A new twist that Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools implemented for the 2008-09 school year triggered a sharp decrease in long-term out-of-school suspensions, which tumbled to only 48 from 1,055 the previous year. Short-term out-of-school suspensions, by comparison, increased significantly, totaling 36,211 for the 2008-09 school year, a jump of 5,726. Officials with CMS’ Alternative Education/Safe Schools Department […]
Candidate filing for the 2010 election cycle ended with every incumbant Democrat facing a Republican challenger, and in some cases, a primary opponent as well. This is a significant accomplishment. Congratulations to each and every Patriot for showing a willingness to become involved in the political process by filing for office. A list of candidates and their contact […]
In Iran, they shoot you in the street. In China, they confiscate your computer and toss you in prison. In Charlotte, it’s less extreme but no less insidious. As part of a push to marginalize public dissent during meetings, the city council is apparently tweaking the rules for, ironically, its Citizens’ Forum. At least it […]
It’s pretty obvious from this account of last weekend’s powwow on job creation what local business leaders think needs to be done to kick start the economy: Reduce government bloat and bureaucratic red tape that thwarts private industry and reduce taxes to put more revenue into the hands of businesses to help drive the economy […]
A year ago this week, President Barack Obama put his stamp of approval on the massive $787-billion stimulus bill. To date, about the only thing it’s managed to stimulate is itself, with an official cost estimate ballooning to $862 billion. Meanwhile, some 3 million Americans have lost their jobs and the national unemployment rate, which […]
Superintendent Peter Gorman has his eyes on that pack of gum in your pocket, or maybe that bottle of Yoo-hoo on your desk, and the schools chief has already launched lobbying efforts to wrest them from you. Gorman didn’t come out and directly say as much when he unveiled a series of dire budget forecasts […]
Or at least that’s part of the rationale offered by the city’s top spokesperson for the skyrocketing number of, well, spokespersons on the city’s payroll. About half of her time on the job, Kim McMillan explains, is “spent coordinating public records requests from the media,” and she singles out nontraditional media for much of the […]
Two days ago, PunditHouse.com was introduced to a little website you may be familiar with…Google. Since then, faster than anticipated, the number of unique hits to PunditHouse.com’s web server have increased twenty fold. While this is wonderful news to those of us at the ‘House, many of
Facing a potential $9 million shortfall in the city budget, Mayor Anthony Foxx has pounced into action – and hired a newly minted, personal mouthpiece that’s costing taxpayers $70,000 a year. No cheap talk there, folks. The money quote from Foxx: “We’re in such a challenging time, and it’s more important than ever that I […]
