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Rethinking Student Loans and Financial Aid Could Reduce the Cost of College and Student Debt
It’s hard to find another sector in which the market for loans is so unresponsive to return on investment than it is with student loans in higher education.
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Financially-Distressed Local Governments Can Learn From Top Performing Cities and Counties
Best practices include funding infrastructure through the budget rather than borrowing via bonds and writing and abiding by strong financial reserve and rainy-day policies.
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The Downward Trend in U.S. Life Expectancy and Its Uncertain Impacts on Public Pensions
A recent Society of Actuaries mortality study found that public sector employees have longer life expectancies than the general population.
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PG&E’s Settlement Won’t Fix Its Problems and Consumers Deserve Choices
Routine power outages and rolling blackouts appear to be Californians’ new normal for at least another decade.
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Sen. Warren’s Education Plan Significantly Contradicts Her Immigration Plan
Warren’s logic that families must stay put and fix their own public schools mirrors a common nativist talking point: immigrants should stay put and fix their own countries instead of coming here.
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Updated: The Washington Post Corrects an Inaccurate Claim About Education Spending
Inflation-adjusted, per-pupil education spending has actually increased by at least 36 percent since the 1980s.
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Sensible Education Reforms to Complement School Choice
Conservatives, libertarians and progressives all agree that tax dollars should be distributed fairly so that all students are treated equally and disadvantaged kids aren’t shortchanged.
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Illinois Embraces Pension Consolidation, But Needs to Do Much More
The pension consolidation plan is a good idea, but dramatic changes will be needed to extricate the state from its pension crisis.
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Removing Palmetto Express Lanes and Banning Tolls Would Hurt Miami-Dade
If the bill to abolish the express lanes were enacted, the result would be more traffic congestion.
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Nevada’s Pharmaceutical Disclosure Law Could Cause Drug Prices to Climb Even Higher
Nevada could be driving out smaller companies and reducing competition, which could lead to higher prices.
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California’s Schools Are Failing Black Students
Statewide, large achievement gaps between black and white students persist in all subjects.
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Taxpayers and Public Workers Face a “Brutal Awakening” on Pension Debt
The American public-sector pension deficit is likely closer to the $4.4 trillion estimate.
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Why the State Takeover Hurt Detroit’s Public Schools and What to Do Now
A study finds the 15-year period that DPSCD was largely governed by state officials rather than a local school board was a “costly mistake.”
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Rhode Island Supreme Court Upholds Pension Benefit Cuts in Cranston
The state Supreme Court's ruling may set a precedent for fiscally distressed local governments grappling with unfunded pension liabilities.
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States Using Cost-Benefit Analysis Have More Efficient Transportation Systems
Unfortunately, a recent survey of state departments of transportation officials found that only five or six states systematically use cost-benefit analysis to evaluate transportation projects.
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Public Health Officials Should Support E-Cigarettes In Effort to Make Conventional Cigarettes Obsolete
Public Health England concluded that e-cigarettes are about 95 percent safer than conventional cigarettes.
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Priced Express Lanes Are a Proven Way to Reduce Highway Congestion
Orange County was the site of the world’s first priced express lanes in 1995. With sensible planning, it could also be first in the nation with a seamless network of priced express lanes.
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Infographic: How Indiana’s School Finance System Works
Indiana should reduce reliance on local revenues and move funding to a state formula so charter schools and districts are funded on an equal footing.
