Marc Comtois

Poll: What do you think about WPRO’s Lineup Change

By Marc Comtois | March 5, 2010 |

WPRO has announced that they are flip-flopping Dan Yorke and Buddy Cianci in their lineup. Yorke will be taking the midday slot from 10 AM 2 PM and Cianci will take over the afternoon drive from 2 – 6 PM. What do Anchor Rising readers think about the move? What do you think about WPRO…

Friday Diversion

By Marc Comtois | March 5, 2010 |

Hold Your Horses! is a French band that apparently includes a few American kids (the progeny of diplomats I read somewhere), so they sing in English (at least what I’ve heard). I’d put them roughly in the same artistic corner as that inhabited by locals The Low Anthem with maybe a little of The Polyphonic…

Confusion over Gallo Accepting Union Offer

By Marc Comtois | March 4, 2010 |

It seems there is some confusion over the latest page in the Central Falls High School story. The ProJo headline reads, “School chief, teachers agree to resume talks.” There is mention of both “sides” returning to “the table,” which is some of the common parlance used when it comes to contract negotiations. In the ProJo…

Cumberland Approves Early Retirement Plan for Teachers

By Marc Comtois | March 4, 2010 |

Cumberland has approved a plan designed to entice top step teachers into retirement for the purpose of saving cash. If [20] teachers at the 10th salary step took retirement, it would save nearly $500,000, according to the board’s estimate….The idea is for teachers at the first salary step to take the place of those at…

Obama’s Health Plan: Rhetoric vs. Reality

By Marc Comtois | March 4, 2010 |

The Foundry helpfully breaks down President Obama’s latest bid for health care reform: President Barack Obama gave yet another speech this afternoon urging Congress to pass his health care reform plan. The President again claimed his plan lowers health care costs. It doesn’t. The President again claimed his plan would not give government bureaucrats or…

Movie Briefs

By Marc Comtois | March 2, 2010 |

While it has it’s inaccuracies, The Hurt Locker is a movie I’d heartily recommend. The most impressive parts of the film for me were those depicting the stressful situations the soldiers were in while doing their job, ie; everyday life for a U.S. combatant in Iraq circa 2004. On a completely different note, I also…

Avoid Long Term Ramifications: RIIL Should Deny Cranston Team Consolidation

By Marc Comtois | March 2, 2010 |

Cranston’s recent proposal to merge school sports is currently being weighed by the Rhode Island Interscholastic League. John Gilooly explains why allowing such a merger would set a bad precedent: The problem I see is that as an association of individual high schools, if the Principals Committee allows two high schools from the same city…

President Obama Uses Rhode Island Education Reform Examples

By Marc Comtois | March 1, 2010 |

In a speech to Americas Promise Alliance to tout a $900 million school turnaround program, President Obama turned to Rhode Island for both positive and negative examples (h/t ProJo): We’ll not only challenge states to identify high schools with graduation rates below 60 percent, we’re going to invest another $900 million in strategies to get…

Funding Formulas

By Marc Comtois | February 27, 2010 |

A new funding formula for schools–to be phased in over a few years–is being floated. The Barrington School District would see a boost of $3.8 million, or nearly 190 percent, over the next five years. Other winners include Providence (up $28.7 million, or more than 15 percent), Cranston (up $9.6 million, or almost 29 percent)…

Yorke Airs Both Sides of Central Falls Debate

By Marc Comtois | February 26, 2010 |

Dan Yorke spoke with both Central Falls Superintendent Francis Gallo (podcast link) and Central Falls High School Guidance Counselor George McLaughlin (podcast link) on his show yesterday. Supt. Gallo explained that she was stymied by the union in trying to work out a solution based on the “transformation model.” But first she wanted assurances on…