Marc Comtois

No Child Left Behind – It’s Working

By Marc Comtois | November 23, 2004 | Comments Off on No Child Left Behind – It’s Working

Presiden’t Bush’s much vilified No Child Left Behind Act appears to be working, at least that’s the conclusion drawn from reading this story in today’s Providence Journal. More than half of Rhode Island’s public schools have jumped into the high-performing category, and school leaders across the state say that’s in no small part due to…

Stone’s Alexander May Teach A Lesson…

By Marc Comtois | November 20, 2004 |

…though it may be one different than intended. When I first heard about Alexander I was naturally interested as it was an historical epic and history is, after all, one of my main interests. (Granted, I know how Oliver Stone tends to treat historical fact, but I’m still interested in the film.) Now, the current…

So, Why DO “They” Hate Us?

By Marc Comtois | November 19, 2004 | Comments Off on So, Why DO “They” Hate Us?

I’ve always wanted to blog extensively on the various reasons as to why Europeans, and a lot of the rest of the world, seem to “hate” the United States. However, since so much has already been written, and much of it better than anything I could offer, I decided that it would be most beneficial…

Two TV Nations

By Marc Comtois | November 18, 2004 | Comments Off on Two TV Nations

National Review Online’s Cathy Sieppe has noted that One of the election lessons for Democrats is that while the Left doesn’t understand the Right, the Right can’t help but understand the Left, because the Left is in charge of pop culture. Urban blue staters can go their entire lives happily innocent of the world of…

Voter Motivation and Another Stab at a Big Idea

By Marc Comtois | November 17, 2004 | Comments Off on Voter Motivation and Another Stab at a Big Idea

I’d encourage anyone interested in the question as to “why we vote the way we do” to read this article by Patrick Cox about the seeming correlation between political ideology and demography. In it, he also tackles the apparent conundrum of those who most benefit from government spending (so-called Red States) voting against those who…

The 9 Most Catholic States Picked Kerry

By Marc Comtois | November 17, 2004 | Comments Off on The 9 Most Catholic States Picked Kerry

Just to add to the observations that have been touched on here and there at Anchor Rising, the 2005 Catholic Almanac has revealed that 9 of the 10 most Catholic states sent their Electoral Votes to John Kerry, with only Lousianna (#10 overall) in the Bush column. Rhode Island, at 63.5% of its population, is…

Report Card

By Marc Comtois | November 16, 2004 |

I attended a meeting last night at my local elementary school in which data was presented detailing where the school stood with regards to standardized testing for school accountability as mandated by the State and Federal governments. While I may find the specific numbers for my children’s school more germane, I realize that there is…

Slow Tides of Change

By Marc Comtois | November 15, 2004 | Comments Off on Slow Tides of Change

Tom Coyne of RIPolicyanalysis.org wrote on Saturday that politics in Rhode Island will change, it is merely the pace and manner in which this change occurs that is in question. He offered that either the voters will decide to bring about, via the ballot box, a more equitable political system or will the state go…

Our “Un-Serious” Senator

By Marc Comtois | November 15, 2004 |

In Sunday’s ProJo, M. Charles Bakst, erstwhile stakeholder of the political commentariat of Rhode Island, took Sen. Lincoln Chafee to task for his waffling on both supporting fellow Republican President Bush and staying a Republican at all. His flirtation with bolting the party — and, more especially, his decision not to vote for George W.…

Teacher Contracts

By Marc Comtois | November 11, 2004 |

After 20 months of fruitless contract negotiations, the School Committee and the Warwick Teachers Union are about to put the dispute to arbitration hearings — but now they can’t even agree on when to meet to frame out a schedule for the proceedings. So begins the latest report on the latest chapter in the Warwick…