Like the rest of America, President Barack Obama seems to be struggling with the issue of gay marriage, civil unions or whatever you want to call quasi-permanent same-sex relationships. In an effort to pacify his gay constituents, the President signed an executive order yesterday allowing government employees in same-sex relationships to take leave to care for sick partners, receive larger housing allowances if they live overseas and other benefits, but failed to provide them with the most significant benefit that most employees’ partners can receive: health insurance. This action is likely to leave all sides in the gay marriage debate terribly unhappy. On some issues, there is no real middle ground, and this is one.
17 June 2009
During the recently concluded session, West Virginia legislators debated the pros and cons of charter schools and ultimately passed a bill during the special session approving a bastardized version of charter schools called innovation zones. The folks at Create West Virginia were particularly strong proponents of the innovation zones/charter schools legislation.
I hope everyone involved reads the new report from the Stanford University Center for Research on Educational Outcomes about the (in)effectiveness of charter schools. The report, which has received a lot of attention nationally, found that 17 percent of charter schools performed significantly better than traditional public schools, 46 percent performed about the same and 37 percent performed significantly worse. While far from dispositive, the report suggests that a lot of charter schools are not only not better, but actually worse, than traditional public schools.
Interestingly, the study was funded by charter school proponents.
22 June 2009. For additional reading and listening:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/22/education/22duncan.html
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=105461724&ft=1&f=1013
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=105461713&ft=1&f=1013
15 June 2009
On Friday the Charleston Gazette ran one of its periodic editorials lampooning southern West Virginia politics as a result of former Delegate Joe C. Ferrell’s indictment. And today the Charleston Daily Mail ran one of its periodic editorials praising “divided government.” ”One of the charms of divided government,” says the Daily Mail editorial, “is that those in power know they will be closely watched by those who are out of power. This tends to restrain abuses, and thus to protect the public.”
It is a ironic that the Gazette is lampooning southern West Virginia politics and the Daily Mail is singing the praises of divided government during a week that has seen one of the grandest exhibitions of back-room politics and divided government gone awry – not in West Virginia but in New York State.
After the most recent statewide election, Democrats found themselves in control of the New York State Senate by the narrowest of margins – 32 to 30. As a result, two fine Democrats saw opportunity and decided to align themselves with Republicans. The first fine Democrat Pedro Espada previously was fined more than $60,000 for failing to disclose campaign contributions; a non-profit group he founded is under investigation for using misappropriated money; and there are even questions about whether he resides in the district he represents. The second Democrat Hiram Monserrate currently is under indictment for assaulting someone with a piece of broken glass and was elected to the State Senate only after retiring from the New York Police Department because a psychological disability prevented him from performing his job. Equally amusing, the Republican coup was orchestrated by a billionaire Democrat who was mad at State Senators for raising his taxes.
Because of these power struggles, New York Senate Democrats have sued Senate Republicans and locked them out of the Senate chambers while important issues like control of the New York City public school system remain unresolved. The next time the Gazette or Daily Mail waxes poetic about southern West Virginia political wrongs or the charms of divided government, it needs to look outside of West Virginia because southern West Virginia is not unique, and divided government is not always charming.
12 June 2009
Earlier this week the New York Times reported on a new “investment fund.”
“Investing in Lawsuits, for a Share of the Awards”
Instead of investing in stocks or bonds or even mortgage-backed securities, Juridica Capital Management invests in lawsuits. Juridica, says the New York Times, “invests in one side of a lawsuit in exchange for a share of the winnings.” To the legally unitiated, this may seem bizarre. But lawyers who take cases on a contingent fee basis and who enter into co-counsel arrangements in order to finance high-cost litigation, such as class-action lawsuits, do much the same thing.
Juridica seems to be going down a road that is very similar to the one previously taken by bankrupt and near-bankrupt financial services companies, which never seemed to run out of new investment ideas. Will we soon have a new financial market for lawsuits? Will we soon pool together legal risks and sell and resell them so that no one can determine their true value?
At its meeting on Friday, May 8, 2009, the West Virginia Council for Community and Technical College Education approved a resolution honoring Dennis C. Taylor for his service to the Council as Vice Chancellor for Administration from 2004 to 2009. The Council recognized Mr. Taylor for his dedication to the advancement of community and technical college education and his invaluable assistance to the Chancellor, the Council and all community and technical colleges.