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| Public Transportation |
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Under a new 90-day pilot program in New York City, elderly and handicapped residents can hail a taxi instead of waiting for a Metropolitan Transit Authority van to pick them up. The program will give 500 Manhattan "Access-a-Ride" customers not needing wheelchairs prepaid debit cards for cab rides, allowing them to bypass inconvenient scheduling of Access-A-Ride buses. The city will save money with the program, as it is expected to spend $15 on the average taxi fare as compared to $49 for door-to-door Access-A-Ride service. Users will pay the same $2.25 as subway or bus riders.
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| Government Performance and Management |
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In a controversial move, New York City is using randomized control trials to test whether a municipal program that seeks to prevent homelessness actually accomplishes that task. Under the study, a randomly-selected pool of currently vulnerable, but non-homeless, persons are being denied assistance from the city’s homelessness prevention program for two years. The goal is to determine if they become homeless, even when they are given the names of other agencies from which they can seek assistance. Critics of the study have questioned whether it is ethical, but advocates observe the usefulness of the trial to determine whether a social welfare program is truly making a difference or whether it needs to be overhauled.
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| Collaboration |
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In Wisconsin, low-income residents with car troubles will get back on the road quickly while local students learn how to repair cars. Under Wheels to Work, families will either be provided a car or will be assisted with low-cost repairs on their own cars, and local students will work on the cars with the help of certified vehicle technicians. The program also will provide vehicle maintenance classes and financial counseling for participants. The program is a partnership between Wausau East High School, Northcentral Technical College, and auto-part distributors in the area.
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| Public Safety |
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This past holiday season, at least seven states began implementing a new tactic called "no refusal" checkpoints to deter drunk driving. If a driver is stopped and refuses a breathalyzer test, a judge is waiting on site to issue a warrant that allows police to perform blood tests immediately. While critics argue that the strategy is on shaky legal ground, supporters point out the extreme difficulty of preventing drunk driving and the overriding concern of saving lives. In Houston alone, DUI deaths are down 20 percent and conviction rates have risen since the program was implemented several years ago.
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| Education |
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Los Angeles will seek corporate sponsorship for its schools to sustain funding and avoid layoffs, possibly generating as much as $18 million for the district. While not the first school system to use private sponsorship, it is the largest district to do so. Sponsorship opportunities may include school visits to pass out product samples, the placement of logos in school cafeterias, or the naming rights of various district events. Although monies received will go into the district's general fund, they may be earmarked for specific programs at the donor's request. Businesses selling alcohol, tobacco, firearms, or high-calorie or high-fat foods will not be among the sponsors.
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| Corrections, Probation, and Parole |
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At the jail complex on Rikers Island in New York, male inmates are recording themselves reading children's books out loud for their sons and daughters back home. The five-week literacy course, entitled "Daddy and Me," helps inmates to read emotively, changing voice tones and adding humorous expressions as they narrate. And children get to hear the voice of their father whenever they want or need to. The program is funded in part by the state, and in partnership with the correctional services program of the New York Public Library.
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| Education Administration |
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The Delaware Department of Education is implementing a student transcript exchange system to facilitate electronic data exchange between schools, easing administrative inefficiencies. Currently, students transferring between districts do not bring with them historical educational information, making it difficult for their new teachers to determine the needs of the student and how best to assimilate them into class. By next school year, teachers will be able to access information about past state test scores, courses, and grades. The system will also make it easier for in-state colleges and universities to instantly upload information from student applicants.
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| Higher Education |
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In what is being touted as one of the fastest baccalaureate tracks in higher education, the University of the District of Columbia (UDC) and two D.C. public schools are looking to partner to give motivated students the opportunity to receive a degree only two years after they have graduated high school. Under the proposed program, students would take challenging courses in their first two years of high school, and begin college classes in their junior year, earning dual credit at both the high school and the university. The program is part of a larger effort to get superior students to UDC, and draws from similar initiatives at other institutions.
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| E-Government |
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This article in The Economist highlights the increasing global use of smart systems to connect energy systems, water systems, transportation channels, and infrastructure. Cities are looking to these systems to help ameliorate some of the growing pains of rapid urbanization. Partnerships between public and private actors are driving this trend.
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| Efficiency by the Numbers |
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Has data-based decision-making worked in practice? Not surprisingly, the answer is yes in some instances and no in others. Government by the numbers isn't a panacea, but it is an important tool in the effort to boost efficiency.
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| Innovative Reading |
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To read about the challenges facing government, all you have to do is open the newspaper. Those seeking ideas on how to make government better, faster, and cheaper have to go beyond the headlines. This list of reading suggestions for public officials looking to get up to speed on innovative management list isn't a bad place to start.
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| Mending the City-State Relationship |
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The coming budget shortfalls provide an opportunity for fundamental change. If cities are to see fewer dollars from states in these tough times, then they should see fewer rules too.
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| Rewarding Efficiency in New Jersey |
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It is one of the enduring conundrums of public budgeting: How do you feed success and starve failure? During tough times, public leaders will be rethinking the incentives produced through public budgets—but getting the incentives right won\'t be easy.
Newsletter produced by: Jessica Engelman, editor; Brendan St. Amant, researcher and writer.
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About the Ash Center
The Roy and Lila Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation advances excellence in governance and strengthens democratic institutions worldwide. Through its research, education, international programs, and government innovations awards, the Center fosters creative and effective problem solving and serves as a catalyst for addressing many of the most pressing needs of the world's citizens. The Ford Foundation is a founding donor of the Center. Additional information about the Ash Center is available at http://ash.harvard.edu.
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