Child Welfare
Is Florida Gov. Rick Scott’s pick to lead his child welfare agency the right one? Scott, who promised to run the state like a corporation, appointed a corporate finance manager, David Wilkins, to the helm. The Palm Beach Post’s Ana M. Valdes explores whether corporate is the best approach for a human services agency.
Education/Jobs
The Massachusetts legislature is considering a dropout prevention bill that would track students for early warning indicators as early as third grade and require businesses to give parents up to 24 hours a year of paid leave to tend to their children’s academic needs. By the AP’s Russell Contreras.
Texas’ community college funding conundrum gets more attention in this piece in the student publication for the Austin Community College District – The Accent – in which reporter Karissa Rodriguez writes about a proposed plan that would tie 10 percent of community colleges’ state funding to student academic performance.
U.S. News and World Report’s Kim Clark outlines the national state of federal student loans and college grants, explaining that even though more federal aid will be handed out to students in the next two years than ever before, the numbers are still not keeping up with rising tuition costs.
A guest column in the Washington Post by Martha Ross suggests to Mayor Vincent Gray a blueprint for workforce reform in the District of Columbia, including overhauling the Workforce Investment Council and a more comprehensive youth employment agenda that extends beyond summer jobs.
Juvenile Justice
The Nashua Telegraph’s Kevin Landrigan reports on a longtime New Hampshire JJ boss stepping down.
More on Calif. Gov. Jerry Brown’s (D) plan to turn most of JJ over to the counties, by the Sacramento Bee’s Brad Branan.
