Parents talk about how to improve schools.

A new report on the Public Agenda website titled “Ready, Willing and Able,” will be of interest to anyone involved in improving schools.  Below is a snippet from Public Agenda’s website that highlights some of the findings from a study in Kansas City.

• Divided on what kind of involvement will best improve schools. 52 percent say it is improving the quality of parental involvement at home, versus 42 percent who say that it is getting parents more directly involved in running schools.
• Split on how they prefer to be involved. 31 percent seem ready to embrace broader roles in shaping how schools operate and advocating for policy reform. 27 percent say they could help out more in traditional ways at their children’s school, and feel comfortable to do so. Another 19 percent are primarily looking for more guidance from their schools on how to help their children succeed.
• Often not as involved as they would like to be. Just over half (51 percent) of the region’s parents admit that they could be more involved at their child’s school if they tried hard. Even those parents who said they would feel comfortable advocating for school improvements by contacting public officials and the media have often not been involved in these activities.
• Supportive of their own teachers and principals. 77 percent say the principals and teachers at their child’s school are connected to the community and have a good feel for what’s going on there.

How to tell when mayoral elections are near.

3-22-2013 – It’s easy to tell when local elections are near by three things that happen.  First, campaign signs appear in supporters’ yards and sprout on public rights-of way. This latter act is especially annoying in view of the fact that it is illegal and that the candidates don’t seem to mind condoning this illegal activity during election season.

Second, very visible signs of activity by the local government begin to occur.  In my town there seems to be a whole lot of new activity in the street paving department. Perhaps that has something to do with the fact the polls are showing that the community ranks bad streets at the top of the list of concerns about local government.

Third, I suddenly receive emails, phone calls inviting me to town meetings and a variety of social media about things that the local government is involved in. No doubt this is paid by the taxpayers, not the campaign. The reason all this happens is apparently because it works. Seems that the adage about “What have you done for me lately?” is at play.

I suppose I really should not complain because I doubt if any streets would ever get repaired in my town if there was not an election on the horizon.

 

Education is the key to economic development

ARTICLE – MSU’s Stennis Institute Assists Schools (2-27-2013)

Education is the key to economic development. Industries need problem-solvers: educated, trainable workers who can go above and beyond classroom instruction.

Strategic planner Phil Hardwick has seen it time and again in his work as a project manager with Mississippi State University’s John C. Stennis Institute of Government and Community Development. Over the past three years, he’s worked with 13 Northeast Mississippi schools to increase the numbers of students admitted to college.  More…

Trends in Economic Development – 2013

Jay Moon, Immediate Past-Chair of the International Economic Development Council and current President and CEO of the Mississippi Manufacturers Association, addressed the Mississippi Economic Development Council today on the subject of Trends in Economic Development.  Here are my notes from his remarks:

Global competition will increase;

Attracting capital will be more difficult;

Budget cuts will increase;

Business closures and downsizing will occur at a more rapid pace;

There will be an absolute need to increase efficiency in the business community;

Accountability will be the rule – for everyone;

Natural and man-made disasters will continue to affect economies and businesses;

Energy markets will be shifting; and

There will be multiple labor market and workforce challenges.

Why do regions fail?

January 16, 2013

In Mississippi, public policymakers, elected officials at all levels (local, state and federal) and community leaders of every stripe continually discuss ways to improve the Mississippi Delta.  There has been no shortage of studies, initiatives and funding programs for just about everything imaginable.  Although there are some bright spots, one wonders why there has not been more improvement in the region as a whole.

With that backdrop, I was especially interested in an article at the Daily Yonder website entitled Speak Your Piece: Why regions Fail, written by Jason Bailey.  The first sentence reads, “What’s kept Eastern Kentucky from prosperity?”  The author first discusses a critique of the region by outside observers, and then posits that one of the problems with such “diagnoses” is that it is too narrow.  We should look at the greater historical and economic context about why the families in the region live the way that they do, he says.  Reference is then made to Why Nations Fail, by economist Daron Acemoglu and political scientist James Robinson.  Here’s a clip from that part of the article:

They conclude that economic success is not the result of culture, geography or other standard explanations. Rather, prosperity is caused by a country’s human-made institutions.

They characterize nations’ economic and political institutions as either inclusive or extractive. Inclusive institutions create a fair environment for competition, provide education and encourage innovation, distribute political power widely and encourage public participation, and have an accountable and responsive government. Extractive institutions are designed to benefit the few at the expense of the many. They discourage democratic participation, fail to enforce the rule of law or promote new economic activity, and are characterized by corruption and cronyism.

So, could this observation be applied to Appalachia and the Mississippi Delta?  Or is it already being applied, and not getting the desired results?

The questions and observations about the solutions to poverty go on.  I recommend the above article as a good read to start/continue the discussion.

 

Why rainy, dreary days are the best time to shop for a house.

January 14, 2013

Today’s weather forecast in my area calls for rain and plunging temperatures.  Already, the weather outside is deteriorating.  Listening to my radio, I just heard an interview with a real estate person on this rainy, dreary day.  He made a side comment to the effect that today was “probably not a good day to go look at a house.”

I disagree.  I think that rainy, dreary days are the best time to look at a house.  You can see where the water drains, you can tell if there is a leaky roof, etc.  Looking at a house on a rainy day might even be a way to show the owner that you are a serious buyer.  After all, who would be out looking at house on a day like today except serious buyers?

Blame It On The Blues

January 11, 2013

“Blame It On The Blues” exhibit opened last night at the BB King Museum in Indianola, MS featuring artwork by lots of Mississsippi natives (Chad Mars, Anne Campbell, Howard Jones, Toni Difatta, Clay Hardwick). It will be displayed throughout the Barksdale Cotton Gin and the Museum lobby until February 3

http://www.bbkingmuseum.org/blame-it-on-the-blues