By Stephen Sawchuck, Education Week

The nation’s oft-criticized systems for evaluating the quality of its educator workforce are poised to receive increased scrutiny, thanks to an Obama administration plan to require school districts to disclose how many teachers perform well or poorly.

Although nearly every state requires districts to evaluate teachers, the instruments are typically designed locally. And as both policy experts and some union leaders attest, they are frequently of poor quality, not based on standards of good teaching, and incapable of rendering fine-grained, fair judgments about teacher performance.

Policy experts widely view the U.S. Department of Education initiative, which is part of the implementation of the federal economic-stimulus package’s aid to education, as an attempt to collect baseline data on teacher evaluations and to promote an overhaul of those systems.

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It appears that Congress wants Florida to tap into the federal stimulus money, too,
according to a story in the Miami Herald.
Democrats in the Florida delegation criticized some House Republicans in Tallahassee
who have been reluctant to spend about $444 million to extend unemployment 
benefits because the state may have to boost unemployment spending at
Florida businesses to qualify for the money.

The Democrats argued that the money should be used to help jump-start the economy.

''I don't know what part of missing out on $440 million the Florida Legislature doesn't
 understand,'' the story quoted Rep. Alcee Hastings, D-Miramar.

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WE SHARE THE OUTRAGE

Lamar Thames'J

Just like you, my wife and I are outraged at the bonus payments made to present and former officials at American Insurance Group, more commonly referred to as AIG (or as it will become known: Ain’t It Great?)

The outrage is understandable. Taxpayers (without a vote on the matter) get to fork over some $170 billion (that’s BILLION, with a B, folks) to bailout a company whose conglomerate Ponzi scheme worked little better than little ol’ Bernie Madoff’s one-man backroom operation. 

Here’s the rub for me, the $170 billion — or to paraphrase Barry Goldwater, “A billion here a billion there and pretty soon you are talking real money.” — is money the U.S government said it had to give to AIG to “bail them out” because they were so deep in hock and and so big we couldn’t afford to allow them to fail. Read the rest of this entry »

• For the week ending Feb. 13, 2009
  
  
• U.S. government aid plans get tepid reception
• Companies forecast future slowdown, announce job cuts
• Consumer confidence falls as job losses mount
• Cisco sells bonds as credit markets begin thaw
• Eurozone economy contracts

Stocks lost ground this week as investors reacted with skepticism to the U.S. government’s $789.5 billion stimulus package and the U.S. Treasury’s bank rescue plan. Markets seemed to conclude that the stimulus plan would be insufficient to turn the U.S. economy around and the bank rescue plan lacked details. Reports that the U.S. government may subsidize mortgage payments helped stocks recover some lost ground late in the week. Read the rest of this entry »

Thanks to Greg for submitting this:

“This year, taxpayers will receive an Economic Stimulus Payment. This is a very exciting new program that I will explain using the Q&A format: 

Q. What is an Economic Stimulus Payment?
A. It is money that the federal government will send to taxpayers.

Q. Where will the government get this money?
A. From taxpayers.

Q. So the government is giving me back my own money?
A. Only a smidgen.

Q. What is the purpose of this payment?
A. The plan is that you will use the money to purchase a high-definition TV set, thus stimulating the economy.

Q. But isn’t that stimulating the economy of China ?
A. Shut up. Read the rest of this entry »