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From: State Rep. Refuses to Pay Taxes

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CIRCUS

Gordon is a coward, he just admitted on the Buddy show that he filed his taxes today, 2 days late. All this over 2 days late! Plus he has a refund coming. So he never even owed taxes! There will be no penalty. What an idiot and a coward! What a circus. Just resign you fool.

From: State Rep. Refuses to Pay Taxes

in News

@Ted Ford, Rep Gordon was removed from the Republican Caucus by his fellow Republicans months ago and stated publicly that he would join the Libertarian Party.

The real lawbreakers in RI are the Democrats!

You really should go back and read the news for headlines for the last several months…

Senator Rugerrio-arrested for DUI

Rep. McCaulley investigated for fraud by the FBI

Rep. Leo Medina was arraigned on a charge of embezzlement and two other felony counts

Rep. John Carnavale indicted on rape charges

And just for good measure 3 North Providence Town Council members John Zamabarano, Ray Birchfield and Joe Douglas III were found guilty of conspiring in a scheme to extort bribes in exchange for favorable council votes.

ALL DEMOCRATS!

Oh and lets not forget embattled state Sen. Frank Ciccone who tried to intimidate Barrington police officers while they were in the process of arresting one of his most powerful colleagues. YES A DEMOCRAT!

Need more, how about former Senator John Celona, who admitted to selling his votes to several major corporations, sent to prison. Or former House Majority Leader Gerard M. Martineau was sentenced to 37 months in federal prison and ordered to pay a fine of $100,000 for his role in the Operation Dollar Bill influence-peddling scandal. How about former Senator Irons, an insurance salesman, abruptly resigned on Dec. 31, 2003, after two decades in the state Senate. He had opposed pharmacy-choice legislation that CVS, which he had sold insurance to, wanted killed. Irons, then chairman of the Senate committee that handled health care, had collected hundreds of thousands of dollars in commissions since 1997 on a Blue Cross policy covering CVS workers in Rhode Island.

The Democrats are destroying RI!

Let me know if you need even more.

From: video: NEW: Hinckley Calls Whitehouse ‘Out of Touch’ in Latest Web Video

in Politics

Agreed, Sheldon is a tax-and-spender who believes in a fantasy economy where big government can just perpetually hand out goodies to those who are perpetually entitled.

From: NEW: Cicilline Blasts Doherty for Opposing ‘Buffett Rule’

in News

I should point out to Former Congressman Cicilline that "fair" would not require me to max out my withholdings and then write a big check on tax day, to support all these stay at home Baby Mommas on public assistance who voted for him.

From: NEW: Cicilline Blasts Doherty for Opposing ‘Buffett Rule’

in News

"Cicilline Blasts Doherty?" Really? I dont see Doherty's name mentioned anywhere in what is printed here. Equally ironic is the lack of any connection between the Republicans' alleged focus and Doherty.

More gratuitous potshots at Brendan Doherty by GoLocal...not Cicilline.

From: State Rep. Refuses to Pay Taxes

in News

He didn't file his taxes...but everyone is ASSUMING he owes the state money...what if, like many of us, the state owes HIM money in a tax refund...then is what's he's doing that big of a deal? I'd ratehr get the facts before making accusations.

From: Don Roach: You Bet Cicilline is Sorry

in Politics

One thing is certain: Cicilline will be very entertaining as he tries to dodge bullets from Gemma and Doherty. Dance, David, dance!

From: Top 20 State House Spenders in 2012

in News

TFA lobbying is for one purpose...TFA wants the teaching jobs that are given to the traditionally trained teach prep graduates of schools like RIC or URI. But TFA doesn't tell you they train recruits for 5 weeks only!
TFA is not what people think it is and here is a true account you can look up yourself written by Professor Kovacs.

In Huntsville, Alabama, the school board has decided to spend $1.7 million to bring Teach For America interns to district classrooms. This has prompted an assistant professor at the University of Alabama, Huntsville, to raise some critical questions.

And this can happen here in RI..This is what Lobbying or as the previous commentator said BRIBERY does not tell you..

By Professor Kovacs:

On the web page where Teach For America shares research, they boldly state: "A large and growing body of independent research shows that Teach For America corps members make as much of an impact on student achievement as veteran teachers."
I will show this is an absurd claim simply by analyzing the reports made public on their "research" page. I will not look at or include other research which shows that TFA has negative effects on student test scores in some places, as others have already done so.

However, it pains me to engage in this analysis because it forces me to enter a conversation that I don't believe we should be having, a conversation that is undergirded by the belief that the best way to evaluate teachers is to look at student scores on tests that have been shown to be invalid, unreliable and flat out ridiculous.

In an effort to increase the amount of light being directed towards the "research" that is being used to justify the replacement of credentialed professionals with TFA- the fast-tracked do-gooders, allow me to briefly address TFA's reports.
These reports are available on TFA's "research" page.

"2010 Report Card"

This report is an apples and fruit basket comparison that opens with the following disclaimer: "The analysis contained within this report is not based on a comprehensive set of measures upon which the quality of teacher training programs should be ranked."
So you know immediately there are several logical and empirical weaknesses in their report.

For purposes of the "Report Card," comparing the gains on tests made by teachers in low performing schools to gains on tests made by teachers in higher performing schools is problematic because it is easier and more impressive to raise scores from, for example, the 45th to 67h percentile than from the 85th to 90th, which is no doubt going on in many upper level schools and classrooms. Given that TFA recruits are only in the lowest performing schools, they are much likelier to be working with students who are easier to move, making it appear they have larger gains, on one small indicator of a child's education.

Taking this into consideration, it appears that TFA has an impact in math and reading instruction, though that is likely to disappear once discrepancies in population are taken into account.
The authors' warning, make the report problematic at best.

"Portal Report From University of NC Chapel Hill"

While TFA members outperform recent UNC graduates in 5/9 indicators, the study does not include teachers with more than 5 years of experience. This is problematic because many teachers continue to grow as professionals in multiple ways. Those who do not continue to grow do not deserve the title of teacher. Therefore we must ask ourselves, how many great teachers were left out of the comparison group?

One out of four middle school indicators show larger improvements
for TFA and no difference at the elementary level.
These results are mixed but this study is also problematic for those who claim TFA has a long-term positive effect on school districts because of the documented high turnover of TFA recruits:
85% are gone after four years.

The final and in some ways most important finding of this study is that first year teachers perform worse than those with four years of experience in 10 out of 11 comparisons, and in their second year as teachers perform worse in 6 out of 11 comparisons.
To provide perspective, we estimated that elementary students taught math by a first year teacher lose the equivalent of 21 days of schooling when compared to similar students taught by teachers
with four years of experience.

This report also acknowledges that teachers with high performing students may have reduced effects because of the difficulty of raising high performing students test scores, an issue I pointed
out earlier.

Based on Charlotte-Mecklenburg, NC Public Schools

TFA recruits look slightly better on math tests but no better than reading, making the report mixed.

The small sample size is problematic because the authors are comparing smaller groups of TFA to groups of teachers that are about five times as large.
The larger the sample, the closer to the middle the results are going to be. And again, the effects of teachers working with higher performing students are going to look lower than the recruits working with lower performers.

The authors of this report come close to acknowledging issues with their own data, as they conclude with words that are hardly an endorsement.
On page 46 they note " TFA teachers may show positive results with respect to math achievement and non-TFA teachers may show similar results to TFA teachers for reading achievement."

"May show"? WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?

"Teacher Preparation Programs and Teach for America Research Study"

According to this report, TFA teachers are making a positive increase in math scores, doing about the same as certified teachers on reading scores, and doing worse with Hispanic students on both reading and math tests. The results are therefore mixed, unless the reader believes we should dismiss the Hispanic students. The study was conducted in Austin, Texas.

"Recruiting Effective Math Teachers, How Do Math Immersion Teachers Compare"

This report is problematic at best but ultimately contradicts TFA's claim regarding veteran teachers. From page 31 of the report:
"TFA teachers produce student achievement gains in middle school math that exceed those of teachers from other pathways with comparable experience." Not, contra TFA's claim, those with more experience.

Said differently, when you start to consider how quickly TFA recruits abandon ship, the gain is negated.
Concerned tax-payers might stop to consider why traditional routes into classrooms produce teachers who stay so much longer.

"Teach for America Teachers' Contribution to Student Achievement in Louisiana in Grades 4-9

This report argues: "In all areas except for social studies, TFA corps members were statistically significantly more effective than other new teachers." The key phrase here is "new teachers." The authors do not reveal whether or not the "new teachers" contained unlicensed, uncertified teachers teaching out-of-field, as is common in poor, hard to staff schools.

When compared to experienced teachers, the authors report that there was "no significant difference" between the test data for TFA recruits and traditionally trained, experienced, teachers. Furthermore, the authors do not define what "experienced" means.
Does that body of "experienced" teachers contain only teachers with three years of experience? After all, they are, by the report's own admission, more experienced than most TFA recruits because most TFA recruits leave after year three.

All that being said, this is the only report, out of a total of 12 that even remotely supports TFA's claim that "Teach For America members make as much of an impact on student achievement as
veteran teachers."

There is simply no "large and growing body of evidence" suggesting TFA corps members make as much of an impact on student achievement as veteran teachers." In fact, there is a growing body of research suggesting otherwise, that TFA members have a negative impact on student achievement.

From: State Rep. Refuses to Pay Taxes

in News

The great GOP in RI! Geez, as a Rhode Island native I can't win, democrats are taxing me to death and the republicans are all breaking the law! Moving out of this place!

From: Offshore Tax Schemes Cost State $450 Million

in News

Russ why are you trying to doubt Joe’s heritage? The Shmoes are long documented as fine upstanding Americans: http://surnames.meaning-of-names.com/genealogy/schmoe/. I grew up next to the Shmoes in Warwick and even went to kindergarten with Joey Jr. They were good people, just your average middle class Americans you know?

From: Is Local TV News Doing Better or Worse?

in Business

Early morning local news is horrendous.
Unless you want to know the weather and traffic. Cause that's all they're going to give you, every 5 minutes.

you want to know the weather, look out the damn window.
traffic is the same every day. busy in providence. try to avoid it.

From: Memo to Senator Whitehouse: Slogans Aren’t Solutions

in Politics

Sheldon is the winner of the "Buffoon Rule." I'm embarrassed to be "represented" by him.

As others have mentioned, a flat tax with a low rate (I like 15%) that eliminates loopholes for everyone and applies to everyone is the actual fair system. The over-engineered, complex mess we have now should go.