Essay
Joseph Buffardi, of Cranston, believes that introducing the concept of merit to teachers’ career advancement is a utopian idea: In a perfect world, one could make a case for instituting merit pay for teachers. But this is not a perfect world. As a public-school faculty member for over 30 years, I will grant that not…
As I’ve suggested before, this case may not have been a big deal if decided in court, and it will probably be even less so since the judiciary didn’t get involved at all: The [Tiverton] School Committee still has to work out some legal details, but it decided to extend the health-care benefits of retired…
This aspect of the article to which Don links in the previous post particularly caught my eye: Ban anyone, other than a “recognized employee of a news organization,” from videotaping or taking photographs of House sessions and House committee meetings “without the express permissions of the speaker.” I’m aware of the tendency of the blogosphere…
This posting continues a periodic series on Rhode Island politics and taxation, building on eight previous postings (I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII). In addition, this posting also builds on previous postings (here, here, here as well as other postings by Justin and Marc here), all of which have noted the difficulty Rhode…
If you’re interested, over at Spinning Clio I’ve posted on how a piece of historical “fact” has been misused to support the oft-used “the-Founders-weren’t-religious” argument. (Fair warning: it deals with treaty language.)
So, Providence Mayor Cicilline thinks he’s made quite a deal with the Providence Crossing Guard union because he negotiated down the hourly wage of new guards from $16.95 to $11.20. The truth of the matter is that guards are guaranteed a four hour work day, so it is essentially a 20 hour, $224/week salaried position.…
Hm. Well, now it’s my turn to think out loud. Dems–>Repubs has been done before, especially in the south. But I somehow doubt such would occur here. Instead, what would probably happen is that Langevin would become characterized as an “independent” Democrat. My guess is that the “politics of the polity” in Rhode Island would…
You raise some interesting points, Marc, and you’ve sparked a wacky idea — just an out-of-the-box consideration, really, but… Assuming that we don’t manage to change the political culture in Rhode Island to begin unseating incumbents, and given current political trends, what are the chances that a Langevin in the tenth or fifteenth year of…
A commenter to Justin’s post remarks: One would hope that maybe Steve Laffey would challenge Linc for the Republican nod. Of course the White House would probably offer the traitorous Chafee the same support it gave Arlen Specter. In a Kennedy-Chafee race, truly a contest of empty suits I think I would have to abstain.…
Ramesh Ponnuru raises a sore point for Rhode Island conservatives: If Langevin wins the Democratic primary, I’d be open to the idea that conservatives should support him over Chafee. Langevin at least votes pro-life most of the time. I’ll admit that I don’t get out there and network as much as I should, but my…