Opinion
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2007 NAEP Scores Show Spending Increases Haven’t Produced Results
Opinion -The 2007 edition of "The Nation's Report Card" wasn't straight A or straight F when it was released in late September. -
Distance Learning Is Advancing School Choice
Opinion -As important as school vouchers are, the greatest progress toward choice probably isn't taking place in Utah right now. -
California’s Expensive ZIP Codes Deliver Cut-Rate Education Results
Opinion -Not as Good as You Think: Why the Middle Class Needs School Choice By Lance T. Izumi, Vicki E. Murray, and Rachel S. Chaney, with Ruben Peterson and Rosemarie Fusano San Francisco: Pacific Research Institute, 2007 available online at http://special. -
Environmentalists Voice Ethanol Concerns
Opinion -On September 20, Environmental Defense--an environmental activist group whose Web site encourages Americans to give up their gasoline-powered automobiles to curb global warming--issued a study raising concerns about gasoline's most viable competitor: -
Campus Leaders Unite at Minnesota Eco-Summit Retreat
Opinion -On August 2, just one day after the tragic collapse of the I-35W Bridge in Minneapolis, Minnesota, a group of Collegians for a Constructive Tomorrow (CFACT) staff and students trekked via the Twin Cities to Breezy Point, Minnesota for the organization's -
Comcast P2P Blocking Reignites Neutrality Debate
Opinion -Congress is planning to revisit network neutrality legislation by year end, with the House Committee on Energy and Commerce expected to move as early as mid-November, according to reports at press time. -
Details of S. 2033
Opinion -The proposed S. 2033, the Cell Phone Consumer Empowerment Act of 2007, seeks simple, clear information on services and charges before service providers and customers enter long-term contracts, say its sponsors. -
Oregon Budget Up 21 Percent
Opinion -Opponents of an attempt to put a cigarette tax to pay for health insurance for children into the Oregon constitution say substantial budget growth should have been enough to accommodate the program. -
Chicago, Cook County Businesses Fear Taxes to Come
Opinion -News that Cook County, Illinois may more than triple its sales tax, and add more taxes after that, has rattled businesspeople throughout Chicago and the surrounding county area. -
Evolution of a Revolution
Opinion -Ronald Reagan's Journey: Democrat to Republican By Edward M. Yager Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., June 2006 121 pages Cloth 0-7425-4420-6 / 978-0-7425-4420-8, $66.00 Paper 0-7425-4421-4 / 978-0-7425-4421-5, $24. -
Interest in HSAs Will Surge in 2008
Opinion -In late September the Washington, DC-based global consulting firm Watson Wyatt Worldwide identified "more health savings accounts" as a major benefit trend during the open enrollment season, the annual period when employees can adjust the benefits their -
Facing Certain Defeat, Illinois County Board Stops Vote on Record Sales Tax
Opinion -Shoppers and diners in Chicago and surrounding Cook County, Illinois received a temporary reprieve October 1 when the Cook County board delayed a vote to more than triple the county's share of the region's sales tax. -
State, Local Governments Are Eager to Tax the Internet
Opinion -Since the federal Internet tax moratorium was first enacted nearly 10 years ago, local and state government officials have sought to retain the power and latitude to tax the Internet by opposing efforts to make the ban permanent. -
Vertical Equity Funds Are Not Reaching States’ Neediest Students
Opinion -In response to lawsuits over inequities in school funding, state legislatures nationwide have adopted spending policies whereby disadvantaged students are to receive extra resources to enhance their learning opportunities. -
Alternative Certification Is Being Undermined by Schools of Education
Opinion -A study by the Thomas B. Fordham Institute and national Council on Teacher Quality concludes alternative teacher certification programs are proving to be more of a setback to education reform than an asset. -
Film Exposes the ‘Dark Side of Environmentalism’
Opinion -The one big advantage environmental activists have is the presumed purity of their motives. They claim they want only to protect the Earth from a few particularly greedy people, and they say their efforts benefit everybody. -
Organic Food Industry Is Duping Consumers on Health, Environment Issues
Opinion -The Truth About Organic Food by Alex Avery Henderson Communications, 2006 231 pages, $19.95, ISBN 0978895207 Organic foods are quite in vogue--they constitute the fastest-growing segment of the food industry. -
Municipal Wi-Fi Plan Is a No-Go in Sacramento
Opinion -Plans to blanket Sacramento with free municipal Wi-Fi are on the verge of collapse only four months after city officials partnered with Metro Connect, a formidable coalition of experts in wireless implementation that includes industry heavyweights Cisco -
Avandia Controversy Shows Dangers of Politics
Opinion -Ever wonder how much of a role politics might play in medicine? If you consider an event that took place this summer, you might start to think it's rather significant. -
Big Names Join HIT Game
Opinion -A group of employers including AT&T, Applied Materials, BP, Cardinal Health, Intel, Pitney-Bowes, and Walmart has created Dossia.org, an Internet-based personal health record. -
Bottled Drinking Water a New Tax Target in Chicago
Opinion -The price of a bottle of water will climb at least 10 cents in Chicago if Mayor Richard M. Daley gets his way. Daley in October proposed a 10 cents a bottle tax on water. -
Consumer Power Report: Consumer-Driven Plans Deliver
Opinion -I was pleased to moderate a session at the National Consumer Driven Health Care Summit in September at which Jennifer Vachon presented the latest findings from the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association. -
Cook County Eyes $4 Phone Tax
Opinion -A Cook County, Illinois proposal to impose a $4 tax on all wireline and wireless phone lines has drawn fire from all sides, including the local phone company, consumer advocates, and the local utilities watchdog group. -
Drug Companies Asked to Disclose Too Much
Opinion -Drug companies are concerned about Minnesota's efforts to make them publicly reveal their financial dealings with doctors statewide--something many experts say is a valid concern.
