This is number 32 in a planned series of 50 entries between now and November, looking at each of the 50 states in terms of every race on that state's ticket--Presidential, Gubernatorial, Senate, House, State legislatures--the whole oceanfront! Special attention paid to identifying and promoting the most important contests per state.
A celebratory entry this time, as we take a big look at a little, but beautifully blue state—Rhode Island!
The election of Providence Mayor David Cicilline in 2002 was a changing of the guard in Renaissance City politics. Indeed, while Cicilline was settling into – and removing his predecessor’s wet bar from – the mayor’s office, the former mayor Vincent A. "Buddy" Cianci was being removed to federal prison to serve a five-year sentence for racketeering.
So, I got a push polling call today, from Pacific Crest Research. It was pretty transparent in purpose, but I have to wonder; who would do this, and what possible purpose could it serve?
The sparks that had been flying for a few days between Governor Don Carcieri and AFSCME Local 94 have died down for the moment.
A recap for those not here in RI: At the end of June, the union's contract with the state expired. Negotiations had been ongoing for a new contract, but just over a week ago Council 94 (along with a few other smaller unions) overwhelmingly rejected the latest potential agreement because of a change in how much they would pay for health insurance - a change that Carcieri pushed to help close the state's budget deficit).
In response, Carcieri passed an executive order that would have forced the union to use the changes in place of no agreement. Council 94 and the other unions filed suit in state superior court claiming there were no negotiations. Last night the judge said a ruling would be issued in two weeks; the governor stated his executive order was on hold pending the ruling.
I posted a diary a couple of days ago with this request but I guess my timing is uniquely bad. I also decided that I lumped too much into it so I'm going to break it out to two separate diaries (today and tomorrow).
I've included my Email address in my profile if you can help!
UPDATE #3: So it has been a crazy 24 hours. But what is most outragous is that Col. Doherty of the State Police actually said yesterday:
Doherty said state police will not be conducting immigration raids or sweeps. But he added, "I’ve taken a position that this is not a sanctuary state, and if we find someone who is here illegally or unlawfully, we will notify ICE."
Yet, within minutes, that is exactly what happened.
Far too much of our educational assessment has been to rely on tests, often limited to multiple choice answer, or at best including some writing expected to be completed in a formulaic fashion (think 5 paragraph essay) in a fixed period of time. But such tests do not necessarily offer us the best way of evaluating what students know and can do.
Performance assessment goes beyond that, and can often be used in conjunction with tests. Think for a moment about the 3 things you must in most states complete before you get a driver's licence. First you must pass a vision test, which ensures at a minimum you have the physical capability to safely operate a motor vehicle. Then you must also pass a test on knowledge of the rules of the road as defined by your state. Pass both of these and you can get a learner's permit, which will allow you to operate a motor vehicle under the supervision of a licensed driver. But you cannot be fully licensed to drive by yourself until you can pass the road test. That road test is an example of performance assessment, one in which you demonstrate the ability to use your vision and apply your knowledge of the rules of the road to safely operate a motor vehicle.
Yeah, that's right, I've finally succumbed to the peer pressure here at the Great Orange Satan and thrown by battered old "Dean for America" hat into the ring. I'm running for a seat in the Rhode Island General Assembly.
The lower house of the GA, the House of Representatives, has 75 members, and my own district, the 75th, was held by Democrat Paul W. Crowley. Crowley died of cancer back in September 2007, and in a special election the seat was won by a Republican, Steve Coaty. Now it's time for Coaty to defend his seat, and he's got two Democratic challengers: me, and a guy named Peter Martin.
That golf is not a sport (a game, maybe) and Tiger Woods, whatever he is, is not an athlete . . . but we talked all about that yesterday, exhausted the topic, actually.
Within the past month I put forth 19 polls with 15 candidates each to figure out who you guys want in an Obama cabinet. With voting in all rounds now over I compiled five different cabinets and will put them all up for a vote this week.
Who got included in the final cabinets: the top three in each poll automatically made it into these final cabinet polls, in some cases also the 4th and 5th. However, to make sure that the cabinets are as diverse as possible I gave some candidates who didn't have enough votes a wildcard.
Each day this week you can rate a cabinet. Today, you can rate a possible Obama/Richardson cabinet on a scale from 1 (hate it) to 10 (love it). At the end I will post the results and the cabinet with the highest average wins.
Within the past month I put forth 19 polls with 15 candidates each to figure out who you guys want in an Obama cabinet. With voting in all rounds now over I compiled five different cabinets and will put them all up for a vote this week.
Who got included in the final cabinets: the top three in each poll automatically made it into these final cabinet polls, in some cases also the 4th and 5th. However, to make sure that the cabinets are as diverse as possible I gave some candidates who didn't have enough votes a wildcard.
Each day this week you can rate a cabinet. Today, you can rate a possible Obama/Richardson cabinet on a scale from 1 (hate it) to 10 (love it). At the end I will post the results and the cabinet with the highest average wins.
is rather than by tests by portfolios and performances. Yesterday I attended a conference in Providence, Rhode Island co-sponsored by the Rhode Island Department of Education which was mainly put on by the Coalition of Essential Schools, an organization which flows from the work of Theodore Sizer, who was one of the speakers.
I plan to write in depth about what I saw when I have time to organize my thoughts - I did not get home until 1 AM this morning, and I still have my own school responsibilities. I saw some examples of student performances and portfolios, I have where possible tried to use the approach in my own teaching, know there is literature that supports the approach, and mention right now that the state of Rhode Island now includes this as a graduation requirement.
But since I may not post my more detailed report for several days, and there is something of value tomorrow, I wanted to be sure if you are interested in performance assessment, whether as an educator, a parent, a student, a policy maker, or simply a citizen, tomorrow you will have a very special opportunity, and I wanted to give you the heads up now.
Everyone's talking about Obama's running mate. But who would you like to see in an Obama cabinet?
Today you can vote on the next Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. Also, the previous rounds are still open for voting. More below the fold.
This is actually going to be a summary of blog posts that I have over at RIFuture.org dealing with roll call votes in some state legislatures, particularly with my home state of Rhode Island. Over the past few years, I’ve become increasingly interested in the bills that were being introduced, and watching the history of particular bills, as they worked their way through the process. My main attention was to how my state legislator voted on certain bills, and also the ones in which they introduced. Though the Rhode Island General Assembly tracks bills introduced by legislators in an easily searchable form online, it’s not so easy to track legislators’ voting records.
For all of you have been following these polls, I just wanted to let you know why there's no runoff for Sec. of Health and Human Services today. The problem is that thus far all polls were won by white men. It is as unrealistic as can be that we'd actually have a cabinet in which all the top positions were held by white men. It's not the 60s anymore. So the Obama Cabinet polls will have to change a little.
What I will do from now on:
I will still poll all positions and the initial polls for all positions are reopened. So you can still vote for State, AG, etc. In the end, I will look at all poll results and will compile five different cabinets including your favorite candidates from each poll (plus a wildcard where necessary). The diversity of the US population will be reflected in each cabinet. And you then get to vote on each cabinet as a whole.
Today's poll and the links to the other polls are below the fold.
The Secretary of Defense runoff poll between Chuck Hagel and Jim Webb was a real nailbiter. Results below the fold.
With the Obama Veepstakes poll now concluded and Gov. Bill Richardson as your chosen running mate (which was covered by the Santa Fe Reporter) it's time to take this a step further:
Who would you like to see in an Obama cabinet?
Thus far, Joe Biden won the Sec. of State poll and Michael Bloomberg won the Sec. of the Treasury poll (results below the fold). Today you can vote on the next Attorney General:
With the Obama Veepstakes poll now concluded and Gov. Bill Richardson as your chosen running mate (which was covered by the Santa Fe Reporter) it's time to take this a step further:
Who would you like to see in an Obama cabinet?
Thus far, Joe Biden won the Sec. of State poll and yesterday Michael Bloomberg won the Sec. of the Treasury poll (results below the fold). Today you can vote on the next Secretary of Defense:
Sometimes, when I take a stand on an issue, I incur the wrath of people who disagree. Some of the emails I’ve received are not fit for publication on a family blog like this and some of the voice mails have been saved for posterity (and possible court proceedings).
But never have I had someone think they could intimidate me by writing to my boss and demanding to know if I was speaking for my employer 24 hours a day. And never have I had someone write to my boss challenging my right to support or oppose any piece of legislation or government policy. And never have I had a high government official try to get my employer to silence my voice in the public square just because what I say challenges that official’s policy. Until ...
