What's this? A Book!
Or buy here: Light Publications, Powell's, or Bn, Amazon A look at the lousy situation Rhode Island is in, how we got here, and how we might be able to get out. Featuring
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AboutThe Rhode Island Policy Reporter is an independent news source that specializes in the technical issues of public policy that matter so much to all our lives, but that also tend not to be reported very well or even at all. The publication is owned and operated by Tom Sgouros, who has written all the text you'll find on this site, except for the articles with actual bylines. Responsibility: Tom Sgouros
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Fri, 30 Oct 2009
Coverage of the book... Brown Daily Herald.
13:21 - 30 Oct 2009 [/y9/oc]
Another take on binding arbitration
Read here
The rank and file rejection of the first contract proposal was a huge setback for school reform in Providence. It weakened the administration, helped trigger a decade long cycle of revolving door superintendencies, divided the union, and as the final contract included both a bigger pay raise and fewer concessions in work rules, reinforced the idea that intransigence by the union would be rewarded. Also, the entire conflict triggered a long period of "work to rule" right as a whole range of promising reform initiatives were ramping up.If Rhode Island had binding arbitration in 2000, everything would have been different. No work to rule, and the orderly adoption of a contract that would have probably closely resembled the original agreement between administration and union leadership. This would have been followed by two more contracts that progressed in an orderly way toward more reasonable work rules, and we'd be working on the fourth in that series right now.
Contrary to conventional wisdom, a look at recent history confirms that binding arbitration would be good for school reform in Rhode Island.
13:04 - 30 Oct 2009 [/y9/oc]
Fri, 16 Oct 2009
This coming Friday, October 23, I will give a talk and sign some books at Westerly's Other Tiger bookstore, 90 High Street, Westerly, from 5-7pm. Please come, and more important, tell anyone you know in Westerly. I don't know enough people there, so any help is welcome.
Also, I was on Channel 36's Lively Experiment last night. They re-broadcast it on Sunday at noon, so look for it this Sunday.
18:55 - 16 Oct 2009 [/y9/oc]
Fri, 09 Oct 2009
It seems the FTC intends that all bloggers disclose the products and services they get for free.
Seeking guideline clarification, blogger Edward Champion interviewed FTC spokesman Richard Cleland on Monday. In Cleland's view, a blogger who kept a free book that he reviewed on his site would have to disclose this "compensation.""If there's an expectation that you're going to write a positive review," Cleland told Champion, "then there should be a disclosure."
This is an odd reading of how reviews work. That is, "expectation" is a funny word. "Hope", "chance", "prospect" all seem more apropos. Plus, I don't see newspapers running to mention this in their articles. Why might they be exempt?
But be that as it may, let this note serve as full disclosure to everyone who cares to know that some publishers are generous (perhaps some would say unwise) enough to provide me with free copies of their books to review.
12:07 - 09 Oct 2009 [/y9/oc]
Mon, 05 Oct 2009
The House By the Side of the Road
by Sam Walter Foss
Let me live in a house by the side of the road,
Where the race of men go by -
The men who are good and the men who are bad,
As good and as bad as I.
I would not sit in the scorner's seat,
Or hurl the cynic's ban;
Let me live in a house by the side of the road
And be a friend to man.
I see from my house by the side of the road,
By the side of the highway of life,
The men who press with the ardor of hope,
The men who are faint with the strife.
But I turn not away from their smiles nor their tears -
Both parts of an infinite plan;
Let me live in my house by the side of the road
And be a friend to man.
I know there are brook-gladdened meadows ahead
And mountains of wearisome height;
And the road passes on through the long afternoon
And stretches away to the night.
But still I rejoice when the travelers rejoice,
And weep with the strangers that moan,
Nor live in my house by the side of the road
Like a man who dwells alone.
Let me live in my house by the side of the road
Where the race of men go by -
They are good, they are bad, they are weak, they are strong,
Wise, foolish - so am I.
Then why should I sit in the scorner's seat
Or hurl the cynic's ban?
Let me live in my house by the side of the road
And be a friend to man.
Foss was born in New Hampshire, but, a graduate of Brown, is interred in Providence's North Burial Ground.
14:15 - 05 Oct 2009 [/y9/oc]
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