Back in the self-published blogosphere
I started blogging in May, 2003, with a blogspot-hosted blog before eventually moving it Policyguy.com. Blogger and FTP did the trick. Then Google bought Blogger, which was fine–until Google announced that they were discontinuing support for the method I was using to publish. Six-plus years of blogging, kerput. So it became time to move to the PolicyGuy blog, 2.0, driven by WordPress.
District consolidation saves money–but only to a point
Would Minnesota benefit from having fewer school districts? I don’t know, but based on the evidence I’ve read, I’m skeptical. Here’s what I know after some research into the question: Matthew Andrews, William Duncombe, and John Yinger (all of Syracuse University) say there may be some efficiencies to be gained from moving from consolidating very small districts–specifically, those with 500 or fewer students to those with 2,000 […]
Colorado cripples teacher tenure
Give President Obama credit for one thing: We may look back years from now and credit his Race to the Top fund for launching the beginning of the end of teacher tenure. Colorado is on the verge of enacting a law that would dramatically weaken tenure. Money available from the fund was enticing enough to get the school board association, one of the teacher unions, […]
Online learning in Minnesota thrives
If you’re looking for a bright spot in K-12 education, check out an article in the current edition of the Minnesota Sun on the Minnesota Connections Academy, one of two dozen or so online options available to Minnesota students. The article mentions several families who benefit from online programs: A girl in Eagan who was failing classes, suffers from some learning deficiencies, is now on the honor […]
Banning beds and beyond
Unless you’re the parent of a small child, you may have missed this: The U.S. government has outlawed the sale of drop-down cribs. The cribs, which have hardware that let you to temporarily drop one side down to reach your child, are functional. They’re cribs, after all. They’re also useful for saving the backs of parents. The rationale taken by the Consumer Product Safety Commission is […]
A smoking ban done the way it should be done
The image and place of smoking in American life has come a long way, baby. The other day I saw what would now be called a retro style advertisement featuring golf legend Arnold Palmer hawking cigarettes. And of course you can’t watch an old movie without seeing at least one character light up. Smoking has been on the decline for a long time, and that’s […]
City-owned businesses unfair to residents
City goverments too often compete against their residents by operating government-owned enterprises. When they do, they run into a problem that could easily have been avoided. Today, the Apple Valley, Rosemount & Eagan Sun-Current published a letter I wrote in response to an earlier article. No place to compete According to an article in the September 17 edition (“Eagan council looks at treatment of competing […]