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Friday Facts: August 27, 2015

posted 4 years ago on August 28th, 2015 by admin 2 Comments

It’s Friday! Events September 16: Health Connect South 2015 takes place at the Georgia Aquarium. This amazing daylong program highlights health collaborations and innovations throughout the Southeast, with a special focus on the ebola response. Dr. Brenda Fitzgerald, Commissioner of Public Health and former Chairman of the Georgia Public Policy Foundation is a featured speaker. And Foundation members who register by August 31 get 20 percent off the registration fee with the promotion code GPPF_HCS02015. Register here. October 15: Early bird deadline! Just one week left to claim your Early Bird Discount for the Sixth Annual Georgia Legislative Policy Forum. The $100 rate expires Friday, September 4. Latest to joining the list of experts: John Goodman, known… View Article

Survey Finds One-Third of Ga. School Districts Contract Out Services

posted 4 years ago on August 27th, 2015 by admin 1 Comment

<img height=”1″ width=”1″ alt=”” style=”display:none” src=”https://www.facebook.com/tr?ev=6030221446672&cd[value]=0.00&cd[currency]=USD&noscript=1″ />By Michael LaFaive and Kelly McCutchen More than a third of all conventional pubic school districts in Georgia contract out one of the three major non-instructional services, according to survey data collected this summer by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, a Michigan-based research institute. The Mackinac Center survey of Georgia and four other states found that 38 percent of Georgia districts contract out for at least one of the “big three” non-instructional services: food, transportation and custodial services. Done right, contracting out can save money and relieve management headaches, too. But Mackinac found a curious pattern in Georgia: Just three districts – 1.7 percent – contract out transportation (bus) services, and only… View Article

Friday Facts: August 14, 2015

posted 4 years ago on August 14th, 2015 by admin 2 Comments

It’s Friday! Events October 15: Just added to the list of experts at the Sixth Annual Georgia Legislative Policy Forum: Nevada Sen. Scott Hammond, sponsor of that state’s Education Savings Account law. Register now to attend the event at the Renaissance Waverly Atlanta on Thursday, Oct. 15. Arthur Brooks, president of the American Enterprise Institute, is the keynote. The theme is, “Wisdom, Justice and Opportunity.” Details here. Registration is $125 per person; an Early Bird rate ($100) applies until Friday, September 4. Register here. Sponsorships are available; contact Benita Dodd. Quotes of Note “That principle is, that the sole end for which mankind are warranted, individually or collectively, in interfering with the liberty… View Article

Friday Facts: June 5, 2015

posted 4 years ago on June 5th, 2015 by admin 1 Comment

It’s Friday! Events July 29: Mark your calendar! The Foundation takes the annual Friedman Legacy for Freedom Day event to Savannah for a Policy Briefing Luncheon. The speaker is Dr. Ben Scafidi, Georgia’s foremost expert on education funding. $30. Register here. October 15: Registration is open for the sixth annual Georgia Legislative Policy Forum, 7:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Thursday, October 15, at the Renaissance Waverly Atlanta. The theme is, “Wisdom, Justice and Opportunity.” Review the 2014 Forum here. Registration is $125 per person; an Early Bird rate ($100) applies until Friday, September 4. Register here. Sponsorships are available; contact Benita Dodd. Quotes of Note “But the mild voice of reason, pleading the cause of… View Article

Friday Facts: May 29, 2015

posted 4 years ago on May 29th, 2015 by admin 1 Comment

It’s Friday! Quotes of Note “There’s something that stinks to high heaven about a government racket in which businesses profit from government subsidies, and then turn around and employ lobbying organizations to lobby for more tax dollars.” – Stephen Moore “Transit today is, in almost all U.S. markets, slower than driving. People who depend on transit can reach fewer jobs than those who have automobiles available. Some people use transit by choice, for instance to save money (if they need to pay for parking), and the rest without choice. In my opinion, it is more important to spend scarce public dollars to improve options for those without choices than to improve the choices for those who already have alternatives.… View Article

Friday Facts: May 22, 2015

posted 4 years ago on May 22nd, 2015 by admin Leave a Comment

Friday Facts It’s Friday! Events May 26: America’s Future Foundation Atlanta hosts, “Living Under Collectivism,” a panel discussion 6:30 p.m. at the Hudson Grille Midtown Atlanta. Panelists are Benita Dodd, vice president of the Georgia Public Policy Foundation, a native of South Africa who grew up under apartheid, and Marina Davidovich, a gymnastics coach and international judge for the International Gymnastics Federation who was born in Ukraine during the height of communist rule. June 23-25: The Institute for HealthCare Consumerism’s Sixth Annual IHC Forum & Expo in Atlanta highlights the innovations and changes in health and benefits. Register by May 31 and save $100 with the early bird rate. October 15: Registration is open for the sixth… View Article

Atlanta Journal-Constitution publishes Foundation’s, ‘A Streetcar named denial’

posted 4 years ago on May 19th, 2015 by admin 3 Comments

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution published an op-ed on May 19, 2015, about the Atlanta Streetcar by Foundation Vice President Benita Dodd, “A streetcar named denial.” Read it on the newspaper’s Web site here (subscription required); the full text is below. A streetcar named denial By Benita Dodd After almost five months of official Atlanta Streetcar operation, city officials are exploring route expansion to the Beltline. But storefronts boarded up and covered by newsprint along the route are their own news story on the economic-development promise. It may be that the promises are simply slow to be fulfilled. Nevertheless, looking ahead to Streetcar promises should require looking back on past promises. Deadlines: The streetcar was originally scheduled to begin operating in… View Article

Friday Facts: May 15, 2015

posted 4 years ago on May 15th, 2015 by admin Leave a Comment

It’s Friday! Events June 23-25: The Institute for HealthCare Consumerism’s Sixth Annual IHC Forum & Expo in Atlanta highlights the innovations and changes in health and benefits. Register by May 31 and save $100 with the early bird rate. October 15: Mark your calendar! The sixth annual Legislative Policy Forum, takes place at the Renaissance Waverly Atlanta. The theme is, “Wisdom, Justice and Opportunity,” expanding on the Georgia motto of, “Wisdom, Justice, and Moderation.” Details to follow; review the 2014 Forum here. Quotes of Note “Incentives-based economic policies are harmful to economic growth. By definition they transfer control over resource use from the more efficient setting of private sector resource owners and entrepreneurs to the… View Article

Friday Facts: April 17, 2015

posted 4 years ago on April 16th, 2015 by admin Leave a Comment

It’s Friday! Quotes of Note “Good teachers are so important to student learning that if the lowest-performing 5 to 7 percent of all teachers were replaced with just average teachers, the long-term benefits to the nation’s human capital would be enough to increase annual economic growth rates by as much as 1 percent annually, according to estimates from Stanford economist Eric Hanushek.” – Paul E. Peterson “Culturally enriching field trips matter. … [S]eeing plays is an effective way to teach academic content; increases student tolerance by providing exposure to a broader, more diverse world; and improves the ability of students to recognize what other people are thinking or feeling.” – Jay P. Greene, “Learning from Live Theater”… View Article

2015 Legislative Session: Opportunities Taken and Missed

posted 4 years ago on April 10th, 2015 by admin Leave a Comment

By Kelly McCutchen As expected, transportation funding and the Governor’s proposal to address persistently failing public schools dominated Georgia’s legislative session. The measures passed, yet several opportunities to address critical economic issues were missed. Here’s the good, the bad and the ugly on how the 2015 legislative session affects the average Georgian. Transportation: You will be paying about 3 cents per gallon in gas taxes more than you did over the last four years. This tax increase, along with annual fees on alternative fuel vehicles and heavy trucks and a $5-a-day charge on hotel and motel rooms, adds up to more than $900 million a year in needed transportation funding. Legislators also fixed many problems with the Transportation Special Purpose… View Article