News summaries
Postmaster delivers bad news; privatizing unlikely
The U.S. Postal Service estimates $238 billion in losses in the next 10
years if lawmakers, postal regulators and unions don't give the mail
agency more flexibility in setting delivery schedules, price increases
and labor costs....Three studies -- by Accenture, the Boston Consulting Group
and McKinsey and Co. -- reviewed the Postal Service's books and presented
50 options for cuts and new services. The agency's business model is so poor,
consultants concluded, that privatizing it is untenable. But the Postal
Service will ask Congress to cut mail delivery to five days per week, a
move backed by a June Gallup survey that found 52 percent of Americans
support eliminating Saturday deliveries in order to reduce costs.
The Washington Post
also
The Wall Street Journal
Former 'No Child Left Behind' advocate turns critic
In 2005, former Assistant Secretary of Education Diane Ravitch wrote,
"We should thank President George W. Bush and Congress for passing the
No Child Left Behind Act ... All this attention and focus is paying off
for younger students, who are reading and solving mathematics problems
better than their parents' generation." Four years later, Ravitch has
changed her mind..."I came to realize that the sanctions embedded in
NCLB were, in fact, not only ineffective but certain to contribute to
the privatization of large chunks of public education. I wonder whether
the members of Congress intended this outcome. I doubt that they did."
NPR
MA: More towns seeking sponsors, ads to balance books
Ripping a page from the playbook of professional sports teams, several
area communities are looking at offering sponsorships and naming rights
for everything from trash trucks to schools...Two years ago,
then-Hopkinton School Committee member David Stoldt ...did a
comprehensive study of advertising and sponsorship options at schools
by looking at national case studies. His report, published online, has
prompted people from Georgia and North Carolina to call him about his
research, which included revenue estimates. Stoldt estimated the most
lucrative school initiative would be bus advertising, which could bring
in $24,000 to $48,000 per year, while selling naming rights for things
like the high school auditorium would bring in less than $10,000 per
year...Bill Chipps, a spokesman for IEG LLC, the sponsorship company
contacted by Natick officials, said they’ve seen a big increase in the
number of towns and cities interested in corporate dollars or
“municipal marketing,’’ as the company calls it. He said San Diego has
been at the forefront of the movement, and remains a model for other
communities. The city’s website has a section devoted to corporate
partnerships, where visitors can see how Cardiac Science is San Diego’s
official automatic external defibrillator partner and Pepsi Bottling
Group is the official beverage provider....Chipps said one of the
biggest difficulties for towns and cities pursuing corporate dollars is
selling the idea to residents. And some say there’s good reason. Josh
Golin of Boston-based Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood said
schools should remain devoid of advertising. “It’s a tragedy that
schools are even being put in this position,’’ he said. “Clearly
schools recognize that there is a downside to this, because they don’t
do it in better economic times.’’ But he said that’s no excuse for
allowing corporate influence in the schools. “You’re exploiting a
captive audience of students,’’ said Golin. “The purpose of education
is to raise critical thinkers. . . . Advertising has been linked to the
problems facing kids today, including obesity, materialism, and
violence.’’ As communities consider corporate dollars, they’ll have to
confront these issues head-on. Stoldt said there was opposition in
Hopkinton a few years years ago when the idea first came up. But since
then, protest has died down. “I really think we’ve become numb to a lot
of the influences of the media,’’ he said. “People get it.’’
Boston Globe
PA: Legal fees in bus battle top $189,000
A Harrisburg law firm is clocking plenty of billable hours in the fight
over privatizing bus transportation in the Central Dauphin School
District. From May to the end of 2009, the firm Rhodes & Sinon
billed the school district $189,527 for the 1,064.52 hours lawyers
spent working on the school district's case, according to school
district records obtained by The Patriot-News. District officials have
testified that outsourcing will save more than $11 million during the
next five years: $2.2 million from selling the buses, $5.2 million by
not having to buy buses and $775,000 per year in administrative
costs... Eric Epstein, the business manager who represents the bus
drivers, said that all of the fees were unnecessary and avoidable, and
that Rhodes & Sinon should not benefit from the dispute.."The
decision to break a midterm contract and outsource transportation
reflects poor planning, mismanagement and awful legal advice," Epstein
said. He added that any savings from outsourcing have been erased by
legal fees. Epstein, who has a private firm that represents the bus
drivers, did not say how much the bus drivers had spent on legal fees.
The Patriot-News
LA: Airport board broke open meetings law
A federal judge has ruled that the New Orleans Aviation Board violated
public records and open meetings laws in an ultimately scrapped effort
to privatize its curbside taxicab operations. U.S. District Judge Mary
Ann Vial Lemmon ruled in favor of a California-based taxi company,
Tectrans, and its subsidiary, which alleged bid-rigging by the New
Orleans airport. The May 2009 lawsuit led the Aviation Board to break
off its selection of one of Tectrans' competitors, Dulles Airport Taxi.
The board has not resumed the privatization effort since
then...Testifying in federal court last year, then-Aviation Director
Sean Hunter said a technical committee, composed mostly of airport
staff, met in private when it evaluated three bids for the
taxi-management services. That committee found that all three bids
failed to meet certain requirements, but it threw out only Tectrans'
offer. Tectrans said the meeting should have been open to the public,
but the board said a technical committee of staff members was exempt
from the state's open meetings law.
The Times Picayune
CT: New Haven mayor's budget includes parking meter leasing
Mayor John DeStefano Jr. will seek $1 million in labor concessions and
$8 million in savings from what he has termed “innovation based
budgeting,” including targeted privatization of city services, greater
reliance on volunteers and outside institutions and moving paper-heavy
work online..DeStefano’s proposal incorporates $10 million through
“monetization” of parking meters, intended to stabilize taxes until the
economy improves. The city has been exploring a long-term lease of its
meters to an investment group that would provide an upfront payment.
New Haven Register
LA: Plans for disabled questioned
Louisiana lawmakers urged the Jindal administration Monday to use care
in moving the developmentally disabled into private facilities. "Those
folks cannot take care of themselves. You know that," state Sen.
Francis Thompson said during a meeting of the Senate Committee on
Finance.
The Advocate (Baton Rouge)
TN: Tennessee State Fair may be outsourced
The State Fair Board asked its executive director Monday to begin
negotiations with private companies interested in running the State
Fair in 2010.
The Tennessean (Nashville)
