A school district trustee’s job is to administer for the benefit of a school district. That is not the same thing as administering for the benefit of students.
A trustee in Rexburg said too much in the Rexburg Standard Journal’s “Madison School District cuts school year by one week, saving $100,000” on April 24:
In Fiscal Year 2010, Idaho taxpayers have spent an average of nearly $8,200 per month to bring the government to the citizens … literally. Between July 2009 and February 2010, Gov. Butch Otter’s “Capital for a Day” program had a price tag of more than $65,000, and not all state officials believe it’s a good use of money.
The Congressional Budget Office released new data Thursday estimating that by 2016, some 4 million Americans will face penalties for failing to buy health insurance as mandated under Obamacare. Additionally, the CBO estimated that 25 percent of those facing the penalty will be at the low end of the income scale; the penalty is expected to apply to about 400,000 Americans living below the federal poverty level (projected for 2016 to be $11,800 for a single person and $24,000 for a family of four).
Even the most casual news observer has surely noticed it by now: public education budgets are dropping. For many school boards and administrators it’s the first time, ever, they’ve had to think about making do with considerably less.
Since 2004, urban renewal agencies (URAs) in two Idaho cities have paid more than $20,000 of taxpayers’ money to the Urban Land Institute (ULI), an international urban planning organization that espouses development of inner cities rather than in suburban or rural areas.
My husband is a Sony fan. He has strong preferences following many years of selling consumer electronics.
I personally have not been such a careful student of the variances between brands of stereos, TVs and DVD players. However, my marriage has taught me (among other things) Sony’s products are more dependable, last longer and are at least as aesthetically pleasing as comparable products. Because I expect it to be better, I expect to pay more for a Sony TV than for the similar Akai sitting next to it.
The ghost of Herbert Morrison has returned. Morrison was the pioneer radio reporter who, in 1937, summed up the horrific crash of the Hindenburg with the now-immortal words, "Oh, the humanity." Reporters and editors in the media are pretending to leap from flames and bellow "Oh, the humanity" once again after an Associated Press story described how conservative organizations, such as the Idaho Freedom Foundation, are busy with their own upstart news operations. IFF has two reporters dedicated to coverage of state government issues at IdahoReporter.com.
The taxpayers of Caldwell are on the line for another million dollars in the Treasure Valley Community College building project, in downtown Caldwell along Indian Creek. According to the Caldwell Guardian website, the Caldwell East Urban Renewal Agency (CEURA) has taken out a $1 million loan from Intermountain Community Bank to pay for furniture and furnishings in the TVCC building.
In the third presidential debate, Senator Obama said, “I support charter schools and pay for performance for teachers. Doesn’t make me popular with the teachers union.” School choice observers noticed the change in Democratic rhetoric and were intrigued, but once he was elected we were certain President Obama would pick some edu-flack to head his Department of Education.