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By Mike Bock, on February 26th, 2010
The “Statement of Disbursements of The House” every quarter shows what each member of the U.S. House of Representatives spends. I looked up the record for the congressman for my district, Mike Turner, who represents Ohio’s 3rd Congressional District. It shows in detail how Congressman Turner, the the last quarter of 2009, spent $410,318.24 of taxpayers’ money. And shows that for the year he spent $1.31 million. This summary, for Mr. Turner, is found on page 2430 of the “Statement of Disbursements of The House.” The report does not show what salary and other compensation Mr. Turner, himself, received.
Most of
…continue reading the article Congressman Mike Turner Spent $1,309,220 Last Year Of Tax Money To Pay Personnel And Maintain Offices
By Mike Bock, on February 25th, 2010
Should academically successful adolescents go to college at the end of their tenth grade? An editorial this week in the DDN urges Ohio to adopt this early college idea, but the proposal brings up a lot of questions.
The DDN says early college is, “a promising high school reform effort.” Reform seeks to bring more efficiency or more success to a system. So, to me, here is the sticking point for this early college idea: The definition of success of the system of public education is so lazily considered, there is little standard for judging ideas for system improvement.
The
…continue reading the article Pushing Kids To “Early College,” At End Of 10th Grade, Is Opposite Of Advancing Authentic High School Reform
By Mike Bock, on February 22nd, 2010
Here is a PDF showing the names of delegates seeking election to the Montgomery County Democratic Party Reorganization Meeting. Every precinct is allowed to elect one delegate at the May 4 Democratic Primary. The deadline to get the name on the ballot was February 18. Of the 360 precincts in Montgomery County, about one-half will have at least one candidate on the ballot. But almost half will not.
Candidates elected at the May 4 Democratic Primary will be delegates to the Reorganization Meeting (held in mid-May) and will be voting members of the Montgomery County Democratic Party’s
…continue reading the article Only One-Half Of County Precincts Have Candidates For Montgomery County Dems’ Reorganization Meeting
By Jeff Putman, on February 18th, 2010
The U.S. government is pressuring insurance companies to file more lawsuits. Insurance companies who participate in the Government Employee Health Benefit Program (GEHBP) are sending letters to all of their customers who have had medical expenses paid for by the insurance company if the medical treatment was made necessary by an injury.
The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) manages the GEHBP on behalf of most federal employees and retirees. It’s the program by which the federal government buys insurance for its employees. The government pays a fixed amount of the insurance premium, regardless of which insurance company the employee chooses. The
…continue reading the article Government Orders Insurers to File More Suits
By Mike Bock, on February 16th, 2010
The Kettering Board of Education at its Feb. 16 meeting, this evening, will discuss its plans to place a 6.9 mill operating levy on the May 4 ballot. The meeting will be held at 6 p.m. in the Recital Hall of Fairmont High School, 3301 Shroyer Road.
The need for a 6.9 mill levy is based on a five year budget projection prepared by Kettering’s School Treasurer, Steve Clark. This school year (2009-2010), Kettering is spending $82.1 million to educate 7329 students, or, on average, $11,200 per student per year. The budget projection shows that within four years (2013 – 2014)
…continue reading the article Most Kettering Teachers Will Receive Salary Increases Of 8% Per Year — If 6.9 Mill Property Tax Is Approved
By Mike Bock, on February 11th, 2010
Kettering Schools paid $19,000 to a professional polling business, Strategic Visioning, Inc., to gather information about Kettering voters’ opinion about Kettering Schools. The introduction to the report says, “This study was commissioned to determine voters’ attitudes toward Kettering City School District’s academic performance, fiscal stewardship, facilities, and leadership, as well as support for upcoming levies.”
The Strategic Visioning poll (download a PDF here) shows a lot of public confidence in Kettering Schools. Evidently, the results of this poll helped encourage the Kettering School Board to put a new school property tax levy of 6.9 mills on the May 4
…continue reading the article Kettering Schools Paid $19,000 For A Professional Poll To Evaluate Public Support For New Property Tax Levy
By Mike Bock, on February 4th, 2010
I had a nice lunch yesterday at Mama DeSalvo’s restaurant as a guest of the South Dayton AMBUCS Club. I was the guest speaker. AMBUCS is a service organization, originally called the American Business Club, that every year provides equipment and help to handicapped adults and children.
There are four different AMBUCS chapters in the Dayton. The South Dayton Club meets every Wednesday for lunch at 12:00 noon, in the special meeting room there at the restaurant. It seems a great group with great projects. I’m thinking about joining. Membership includes a wonderful lunch every Wednesday.
I edited my talk and
…continue reading the article What If More Democracy Is The Answer?
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