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CD WiRe (July 15-21)
Posted on July 21st, 2010 No comments1. Gates Foundation puts its stamp on education
According to the Seattle Times, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is helping to propel a “quiet revolution” in education reform. Since 2008, the foundation has used more than $650 million to target charter schools, testing research, data systems, science and math education, and common academic standards. Recently, it gave $40 million to power an experiment in teacher evaluation and performance pay at a network of Los Angeles charter schools; the same program will give several school districts up to $100 million each to improve teaching. The foundation’s projects align closely with the Obama administration’s goals; it gave 25 states and the District of Columbia $6 million to apply for ‘Race to the Top’ grants. “There’s definitely a convergence of ideas,” said Vicki Phillips, who oversees the foundation’s elementary- and secondary-education grants, “not just between us and the administration but between us and many other reform-minded people who have been working on these issues for a long time.”
Click here to read more…2. Newark Mayor Cory Booker announces 4-day work week for non-uniformed public employees
Newark Mayor Cory Booker today said he is putting in motion a plan to put the non-uniformed public employees of New Jersey’s largest city on a four-day work week, the equivalent of imposing a 20 percent pay cut in a time of economic malaise.
Click here to read more…3. Mayor Dawn Zimmer plans meetings to discuss development in Hoboken
Continuing the successful model of last night’s community meeting in Hoboken to discuss safety improvements along Newark Street, the city will also hold additional meetings to solicit the public’s feedback about redevelopment in the city,
Click here to read more…4. It begins with a DRUMM – Reunion of musicians turns into nonprofit to revive musical training in Trenton schools
When a group of musicians with Trenton roots held their first reunion in the Baltimore area four years ago, the main goal was just to jam together and do some catching up. But when they turned the annual reunion into a free public show at Cadwalader Park last year, they also started talking about doing something more for their city, and for the once vibrant music scene that had nurtured them.
Click here to read more…5. Newark community development workers will be ‘classified’
The employees of the community development department will be considered “classified” after a Newark City Council vote Monday. The vote means that they do not serve “at-will” of the mayor. If they are terminated, they have an ability to appeal to the city’s civil service commission.
Click here to read more…6. Big drop-off in NY banks’ community lending
Despite a 10% jump in deposits, New York’s largest banks substantially cut the amount of loans and services targeted to low- and moderate-income communities between 2007 and 2008, according to a report released last Thursday by a local advocacy group. Among the 17 largest commercial, savings and wholesale banks in the five boroughs, there was a 20.2%, or $560 million, drop-off in community development lending; a 24.2%, or $1.3 billion, cut in multi-family lending; and a decrease in the share of branches located in low-income communities to 8.8% from 9.3%.
Click here to read more…7. New Jersey Community Capital surpasses $110 million milestone in financing
New Jersey Community Capital (NJCC) of Trenton—a non-profit loan fund that supports community-based enterprises—recently surpassed $110 million in financing leveraged for the expansion of charter schools throughout New Jersey. This milestone highlights the organization’s dedication to providing financing solutions to high quality charter schools that have the power to enhance the lives of children in many underserved communities. Since 2004, the organization has closed or participated in more than $47 million in charter school loans, leveraging over $110 million in development costs for 17 charter school campuses across New Jersey.
Click here to read more…8. Nonprofits: Open Up Your Data, Become a Platform Organization
The role of nonprofits as a middleman is changing. The donors can more often support a specific project rather than the organization as a whole. Nowadays the donors can also easily have a direct contact with the beneficiaries. By turning into open platform organizations that facilitate collaboration in open spaces and radically shortening the distance between the donor and the beneficiary. By opening up their processes – letting donors have a say where the funds go and what kind of projects are being supported.
Click here to read more…9. Cap-and-Trade Bill Would Make Housing Less Affordable
In addition to the devastating economic effects of cap and trade, the Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act (S. 1733)—introduced by Senators John Kerry (D–MA) and Joseph Lieberman (I–CT)—would likely lead to the same conditions that caused the housing bubble of a few years ago. It would do this by providing financial incentives to the federally funded metropolitan planning organizations to shift transportation resources and passengers away from automobiles to public transit and forms of non-motorized transportation such as walking and bicycles. The bill further suggests that these be accomplished through “zoning and other land use regulations” that lead to a more crowded living environment. In turn, these communities of higher population density would be more amenable to forms of transportation common in the decades prior to the invention of the internal combustion engine.
Click here to read more…10. 7 Questions Washington Must Answer to Fix Housing Policy
With President Obama signing the big financial regulation bill today, Washington will feel like it’s done enough for a while when it comes to making new rules for banks and Wall Street. Next on its ‘to do’ financial policy checklist is housing. After all, the biggest hole in the Dodd-Frank bill was a complete lack of reform for the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
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CD WiRe (June 9-16)
Posted on June 16th, 2010 No comments1. N.J. Senate OKs bill ending affordable-housing quotas
The Senate voted, 28-3, to approve a bill that would end state-imposed quotas on how much affordable housing towns are required to build. The proposal eliminates the state Council on Affordable Housing (COAH), as well as a 2.5 percent fee on commercial development.2. Campbell Soup headquarters expansion marks major investment in Camden
Campbell Soup Co. will open a new employee center at its Camden headquarters which the company has linked to the economic revitalization of the long-struggling city. Campbell Soup will have invested as much as $93 million in the addition, which has 80,000 square feet.3. Nonprofit gets nearly $1M for green jobs center
$999,567 in federal funding was awarded for a New Jersey green jobs training center. The nonprofit Bergen County Community Action Partnership Inc., in Hackensack, received the funding, which will be used to train inspectors, supervisors and workers for employment, providing retrofitting for energy efficiency and weatherization services.4. Major real estate deal scuttled as state abandons Newark consolidation
The state has withdrawn its request to consolidate office space in downtown Newark, ending what was on track to be one of the largest New Jersey real estate deals in recent years. The state withdrew the request for proposal to consolidate the space after Gov. Chris Christie’s administration reviewed it and decided to move state Board of Public Utilities workers from Newark to Trenton.5. Essex County Hosting Free Housing Expo for First-Time Homebuyers and Current Homeowners
The Housing Expo will be held on Saturday, June 19, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Essex County’s Newark Tech at 91 West Market Street in Newark. The Essex County Division of Housing and Community Development will highlight several of its programs that provide technical and financial assistance to prospective homebuyers and current homeowners who meet specific income guidelines.6. Christie’s cabinet is ordered to prepare for state shutdown in case of budget standstill
Gov. Chris Christie today ordered his cabinet to begin planning to shut down state government July 1 if there is no budget by that constitutional deadline.7. Urban Institute report: Who Helps Public Schools? Public Education Support Organizations in 2010
There are more than 19,000 nonprofit organizations devoted to supporting public education in the United States. These organizations include booster clubs, parent-teacher groups, public education funds, scholarship funds, high school alumni associations, and others. This report assesses the current status of education support organizations; provides details on the activities, capacities, and resources of public education funds; and compares Public Education Network member organizations with other types of education funds.8. Vote on expansion of charter schools in Philly postponed
If the Philadelphia School Reform Commission fails to vote soon on allowing charters to expand, some schools will have to put off their plans for a year, charter officials say.9. New York Charter Schools Lag in Enrolling Hispanics
When charter schools began opening in New York a decade ago, they were hailed as a better opportunity for children in poor neighborhoods, where failing schools had been the norm. But while charter schools are open to all, they have catered to one demographic group far less than another. Although Hispanics are the largest ethnic group in New York City’s public schools, there are almost twice as many blacks among the 30,000 charter school students, an analysis by The New York Times shows.10. Despite the recession, Americans stepped up volunteering
Volunteering in America, a new report just out from the government-run Corporation for National and Community Service, found that Americans spent 100 million more hours helping their communities last while the number of people getting involved went up by 1.6 million to 63.4 million. It’s the biggest increase in volunteers in a single year since 2003 despite the year’s dismal economic showing, the report says.
