Today, I am releasing CSBTP V1, the first version of the Claremont School Board Transparency Project research assistant. CSBTP V1 is built to make it easier to navigate board packets, minutes, policies, and related documents, and to connect local records with statewide context from NHDOE data. It is designed to help the public and stakeholders… Continue reading Introducing CSBTP V1: A source-grounded research assistant for school board transparency
News
When they came for the Christians, I did nothing, I’m not a Christian
Yes, it is time to paraphrase Martin Niemöller.I am not a Christian. I am not religious at all. When I describe myself as a Jew, what I mean is that my mother was a Jew. Her mother came from Kraków. My grandparents and many of their cousins emigrated on the eve of World War I.… Continue reading When they came for the Christians, I did nothing, I’m not a Christian
Blackwashing the Word “Segregation” Won’t Fix the Segregation We Actually Have
New Hampshire House Democrats reacted to the leaked “segregated schools” chat the way modern politics trains people to react: treat a sloppy phrase as a full confession of racial intent, denounce it as a moral abomination, and then declare the conversation over. Democratic leader Alexis Simpson called segregation “a living scar,” “built through violence,” and… Continue reading Blackwashing the Word “Segregation” Won’t Fix the Segregation We Actually Have
Win the BOA
Goodhart’s Law: When a measure becomes a target, it ceases being a good measure
I have been trying to understand how educational achievement as a desirable social benefit was replaced by a dreary political monopoly of overpriced mediocrity that is public education. Medically, education presents as a vestigial organ. Everyone knows it is supposed to be valuable, but that is repeatedly belied by practical experience. As education became "Our… Continue reading Goodhart’s Law: When a measure becomes a target, it ceases being a good measure
Faubus, Walz, and the Old American Sport of “Federalism When Convenient”
America has a charming habit: we rediscover “states’ rights” every time the federal government starts doing something our faction hates. The principle stays in the closet until it matches the outfit. In 1957, Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus staged the classic: state power deployed to frustrate federal authority, wrapped in the language of “public order.” When… Continue reading Faubus, Walz, and the Old American Sport of “Federalism When Convenient”
The Sullivan County NH Republican Committee 