South By North Strategies, Ltd.

Getting What We Pay For

A new report from the Center for Law and Social Policy analyzes and compares state strategies for funding community college programs targeting low-skill, low-income workers. From the report …

It can be hard to make changes in difficult economic times, but in reality these are precisely the times during which bold reforms often are born. As they consider state funding for community colleges and higher education as a whole, state leaders have the opportunity to go beyond budget negotiations over who gets cut and by how much. They can reconsider what students and states need from their higher educational institutions and how to realign state funding to pay for and incentivize institutions to meet those needs. Many states have taken small steps in this direction, as evidenced by the examples in the strategies outlined in this policy brief. Illinois and Washington have begun to tackle the issues head-on, recently establishing state taskforces to re-think state higher education funding. Community colleges and all public postsecondary institutions can be important assets that will help the nation and each state regain economic strength and competitiveness. However, as funding dictates function, state funding for these institutions must provide the direction and incentives toward this end.

Evaluating Economic Policy

In a discussion with the online news service, The Real News Network, Tom Ferguson of the University of Massachusetts-Amherst analyzes the limitations of the economic policies pursued by Congress, the Obama Administration, and the Federal Reserve, as well as the shortcoming of the proposals offered by the GOP.

Around The Dial – Nov. 8

Supporting North Carolina’s Working Families

Last week, John Quinterno of South by North Strategies, Ltd. was a guest on The State of Things, a radio program produced by WUNC-North Carolina Public Radio. Quinterno and the other guests discussed the ways in which public policies support — or fail to support –working families.

Click here to listen to the program

Understanding The October Jobs Report

A recent segment on The PBS NewsHour discussed the national employment report for October and how the labor market is, in many ways, moving sideways at best. The segment features the perspectives of Paul Krugman of Princeton University and The New York Times.