Professional Documents
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Gov. Bill Haslam says its not easy to strike a balance between efficiency and transparency in state government. In several cases this year, the Republican governor has sided in favor of making information confidential. Haslam has signed measures to make confidential the names of all but the three finalists for leadership positions in state colleges and universities, and to prevent parents from finding out the evaluation scores of teachers. Haslam in an interview with The Associated Press last week also continued to defend his failed effort to close off information about companies, including the identities of their owners, that receive cash grants from the state. Ultimately, its a balancing act between whats doing best for the state and protecting the publics right to know, Haslam said. http://www.jacksonsun.com/article/20120521/NEWS01/305210009/State-briefs-Haslam-defends-confidentialrecords-poll-says-Obama-Romney-near-tie-Tennessee
http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2012/may/21/state-auditors-review-required-college-changes/
Medicaid primary care pay: The next SGR? (American Medical News)
Reid Blackwelder, MD, a family physician in Kingsport, Tenn., said primary care physicians in his state would benefit immensely from a federal proposal raising Medicaid payments to equal what Medicare pays for the same services. TennCare, the states Medicaid program, currently pays him only 60% of Medicare rates, Dr. Blackwelder said. If TennCare had paid 100% of Medicare rates for the previous 10 months of billing, from July 2011 through April 2012, we would have made an additional $400,000 in our three residency programs, said Dr. Blackwelder, a professor of family medicine at East Tennessee State University Quillen College of Medicine. Medicaid beneficiaries make up nearly 40% of the residency programs patient base. Nationally, the average Medicaid payment rate is only two-thirds of what Medicare pays, and primary care physicians in most states will benefit from having the rates equalized. The proposed rule, which was issued by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services on May 9 under a provision of the national health system reform law, will pay Medicare rates to primary care physicians for the primary care services they provide to Medicaid beneficiaries for 2013 and 2014. http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2012/05/21/gvl10521.htm
notable athletes took three of the universitys top officials to task about the universitys newly clarified allcomers policy. The fact that this is restricting who is able to be a leader completely undermines the mission, our vision, and the direction of every single one of these organizations, Rodgers said. If someone that doesnt share the faith is teaching, then whats the point of even having these organizations? Vanderbilts all-comers policy (see below), which requires student organizations to allow any member of the student body to join the group and run for leadership, has faced heavy criticism from some Christian groups on campus. They say the policy discriminates against religious groups by allowing nonbelievers to run for leadership positions. Rodgers, who was representing the campus chapter of Fellowship of Christian Athletes, made his speech more than two hours into the meeting. When Rodgers wasnt afforded a response to a statement, roughly 20 students exited the meeting in a huff. http://nashvillecitypaper.com/content/city-news/vanderbilt-all-comers-policy-and-athletics-butt-heads
Summer program helps Knox 8th-graders prepare for high school (N-S/McCoy)
District already has success in first year Knox County Schools says it's seeing results in a summer program designed to help struggling eighth-graders before they start high school. Last summer, about 200 students participated in the district's Summer Bridge program. According to school officials, 74 percent of the students completed the program, and of those who did 77 percent had passing grades in three or more classes after their first semester of high school. "You have to keep in mind when you look at 74 percent, these are your most at-risk students. For us to have 74 percent of those students being successful in that program, that's a huge accomplishment," said Clifford Davis, supervisor of secondary education for the school system. Davis said the 3
eight-week program is designed to help eighth-graders who have struggled academically either they have failed in math and language arts or are not proficient in those areas on the TCAPs before they enter the ninth grade. This year seven high schools will be involved in the program, which also serves as an opportunity for students to get familiar with their school. This year's session begins June 4. The Summer Bridge program is something that both high school and middle school principals showed interested in, Davis said. http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2012/may/21/summer-program-helps-knox-8th-graders-prepare/
Unified school system sees daunting task requiring creative financing (CA/Kelley)
An aggressive drive toward greater efficiency and some persuasive lobbying could help close a projected multimillion-dollar funding shortfall for the unified school district. Such an approach will be required to build the world-class educational system that architects hope to produce from the merger of Memphis City and Shelby County Schools. That's the message behind a set of potential recommendations being studied by the Finance Committee of the Transition Planning Commission, the 21-member group that is closing in rapidly on a plan for the unified district. A degree of "muscular management" more common in the world of business than of education will be required to make financial goals work, the Boston Consulting Group's J. Puckett told the Finance Committee. The challenge is certainly daunting, and it could get even more so if suburban municipalities are successful in efforts to avoid inclusion in the unified system. Suburban leaders hope to persuade voters on Aug. 2 to authorize the formation of new municipal districts, a move that would diminish the unified district's economies of scale. http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2012/may/21/schools-eye-creative-02/ (SUBSCRIPTION)
sees the battle as a major stand against GOP efforts to scale back collective-bargaining rights for public-sector workers, as Mr. Walker did after taking office in 2011. Some Democrats now fear mobilizing Republicans to battle the recall could carry over to help the partyand Republican Mitt Romneyin November's presidential election. The latest polls show Mr. Walker building a small lead over Democrat Tom Barrett, the mayor of Milwaukee, with few voters remaining undecided, adding to the Democrats' concerns. Mr. W alker led 50% to 44% in a Marquette Law School Poll last week in a survey with a margin of error of plus or minus 4.1 percentage points. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304791704577416630331447396.html?mod=ITP_pageone_0 (SUBSCRIPTION)
Editorial: Students can't learn if they can't get to school (Knoxville News-Sentinel)
Public officials in Tennessee have bragged about recent policies they deem as education reform, as they have reminded us of the need to train a work force for the challenging jobs of this century. Amid all that, they 5
apparently forgot one of the basics: Students have to be able to get to school in order to learn. No public school system in Tennessee should have to ground its buses the last weeks of the term. What has happened in Union County should serve as a reminder to all school board members, county commissioners, county mayors, state lawmakers and the governor that Tennessee has a long way to go to achieve anything significant in education if it can't provide money to keep buses running for the entire school term. The Union County school system suspended bus transportation beginning last week, except for special education and pre-kindergarten students. The school board had to make cuts worth $750,000, and suspending bus service was part of those cuts. http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2012/may/21/editorial-students-cant-learn-if-they-cant-get/
Gail Kerr: Council's tax foes need to reveal what they'd cut (Tennessean)
A handful of Metro Council members are already putting as much distance as they possibly can between their political careers and Mayor Karl Deans proposed property tax hike. None of them has answered the obvious next question: What are you proposing to cut? The jobs of 200 cops? Library branch hours? The number of firetrucks that respond to an emergency? Pothole filling? The citys charity hospital? Teacher pay? Or what? Four councilmen are running for the legislature: Robert Duvall, Darren Jernigan, Bo Mitchell and Jason Potts. Duvall is an anti-tax-of-any-kind conservative, so it was no surprise that he voted against both the mayors budget and the tax hike when it went to the council on first reading last week. But Jernigan, Mitchell and Potts showed themselves to be political chickens. Jernigan and Mitchell abstained on the budget vote. Potts voted against it. In a separate vote on the tax hike, Potts and Mitchell joined Duvall in opposing it. Jernigan abstained again.. http://www.tennessean.com/article/20120521/COLUMNIST0101/305210011/Gail-Kerr-Council-s-tax-foes-needreveal-what-they-d-cut?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|News|p
Guest columnist: After years of cuts, Nash. needs revenue to handle growth (TN)
I had the honor to serve on the Metro Council for eight years, under two different mayors. For the last full term of my tenure, each year at budget time, we focused on cutting the budget within Metro government. This was done with an eye toward maintaining basic services while confronting the harsh economic realities of the city and nation. The year I was Budget and Finance Committee chairman was no different. As we adapted to reduced revenues, we made tough decisions, including layoffs, hiring freezes and thoughtful budget cuts. As gas prices rose (sound familiar?), our public transportation participation increased, meaning we had to balance budget cuts with growing needs. In the end, our budget still provided basic services to all Davidson County residents, but we as council members knew that such a trend couldnt continue forever. This year, the council faces that reality. Nashville and Davidson County have grown remarkably over the last decade faster than every Tennessee county but one, in fact. http://www.tennessean.com/article/20120521/OPINION03/305210004/After-years-cutsNashville-needs-revenue-handle-growth?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|Opinion|p
children bury their faces in her shoulder. Wamp looked at the plaque on the wall. "She looks a lot older than 32," he said quietly. So true. Age can be tricky, can't it? Since declaring his candidacy, Wamp's bandwagon has been hit with two main criticisms (but no flat tires): his age and his dad. The son of former Rep. Zach Wamp hasn't had any life experience -- his opponents say -- and is hoping to inherit the seat from his eight-term father. It would be easy to believe this if he were running an immature and cocky campaign, but he's not. If Wamp -- confident, intelligent, not divisive -- were 43 and had a different last name, he'd win November's election by a landslide. But he's 25 -- and his father's son. Wamp, more than anyone, forces us to make a decision. It's the Dirty Harry dilemma. Do we feel lucky? Is W amp who he says he is? http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2012/may/21/david-cook-the-meaning-of-weston-wamp/?opinioncolumns