A+ Denver Report Gives More Evidence that Charter Franchises Are Getting It Done
Just a quick post today. More good news emerging from DPS today. Ed News Colorado highlights an intriguing new report from A+ Denver that breaks down some key performance data from the state’s second-largest school district:
This report shows that Charter Management Organizations (charter organizations that manage more than one school, currently DSST, West Denver Prep […]
DeGrow on One News Now: Lobato Decision Misses Real Problems with “Broken” Education Funding
Senior policy analyst Ben DeGrow’s insights on a recent major Colorado school finance court ruling are featured this week on American Family Radio News (One News Now). In an interview with reporter Bob Kellogg, DeGrow highlighted some key basic problems with the Denver District Court ruling in Lobato v State: “First of all, this is […]
Rate increase request exposes hypocrisy of tiered rates
Xcel Energy’s recently denied $142 million interim rate increase request exposes the hypocrisy of tiered rates, which were implemented out of fear that high demand would require the building of additional power plants. Yet, more than 37 percent or $52.6 million of Xcel’s request was to cover the cost of excess capacity. In other words, […]
Cozy relationship between Xcel and PUC?
In a surprising move to anyone who has watched the cozy relationship develop between Xcel Energy and the Public Utilities Commission, yesterday the PUC denied Xcel’s $142 million interim rate request. Colorado News Agency columnist Peter Blake (then with Face the State) initially exposed how the PUC, Xcel, and Governor Ritter’s administration colluded on the […]
2010 Transit Data Update
The Antiplanner has reposted the consolidated spreadsheet for the 2010 National Transit Database. The revision of a file I posted last month fixes an error in the calculation of the total number of seats and standing room provided by each transit agency and mode of travel. More important, the revised file includes some calculations, including […]
Bring Out Your Dustbins for the Overhyped 65% Solution (at Least in Georgia)
Education policy gurus, brandish your dustbins. Last week Mike Antonucci brought attention to a report from Georgia that the state is looking to abandon the once vaunted “65% Solution,” the idea (popular circa 2005-06) that schools should be required to spend 65 percent of funds “in the classroom.” Antonucci writes:
This made for useful sound bites, […]
More problems Abound
Lux Research, a self-described “independent research and advisory firm providing strategic advice and ongoing intelligence on emerging technologies” including solar, predicted that 2012 will not be kind to Colorado’s Abound Solar. Lux’s Matt Feinstein wrote in PV Magazine: Abound. One of the more prominent CdTe start-ups, Abound has been plagued recently by several departures from its […]
Are Corporations People?
One of the Occupy Wall Street slogans was “corporations are not people.” But what does this mean? People have a variety of rights, including the right to sign (and be obligated by) contracts, the right to free speech, and the right to vote. When the Supreme Court decided that corporations are persons (as it did […]
Bob Schaffer Looks Back at 10 Years of NCLB Federal Education Failure
Yesterday I peered ahead at the upcoming legislative session. Today I take a look back at a landmark piece of national education legislation. Yes, I sometimes get confused like that. Anyway, it was 10 years ago this week that then-President George W. Bush signed into law the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). A whole […]
Rare economic honesty regarding Canada’s green machine
Sound familiar? fuel switching promise of green jobs that never materialize no cost-benefit analysis or business plans refusing to allow “cost-cutting alternatives that would have saved ratepayers at least $8-billion.” allowing the “green-industry lobby to dictate the structure of the province’s electricity sector in its favour.” “high level of fiscal negligence and abuse of process” […]
Rare economic honesty regarding Canada's green machine
Sound familiar? fuel switching promise of green jobs that never materialize no cost-benefit analysis or business plans refusing to allow “cost-cutting alternatives that would have saved ratepayers at least $8-billion.” allowing the “green-industry lobby to dictate the structure of the province’s electricity sector in its favour.” “high level of fiscal negligence and abuse of process” […]
Big Brother Is Watching Your Doctor
Government CER (Comparative Effectiveness Research) sounds like a progressive solution, but it is actually a frightening move that puts government detailers between patients and doctors and favors one-size-fits-none cost cutting over continued medical progres Continue reading
