How Much Say Do They Have?
School board members negotiate how much school district employees earn. They’re the ones who determine salary raises for teachers, and...
Wowee
After 38 ½ years of service, Barbara Trzeszkowski reported for her last day of work on Monday at the Keansburg...
Foundation(s)
Resolved, that next to life and liberty, we consider education the greatest blessing bestowed upon mankind. Resolved, that the public...
Show-Me Institute in the Papers This Past Weekend
The Show-Me Institute appeared in two major newspapers this past weekend. The Kansas City Star carried an op-ed by Dr....
Is It Just Too Much?
After you hear it the fifth or sixth time, you start to believe it. All this time, I’ve been thinking...
Bombardier: A Postmortem
Bombardier Aerospace has announced that it will produce its new jets in Canada rather than in Missouri. For Bombardier’s shareholders,...
On the Road Again …
Over at Prime Buzz, Brad Cooper laments the lack of funding for MODOT: Like Kansas, Missouri is significantly short of...
Something for Which Our Governor and Legislature Deserve a Lot of Credit
The economic health of state government is good — maybe even too good. The Kansas City Star has a story...
The Odds
In April 2000, the Warren County School District asked its voters for a 54-cent property tax levy increase. More than...
From Frugal to Flush: The Benefit Boost
This morning, I randomly selected a stack of superintendent contracts from Audrey’s files, in addition to a sampling she had...
How Free Are We, Part Two
Continuing a series of blog posts that began in April 2007, and which was on hiatus until now, let us...
Control
A little while ago, a Cole County judge ruled that Missouri gives enough money to public school districts. A main...
If You Give a Mouse a Cookie …
… He’ll ask for a bakery license from the state. The trend toward occupational licensure seems to be hard to...
It Makes No Sense to Take Back Taxes From Stimulus Checks
There have been a few articles recently about state and local governments intercepting federal stimulus payments in order to take...
Remarriage?
Partisanship has long been divorced from most school elections in the United States. In fact, all school board elections in...
You’re the Best … Around
You will have to excuse the title- I just watched Karate Kid. Today’s Kansas City Star has an editorial (link...
Honesty
It is legal for government employees fulfilling Sunshine Law requests to reasonably charge for research time, copying costs, and postage....
Helping Immigrants by Hurting Immigrants
Yesterday, the governor signed a new immigration bill that, among other things, stiffened penalties for employers who knowingly hire illegal...
Taking the Bad With the Good: A Recap
It’s been a mixed bag. Some county clerks have been efficient and forthcoming, while some have been obstructionist or even...
Public-Private Partnerships, Please
KY3 News has a story (link via Combest) discussing MoDOT’s expected budget shortfall, because of the rapid increase in gas...
