Justin Katz
As you’ve probably heard, the results for the 2008 New England Common Assessment Program (NECAP) tests are available, and Rhode Island overall did see improvements. For purposes of comparison, I’ve averaged the proficiency scores for each of the three tests and ranked the schools: RI Grades 3-8 NECAP Score Ranking, 2008 Average ProficiencyScore Increase from2008…
The way in which individuals construct an understanding of their societies is what makes it fatal to paint them all with the bold colors of their affiliations: People will be particularly amenable to certain explanations for events around them — whether they’ve been pushed toward prescribed priorities via social clichés, have an economic interest in…
Bruce Bartlett’s summary of the past 80 years of stimulus debate is well worth a few minutes of your time. He concludes thus: The problem is that fiscal stimulus needs to be injected right now to counter the liquidity trap. If that were the case, I think we might well get a very high multiplier…
It’s not unreasonable to think such things possible in the United States as we tumble down the “stimulus” hill: The French state will help provide free newspaper subscriptions to teenagers for their 18th birthdays, President Nicolas Sarkozy announced Friday. But the bigger gift is for France’s ailing print media. Sarkozy also announced a ninefold rise…
Damien Baldino beat me to the punch, but the same thing jumped out at us both from this article about Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick’s consideration of toll booths at the border: Robert Cusack, a member of the panel and an East Providence councilman, said that the Massachusetts governor has the right idea. As much as…
Or maybe it was a bar stool; I couldn’t see. Most of the talking at Thursday night’s Young Republicans event was of a mingling sort among the 60–80 people in the room, so I didn’t record it, but Travis Rowley and RIGOP Chairman Gio Cicione did offer more public comments: Travis: Stream, Download Gio: Stream,…
It was a sad sort of laugh, but I couldn’t stop the guffaw’s escaping into the tire shop’s waiting area when I read the following from AP writer Charles Babington (emphasis added): At one point in Friday’s meeting in the White House’s Roosevelt Room, GOP Sen. Jon Kyl of Arizona objected to a proposal to…
Apparently, I missed quite a show at the latest Budget Committee meeting in Tiverton, and it merits watching across the state. While East Providence is a battle occurring during free fall, Tiverton is an example of a municipality that can still choose to stop its train from speeding toward a collapsed bridge. The town administrator…
I sure hope Sheldon Whitehouse writes his own speeches, because I’d hate to think that somebody (let alone taxpayers) paid for this: But for the duration of our Republic, even though our Republic is admittedly imperfect, that light has shone more brightly and more steadily here in this Republic than in any place on earth:…
