Progressive News, Opinion, and Analysis
Rhode Island Senator Sheldon Whitehouse is leading the fight in Congress to curtail climate change and he’ll be proving it tomorrow when he speaks at Politico’s event on energy policy in the morning, and then testifying before the EPA in favor new carbon pollution standards for new power plants.
You can watch the Politico event live here tomorrow morning. But if you just can’t wait to see Sheldon talk climate change, watch his weekly congressional address on the issue here:
Rhode Island-born and based drug store giant CVS made international news this morning when the pharmacy chain announced it would stop selling tobacco products.
“The company’s move was yet another sign of its metamorphosis into becoming more of a health care provider than a largely retail business, with its stores offering more miniclinics and health advice to aid customers visiting its pharmacies,” according to the New York Times.
And the National Journal wrote, “The move, which some might see as long overdue at a one-stop shop that doubles as a convenience store and pharmacy, could be a savvy publicity coup that builds brand loyalty with certain demographics.”
I know I’m pretty excited that it’s a Rhode Island company willing to take a $2 billion (less than 2 percent of annual revenue) annual hit so that its business model better matches its values.
So is Congressman Jim Langevin, who sent this statement:
CVS has long been a good corporate citizen and a pillar of the Rhode Island community, and this decision to change their business practice in the interest of public health is yet another example of CVS’s leadership. I believe they are blazing the trail for other companies to put profits aside and join the movement to help decrease tobacco use nationwide and improve public health. I am proud that this bold move is coming from a Rhode Island-based company, and I know that health care providers here are well-equipped with cessation and counseling programs to help CVS customers and all Rhode Islanders quit smoking and get on the path to a healthier life.
Providence Mayor Angel Taveras said:
I am proud that the Rhode Island-based CVS has taken a leading role to end the sale of tobacco in pharmacies. Pharmacies are trusted sources of health information for consumers, and the choice to stop selling tobacco products demonstrates CVS’ commitment to the wellbeing of its customers.
And Governor Chafee said:
This must have been a difficult decision for the corporation and the board to weigh the benefits of making the conscientious choice versus the possibility of jeopardizing the bottom line. I applaud CVS/Caremark for taking the right fork in the road.
It doesn’t appear as if the Republicans involved in the cyber-smear campaign against Rep. Scott Guthrie have committed a crime when they made a fake Facebook page to lampoon the Coventry Democrat. (Here’s the applicable state law) But it doesn’t seem like they took much effort to ensure the public would know that their gag was in fact a farce.
That’s maybe worse than cyber-harassment. It’s cyber-deception. According to the Providence Journal Attorney General Peter Kilmartin “has tried – and failed – to convince the General Assembly to pass legislation creating a new category of crime for ‘online impersonation.'” According to this TIME post, such activity is against the law in nine states.
Worth noting, though, that Rhode Island holds our public school students to a higher standard than our public officials. Here’s the applicable section from RIDE’s 2012 cyber-bullying policy:
Forms of cyber‐bullying may include but are not limited to: a. The creation of a web page or blog in which the creator assumes the identity of another person; b. The knowing impersonation of another person as the author of posted content or messages; or c. The distribution by electronic means of a communication to more than one person or the posting of materials on an electronic medium that may be accessed by one or more persons, if the creation, impersonation, or distribution results in any of the conditions enumerated in clauses (a) to (e) of the definition of bullying.
So, to recap: not criminal but for reference we expect better conduct from children. And for those who will confuse this as a First Amendment issue, this isn’t the issue:
This is:
Democratic candidates for governor could meet Monday with Common Cause RI to hammer out the details of a People’s Pledge, said John Marion, executive director of the good government group who first suggested using the tool developed in Massachusetts to keep outside money from influencing local elections.
Marion said in an interview yesterday that People’s Pledges have been utilized four times in Massachusetts to keep Super PAC and other so-called “dark” money from spending money on negative advertising in local elections – Elizabeth Warren and Scott Brown were the pioneers and it was used in two subsequent congressional races; and Marion also includes an agreement between Bill Weld and John Kerry in 1996.
But, to his knowledge, this would be the first time the ad-hoc workaround to the controversial Citizens United Supreme Court ruling that allows unlimited and anonymous money to be spent in elections.
“With the growth of third party spending … the candidates actual message gets drowned out,” Marion said. “That spending tends to be overwhelmingly negative. Those groups acts as proxys for the official campaign. Official campaigns don’t like to go negative because it reflects poorly on the candidates but when it’s independent of candidate they have no problem.”
Marion said a People’s Pledge could curtail that and be “potentially historic.”
Listen to our conversation here:
The most prominent and persuasive argument for using the 11th grade NECAP math test as a graduation requirement in RI high schools has been the relative success of Massuchusetts’ use of their MCAS exam for that purpose. Last year I prepared a graph showing how Massachusetts student’s math MCAS scores increased over time compared to the NECAP math scores of RI, Vermont and New Hampshire. It is important to note that Vermont and New Hampshire score in the top tier of states by virtually every measure of math achievement.
See where the percentage scoring at least “2” on the MCAS jumps about 20% between years three and four? That’s the graduation requirement kicked in for juniors. The same effect in theory should have kicked in in year six (last year) for the RI NECAP, but there was no corresponding jump.
The 2013 NECAP results, which have been partially released on RIDE’s website, continue the past trend. The number of 11th graders statewide scoring “1” or “substantially below proficient” decreased just 4% to 36%. This is simply not enough progress to show the policy is working. If you dig down to individual districts and charter schools — demographic and other in-district breakdowns are not available — it is even more disappointing (past years’ data from here):
I should hasten to note that my point here is not to do the typical blame and shame. What seven years of 11th grade NECAP math scores tell me is that nobody has figured out how to increase them, especially among disadvantaged students, to an degree comparable to the MCAS and by enough to make the test an appropriate graduation requirement.
This is not supposed to happen. Two of the fundamental premises of contemporary school reform are that students will rise to the level of expectations, and that incentives drive results. We’ve got the expectations, the incentives could not be clearer or higher stakes to students and all the adult stakeholders and… the results are just not there.
To replicate the MCAS success story, North Providence’s 18 point improvement would have to be the average gain statewide, not an outlier. When your highest flying low-income charter still has a third of its juniors not on track to graduate because of a single test, that’s not normal. If RIDE knows how to increase 11th grade math NECAP scores, why haven’t they told Central Falls? We’ve been paying outside consultants, too, like The Dana Center, who know as much about aligning math curriculum to standards as anyone. Apparently they don’t know the answer either.
Exactly why we — and New Hampshire and Vermont — don’t seem to be able to raise 11th grade NECAP math scores is beside the point. My theory is that 11th grade NECAP math scores reflect “fluid intelligence” more than the MCAS and other standardized tests, and teaching “fluid” skills like analyzing abstract problems and thinking logically in school is difficult and poorly understood.
Or perhaps the difference is simply that the MCAS was a problem designed with its own solution in mind. The test was developed in parallel with a curriculum framework. For schools to raise their MCAS scores, they needed to do a better job of delivering the state curriculum, which was not necessarily easy, but it was straightforward and achievable. There is no equivalent map for increasing NECAP scores.
At this point, the burden of proof should pass to the proponents of the NECAP graduation requirement to lay out an evidence-based strategy for increasing the “pass” rate for NECAP math statewide by 20% that amounts to something other than “stay the course.” We can’t have a third or more of seniors not knowing if they’re going to graduate in February or scrambling for waivers. For this to work, we need Barrington at 99% pass, Westerly and Blackstone Academy at 95%, and Central Falls and Providence need to nearly double the number of students getting over the bar. Maybe it is possible. Tell me how. I don’t see it.
And of course, it is a moot point since RI is moving off the NECAP as soon as possible anyhow. So… seriously, why are we doing this to ourselves?
