This has to be good for journalism and democracy.
Stateline.org
says that
17 states
are in the process of developing a new Web search engine that will make looking
up state spending as easy as a Google search.
How
would this sort of thing look? We can look to a site that is exposing federal
spending as an example. With these kinds of Web sites, you could see, for
example, which congressional districts are getting the most in federal dollars for bioenergy
programs.
Here's another example: Which congressman's district gets the most in federal contracts? It is interesting that the speaker of the
House's district lands the third-highest number of federal contracts in the
country.
Which
congressional districts get the most in federal grants?
Iraq Coverage Has Been About U.S.
The Project for Excellence in Journalism just released a new study that reports on who covered what, which stories dominated and how news organizations differed in the first quarter of 2007. Check out the first graf:
The war in Iraq has dwarfed all other topics in the American news media in the early months of 2007 -- taking up more than three times the space devoted to the next most popular subject. But only a portion of this has focused on the state of things in Iraq itself, and even less about the plight of Iraqis and the internal affairs of their country, according to a new study of the American news media.
For more,
click here.
Why the "Forever Stamp" is a
Sucker Deal
Slate
says what I have been thinking. Why the heck have people invested more than $82
million in these stamps? Does an occasional 2-cent increase in stamp
prices freak us out that much?
Who
is MNFIRAQ?
It
is the YouTube posting name for the Multi-National Force – Iraq. In other words, the military itself is now posting videos on
YouTube "to give viewers around the world a 'boots on the ground'
perspective of Operation Iraqi Freedom from those who are fighting it." The
military has posted 28 videos, and some of them have been viewed more than 120,000 times.
New
Military Vehicles
One Web site I browse every week is Jane's
International Defence Review. A few of the more interesting pieces lately include how the
Army and Navy are considering new unmanned vehicles that would be comparable to the Predator drones in Iraq and Afghanistan. These vehicles could be rolling within a decade. Smaller versions are
on the ground now. The 6-by-6-feet larger vehicles will be delivered to the
battlefield by helicopter with the idea that unmanned vehicles could be
especially useful in urban warfare environments where roadsides are littered
with danger.
Teacher Dropouts
As
your school systems near the end of the calendar, it might be useful to talk
with teachers who are calling it quits. The
Los Angeles Times reported recently that nearly a fourth of teachers will leave
the profession after four or fewer years on the job. The top reasons they cite:
- Bureaucratic interference
- Lack of support from the district
- Low staff morale
- Lack of resources
- Unsupportive principal
- Low pay
As
the story points out, when teachers unions negotiate contracts and mostly focus
on pay, they are not addressing what concerns teachers most -- working conditions. The article says:
Classroom interruptions, student discipline, increasing demands, insufficient supplies, overcrowding, unnecessary meetings, lack of support -- all play a role in burning out teachers.
Every five years, the
National Education Association conducts an in-depth survey on the lives of
public-school teachers. The last survey shows:
- The average teacher has 15 years of classroom experience and more
than half of today's teachers (56 percent) hold a master's degree or six-year
diploma. Nearly one-quarter (23 percent)
began full-time teaching within the past five years.
- Teachers spend an
average of 50 hours per week on instructional duties, including an average of
12 hours each week on non-compensated school-related activities such as grading
papers, bus duty and club advising.
- More than
three-quarters of teachers (77 percent) participated in system-sponsored
professional development activities during the school year; more teachers than
ever (35 percent) participated in such activities during the summer.
- Teachers spend an
average of $443 of their own money each year to meet the needs of their
students.
- Three-fifths of
teachers (60 percent) said they would become teachers again. More than
one-fifth (21 percent) said they would not choose teaching as a career if they could start over again.
Here
is something worth noting, however. Teacher
turnover is higher in private schools than in public schools. (Data is about
three years old.)
We are always looking for your great ideas. Send Al a few sentences and hot links.
Editor's
Note: Al's Morning Meeting is a compendium of ideas, edited story
excerpts and other materials from a variety of Web sites, as well as
original concepts and analysis. When the information comes directly
from another source, it will be attributed and a link will be provided
whenever possible. The column is fact-checked, but depends upon the
accuracy and integrity of the original sources cited. Errors and
inaccuracies found will be corrected.
As anyone who has rooted through every cubby hole in...
