September, 2011 - Independence Institute

Be Careful What You Wish For 0
- September 16, 2011
A House Natural Resources Committee bill would turn national forests into fiduciary trusts mandated to produce both a minimum amount of timber and a minimum amount of revenues for the counties in which the forests are located. Thus, the Antiplanner’s original proposal to turn federal lands into fiduciary trusts become increasingly warped. A fiduciary trust […]
READ MORE
New Research Adds to “Master’s Bump” Blowout; Time for More Performance Pay 0
- September 15, 2011
How about a little “dog bites man” story for education policy geeks? A new study by Marcus Winters makes it 34-0 for high-quality research showing no relationship between teacher master’s degrees and student achievement. If this were a football game, it would be a blowout. So why does Colorado still spend nearly 2 percent of its total K-12 operating dollars each year on ineffective “master’s bumps”?
READ MORE
The Fascinating Story of How the States Used the Constitution’s Amendment Procedure to Adopt Reform, 1789-1913 0
- September 15, 2011
Common sense tells us that an out-of-control Congress is not going to rein in its own power. The American Founders predicted this might become the case, so they provided a way by which the state legislatures could propose and ratify corrective constitutional amendments without Congress being able to stop them. This is the “state-application-and-convention” procedure
READ MORE

Ten Best Transit Cities? Not!0
- September 15, 2011
Someone asked the Antiplanner to comment on this list of the supposed ten best transit cities in the nation. The list includes, in order, New York, Denver, Los Angeles, Boston, Seattle, Portland, Washington, San Jose, Honolulu, and Salt Lake City. This is supposed to be for students, but it must really be for students who […]
READ MORE
Productive K-12 Spending Ideas in Award-Winning Book and Citizens’ Budget 0
- September 14, 2011
Last December I suggested to you four education reform books as stocking stuffer ideas. One of the books on the list was an important volume edited by Frederick Hess and Eric Osberg, titled Stretching the School Dollar: How Schools and Districts Can Save Money While Serving Students Best.
In September my Education Policy Center friends […]
READ MORE
Michigan Considers Teacher-Empowering Payroll Reform, Like Colorado Did in 2008 0
- September 14, 2011
Business Week features a brief story about a piece of legislation under consideration in the Michigan legislature:

A proposal that would prohibit public schools from automatically deducting union dues from employee paychecks is advancing in the Michigan Legislature.
The Republican-led House Oversight, Reform and Ethics Committee approved the measure Tuesday with a party line 4-2 vote. The […]
READ MORE

Contribute