A NY Times Op-Ed by Nicholas Kristof advocates for increasing teacher compensation, in order to compete with other countries by attracting more talented people into the profession as other high performing countries such as Singapore … [Read more...]
Health care reform – what’s not to like?
I've been suprised by the lack of interest in health care reform this summer, with a real possibility for an initiative to break new ground. There just doesn't seem to be a groundswell of interest. To me, the prospect of ever … [Read more...]
GMAC
The news headline is "GMAC Holders Agree to Revised Swap Terms", and the subtext is that GMAC finance has applied to be accepted as a bank and thus become eligible for TARP funds, but was denied because their capital structure was … [Read more...]
An unspeasant change in the bailout formula.
The logic is that the bailouts to date have set up short sellers to know where to look for the next victim, sort of a domino theory of busted equity corporations. This probably has some merit. However, if the formula shifts so that … [Read more...]
Keating Five
John McCain's message of the day is regarding Barack Obama's "poor judgment" regarding his relationship with Freddie Mac's CEO. Back in the day, John McCain got off easy for his close relationship with Charles Keating, when he was only … [Read more...]
Who’s afraid of Brookline Ruth
To that end, Kaplan said she was most excited by her designated role as the board?s first Parent Teacher Association representative. The opportunity to be ?a voice for parents,? Kaplan believes, will go a long way to offset the notion that … [Read more...]
251 school districts aid increased.
But the legislature could have kept aid to every district at the higher of the governor's numbers or last year's downpayment formula's numbers, at a cost of just $15 million above the governor's budget. This means the cuts for 101 … [Read more...]
“Baseline” Chapter 70 funding increase.
Digging a step deeper, I find that the 43% of municipalities receiving an increase in the baseline spreadsheet account for 55% of the foundation budget. So, another guess at baseline that covers every school district, rather than 43% … [Read more...]
Towns receiving less Chapter 70 aid than in FY 2003
ARLINGTON 189,351BARNSTABLE 552,173BELMONT 5,971BOYLSTON 20,044BROOKLINE 62,443BURLINGTON 153,157CAMBRIDGE 414,483CANTON 13,641CARLISLE 695CHELMSFORD 523,363CHESTERFIELD … [Read more...]