Justin Katz
There’s an odd omission from Steve Peoples’s article about the new medicine copays for impoverished recipients of state aid. We get the policy’s numbers: McCaffrey is among 14,000 impoverished Rhode Islanders on fee-for-service Medicaid who will be asked to shoulder a portion of their prescription drugs — $1 for generics and $3 for brand-name drugs…
As pleasant of an evening as it is to be sitting in my car at the Tiverton High School writing blog posts, I have to say that I’m a little disappointed at the way the system apparently works. Having been informed that tonight’s negotiation-related school committee meeting, wherein the committee would bring the town council…
I’ll admit that I was suckered into believing that yet another opinion writer had come to a faulty conclusion about sex ed: A SHORT ARTICLE in the Aug. 14 New York Times reported that, according to a survey of more than 15,000 young Americans, abstinence-only programs do not work for HIV prevention. The analysis was…
Using his Rhode Island Law Journal blog for a much needed function, Jon Pincince digs into the judicial side of teacher strike law. You can go there for some relevant quotations from School Committee of the Town of Westerly v. Westerly Teachers Association (1973), but the part that requires further exploration is this: [This] does…
Something about the following quotation — offered in “State blamed for teacher strikes — from Bob Walsh gives me the impression that there’s a long-term plan behind the words: “We predicted this would happen,” said Robert A. Walsh Jr., executive director of the National Education Association of Rhode Island, which represents 28 teacher locals. “We…
Both intentionally and not, I’m on various email lists from conservative bloggers and activists from around the country, and their content is often too far toward meat-throwing for my tastes. I’ll admit, though, that I often chuckle at what the guys are up to and delete their messages. I’ve got to side with Dan Yorke…
Having just received the press release that the Tiverton School Committee sent around on Sunday, I’m surprised not to have heard the details of its side of the negotiation elsewhere: “Just as with the health care proposal, we have been working with NEA-Tiverton regarding salary issues,” stated deMedeiros. “However, it was our understanding that the…
All indications are that Tiverton’s teachers will be striking tomorrow. This bit from the Providence Journal adds a little bit of flesh (although not much) to the rumors floating among parents in town: The Tiverton School Committee and the union representing town teachers appear headed for a confrontation tomorrow, when the schools are scheduled to…
In an attempt to understand the “unusual” something (as Andrew put it) that led to simultaneous drops in Rhode Island’s poverty rate and median household income, I’ve spent some time sifting through the U.S. Census Bureau’s recently released data from its annual American Community Survey. The first resulting chart gives a pretty clear indication of…
I’d also like to thank Mr. Crowley — especially on Labor Day — for highlighting the tactical philosophy of one of his union heroes: Power is not only what you have, but what your enemy thinks you have Never go outside of the experience of your own people Whenever possible, go outside the experience of…
