It’s hard to believe anyone could be as out of touch as John Hood. North Carolina’s very own conservative windbag — AKA Mr. Smirky – says in an article in Sunday’s Burlington Times News that Congress should not extend unemployment benefits because that would be a “disincentive” to getting those folks back into the job market.
Where does this guy live? Certainly not in my North Carolina, where the unemployment rate was 11.2% in December. Does he really think there are thousands of jobs out there going unfilled because all those lazy laid-off professionals are sitting at home, enjoying their unemployment checks? Has he ever tried to pay a mortgage or put a kid through college while on …
This morning, this is a heartbreaking story on the cover of the N&O.
Salima Mabry watched over her son Tuesday as he slept awkwardly in the chair where he had spent eight days waiting for a bed in a state mental hospital. Joshua Stewart, 13, is severely autistic and has an IQ of 36. He can only speak in short, single words, such as “Ma” or “hurt.” He first arrived at Wake County’s Crisis and Assessment unit for people with mental illness in the back of a squad car on Jan.18 after he attacked his mother and little brother.
As the mother of two sons with autism, one of whom has had serious issues with aggression, I can easily imagine myself …
This morning, I signed an online petition calling on NC’s Division of Medical Assistance to reconsider its decision to stop paying for Community-based Rehabilitative Services (CBRS) for children age three and under who have some sort of developmental delay. As the petition states:
There is mountains of research and evidence… that early intervention increases the developmental and educational gains for the child, improves the functioning of the family, and reaps long-term benefits for society.
Then there was the piece in today’s N&O that says the state is capping enrollment into its drug assistance program for HIV patients at the current level, meaning low-income people not currently in the program will not have access to the expensive life-saving drugs they need. This …
My co-worker and friend Ajamu Dillahunt is one of the authors of a new report from United for a Fair Economy called State of the Dream 2010: Drained – Jobless and Foreclosed in Communities of Color. It’s an in-depth look at how the Great Recession has devastated black and Latino communities (considerably more so than white communities) and how federal economic recovery efforts have failed to target those most in need.
The unemployment rate for Black and Latinos is at a 27-year high, 16.2% and 12.9% respectively. But sadly, the stimulus effort has overlooked that. In fact, much of the stimulus has overlooked communities of color all together.
From Ajamu’s column regarding the report, which appears on HuffingtonPost.com:
But even the …
A report from the Charlotte Observer finds high-poverty schools are less likely to have teachers who have earned National Board Certification, an intensive process that takes about two years to complete and requires that teachers prove they have effective classroom skills. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools tries to entice teachers to their “highest-need schools” with financial incentives and good working conditions, but so far these efforts have had mixed results.
One sentence in the article jumped out at me: “Five elementary schools, with a total of 3,740 students and poverty levels ranging from 56 percent to 94 percent, have no certified teachers.”
94 percent of students in poverty?! In one school?!
I guess that’s the direction we’re heading in Wake County. The new “Gang …
I was in my car, listening to WUNC, when a piece came on about a new report that found approximately 12 percent of kids in juvenile detention centers suffer sexual abuse while there. At some facilities, the rate is nearly one in three. When the reporter started listing the worst facilities, I thought, please please don’t let one of them be in North Carolina. Then she said it – Samarkand Youth Development Center in Eagle Springs, North Carolina. According to the report, conducted by the US Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Statistics, 33.3% of the juveniles who responded to their survey reported being abused, with 20.8 percent saying the abuse was inflicted by staff and that force was used. These are …
From newsobserver.com: The maker of the iconic BlackBerry mobile phone has selected the Triangle as the site of its newest office… According to the company’s statement, it picked this area because of its talented workers and has already begun hiring for the new site. An N.C. Department of Commerce spokeswoman said no state incentives have been discussed to lure the company here. A report from the Southern Education Foundation found that more than half of the public-school students in the South are poor and more than half are minorities. In North Carolina, 43.2 percent of students are minorities and half are low-income, which the report defines as being eligible for free or reduce-priced lunch. This demographic shift is due to the number of African Americans moving south and an increase in the number of students who are Hispanic or from other ethnic groups. Low-income, African-American and Hispanic students are struggling in North Carolina schools. They are more likely to fail their end-of-grade tests and more likely to drop out of high school. What does this demographic shift mean for education policy in …
January 8, 2010
Report find sexual abuse at NC juvenile detention facility
January 7, 2010
A reminder of how investing in people and infrastructure pay off
Southern demographics and education
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