Headlines
LA: Out-state standardized tests firms reap millions
PA: Liquor privatization could harm state’s health record – commentary
TX: A&M privatization effort wins over skeptics
VA: The privatization of Virginia’s roads – editorial
OK: Oklahoma park bought and paid for
OH: Privatizing student newspapers
Private vs. Public Facilities, Is it cost effective and safe?
Public universities reach a tipping point

LA: Out-state standardized tests firms reap millions
The Louisiana Department of Education is spending more than $132.9 million with two out-of-state companies for standardized tests. The department has 70 current contracts worth more than $1 million each. That adds up to $282 million, more than half of which goes to contractors outside of Louisiana. The volume of contracts awarded by the DOE doesn’t sit well with the state’s treasurer, while the flow of funds to out-of-state companies concerns several past and present Board of Elementary and Secondary Education members. Treasurer John Kennedy says he believes the education department is “right at the top of the list” when it comes to departments that “abuse” contracts. But long-term efforts at education reform and accountability legislation are the driving forces behind some of the largest contracts between the DOE and at least two out-of-state firms. The News Star

PA: Liquor privatization could harm state’s health record – commentary
As Pennsylvania moves toward easing access to alcohol to raise revenue for the commonwealth and lower prices for consumers, much of the discussion has focused on the financial aspects of privatizing liquor licenses and on individual freedom of choice. Little has been said about the health effects of these proposed changes…Pennsylvania has the lowest alcohol-related mortality rate in the United States.
Using data from the National Center for Health Statistics, we calculated alcohol-related death rates for all states during the last eight years. Pennsylvania’s rate was 3.7 per 100,000 people; Alaska’s rate was the highest at 19.5 per 100,000. Many factors might contribute to the low rate of alcohol-related deaths in Pennsylvania, but one key factor is the state’s longstanding alcohol policy. Though it is seen as restrictive, it provides a societal incentive to consume moderate amounts of alcohol by decreasing its easy accessibility. Among other things, it allows for limited hours of operation and close monitoring of purchases and price structure. Studies have shown that where alcohol is more available — where there are long hours of operation, low alcohol taxes or low prices for alcoholic beverages — there are higher rates of alcohol-related fatal traffic accidents, drunken-driving offenses, cirrhosis of the liver and alcohol-related assaults. PennLive.com

TX: A&M privatization effort wins over skeptics
Members of a Texas A&M committee charged with examining the controversial plan to privatize the university’s dining services jobs were won over to the plan by promises of massive amounts of additional revenue and employee protections, interviews with the committee members indicate…The chair of the dining services committee, Rex Janne, executive director of the university’s purchasing services, said that projection did not come from the committee, and wasn’t part of its purview. Another committee member, John Stallone, the university’s Faculty Senate speaker, said that projection could be confusing or misleading to some. Both Janne and Stallone supported the committee’s recommendation to move forward with outsourcing plans…Three companies had been in the running. The current university dining operation also was allowed to submit a bid. It did not make the final cut. A&M System Chancellor John Sharp, the head of the entire 11-university system and the chief proponent of the much-criticized privatization effort, declined an interview request for this story.  The Eagle

VA: The privatization of Virginia’s roads – editorial
When it comes to solving transportation problems across the commonwealth, Gov. Bob McDonnell appears ready to abandon Virginia’s paralyzed legislature and partner exclusively with the private sector.
That is, perhaps, the best explanation behind his administration’s reliance on the state’s Public-Private Transportation Act to refurbish, expand or build much of the infrastructure critical to the free flow of goods and people in Hampton Roads. It overcomes a generation of frustration with a legislature that simply turns its back on reality. But it also requires turning Virginia’s public highway system – built by the people of this commonwealth over generations – into a private business…The big news was a proposal to transform lanes reserved for high-occupancy vehicles on Interstate 64 into high-occupancy toll lanes.
..McDonnell touted the funding arrangement in a news release, noting this “is a very exciting time for Virginia business and transportation.”  If by business he means E-ZPass and the private contractors who’ll work on those roads, and the financial consortia that will operate them and reap billions in profits, then by all means, yes, it is. But it certainly is not an exciting time to be a commuter or a small-business owner who relies on the roads. It’s not an exciting time to be a commuter or small-business owner who will be forced to pay hundreds or thousands of dollars each year because his legislators won’t raise the gas tax by a few pennies to actually pay for the roads all Virginians need.  The Virginian-Pilot

OK: Oklahoma park bought and paid for
…For the developer, Pointe Vista Development, L.L.C, it was a rich score. The company plans to build a $500-million-plus gated retreat of condos, hotels, fancy homes and golf courses. Restaurants, swimming pools, a gym and a spa are going in. The developers are getting tax incentives to do it, too. Four years later the replacement park is still not built, even as the last state park cabins are slated for demolition. The Lake Texoma case illustrates how states can disregard their legal obligations to federally protected parkland. As InvestigateWest has reported, the National Park Service, which is responsible for overseeing the conversion program, does not have adequate controls in place to ensure that parks that receive federal grants comply with the law. Investigate West

OH: Privatizing student newspapers
The Lantern, the student newspaper at Ohio State University, announced this week that Gannett will take over its business and advertising divisions under a three-year contract. Gannett’s Media Network of Central Ohio (MNCO) will pay Ohio State’s College of Arts and Sciences, which houses the student paper, about $28,000 each month (adding up to a grand total of $838,500) for unfettered access to the university’s 53,000 students — and for all the ad revenue it can muster. It’s a less dramatic entrée than Gannett’s other moves in the market, in which two of the company’s local Sunshine State papers purchased nearby student operations; in August 2006, the Tallahassee Democrat bought the FSView & Florida Flambeau at Florida State University, and six months later Florida Today bought the Central Florida Future at the University of Central Florida. Both student papers were independent from their respective universities…But David Swartzlander, president of the College Media Association, whose members are advisers to student media organizations, said the move has generated considerable discussion among newspaper advisers who are wondering whether this has implications for the future of student journalism generally. Inside Higher Ed

Private vs. Public Facilities, Is it cost effective and safe?
A study by the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics found that the cost-savings promised by private prisons “have simply not materialized.” Some research has concluded that for-profit prisons cost more than public prisons. Furthermore, cost estimates from privatization advocates may be misleading, because private facilities often refuse to accept inmates that cost the most to house. A 2001 study concluded that a pattern of sending less expensive inmates to privately-run facilities artificially inflated cost savings. A 2005 study found that Arizona’s public facilities were seven times more likely to house violent offenders and three times more likely to house those convicted of more serious offenses. Evidence suggests that lower staff levels and training at private facilities may lead to increases in incidences of violence and escapes. A nationwide study found that assaults on guards by inmates were 49 percent more frequent in private prisons than in government-run prisons. The same study revealed that assaults on fellow inmates were 65 percent more frequent in private prison (Austin, Conventry, 2001). After an complete analysis on private vs. public run correctional facilities, one may come to the conclusion that private run facilities are no more cost saving effective or safer than a state run facility. We must ask ourselves, is any monetary amount worth the lives of one of our own? The statistics are there, this profession is tough enough, we should take pride of it and not risk the lives of our bravest officers just to attempt to save the state a couple of dollars.  Corrections.com

Public universities reach a tipping point
…The rate of decline in most states for funding their university systems is stunning. Currently, states are spending 20 percent less in inflation-adjusted dollars on higher education than a decade ago. According to the annual Grapevine study conducted by Illinois State University and the State Higher Education Executive Officers, state appropriations for higher education declined by 7.6 percent this past year — the largest annual decline in at least half a century. A five-year drop in state support has left funding levels for higher education lower in 29 states than it was in 2006-07. ..Today, public higher education seems to have reached that tipping point. Nowhere is that more apparent than in California, which accounts for one in seven dollars spent by the states on higher education nationally. This past year, the Legislature cut appropriations for all higher education by $1.5 billion, or almost 12 percent. The situation is so bad that California State University officials announced in March that they had decided to freeze enrollment at most of the system’s 23 campuses until the results of a November referendum on raising taxes are known. In the meantime, every applicant will be wait-listed. Usually about 70,000 students apply each spring; in the fall, it is 10 times that. If the referendum is defeated, enrollment will be cut by at least 20,000 students. Governing