would have preferred to be studying macroeconomics this semester. Evidently, they did not learn as much as they would have liked in previous classes. As an Read the full article…
After Property Tax Reform, Chaos Still Rules for Many
For release May 13 and thereafter (684 words)If we can explore space, bank on-line and use lasers to remove gallbladders, you’d sure think we could get property tax bills out on time. Yet once again, Marion County residents — and folks in many other Indiana counties — are waiting for tax bills. This fiscal year, Read the full article…
Scorn for Big-Box Stores Makes the Needy Needier
For release noon May 5 and thereafter (695 words)Many churches and public-service groups organize food, coat and toy drives. The objective is to provide these goods to needy families especially during holidays. I contribute to my own church’s food and coat drives, so nothing that follows should be taken as putting down such efforts. Indeed, Read the full article…
Congressmen or Pirates? Choose Carefully, Me Hearties
For immediate release (683 words)The brazen willingness of Washington to ratchet up national indebtedness to finance federal intervention in the economy has prompted some to liken its behavior to the plundering ways of pirates. Recently, knowing that my casual interest in pirates had ramped up to real research while writing a libertarian-themed pirate novel, a Read the full article…
Budget Wrangling in the Session’s Last Hours
For release April 29 and thereafter (645 words)Editors: Please note this column is tied to final-day budget activity and cannot hold for next weekend. Anticipating best, not-too-bad and worst-case scenarios, a charitable organization to which I belong adopted three different budget plans to get it through the recession. Plan A was the first to take Read the full article…
