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...chair of the Washington city council called dealing with Rhee a "nightmare." There has been talk of passing legislation to rein her in. "Michelle Rhee believes in scorched earth," says Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, a national union that has become unusually involved in local matters in Washington. "I am not saying that D.C.'s school system doesn't need a lot of help. But I have been part of a lot of reforms, and the one thing I have never seen work is a hierarchical, top-down model...
Although state and local governments pay most of the bill for schools, the feds set the national direction--especially since the 2001 passage of No Child Left Behind, which established standards for measuring student progress. A new Education Secretary could, if he or she so desired, gut the accountability provisions in No Child Left Behind with the stroke of a pen. And in Washington, where the budget is controlled by Congress, Obama's leadership could give Rhee enormous momentum--or shut her down. "It would send a huge message if this Administration actually took a side on where...
...stimulus plan, transition aides say he will direct billions toward the health-care sector immediately. Some will go to a massive tech upgrade for an industry that in many ways is still paper-based. More urgent is the need to funnel cash directly from Washington to states so that local legislators don't rush to cut spending on Medicaid as state tax receipts dry up in the recession. "Absent some relief there, you'll get Medicaid budgets slashed," says a senior Democratic aide familiar with the plans...
Messing with the al-Hais brothers is not a good idea. Local lore has it that when al-Qaeda kidnapped Sheik Mohammed a couple of years ago, it demanded $120,000 for his release and added one other demand: that his home, the centerpiece of the al-Hais compound, be leveled. The family complied. But as soon as he was free, Sheik Mohammed ordered the house to be rebuilt exactly as before. To underscore his defiance, he named the new building al-Tahadi, or the Challenge...
...been significant and positive. Estimates of the net benefits to the U.S. economy put immigrants' net contribution at $50 billion per year. Immigrants boost economic output by increasing the size of the U.S. workforce and the productivity of American firms...Immigrants pay enough or more in federal, state and local taxes to offset what they consume in public services." 3. On "rethinking a troubled relationship" with Cuba: "U.S. policy should be reframed to enable legitimate Cuban voices to shape a representative, accountable and sustainable transition to democracy." Among the major overhauls recommended are the lifting of restrictions on American travel...