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John Buntin

John Buntin

Staff Writer

John Buntin is a staff writer at GOVERNING. He covers health care, public safety and urban affairs. A graduate of Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, he is the author of two books, "Governing States and Localities" (CQ Press) and "L.A. Noir: The Struggle for the Soul of America’s Most Seductive City" (Harmony Books).

Students in the Memphis neighborhood of Frayser walk to class.
Archive
Changing a Culture Inside and Out of School
Fixing a failing school may require a complete change in culture. That’s not an easy thing to achieve, but Memphis is trying.
December 15, 2014
 · John Buntin
marijuana-legal-sales
Archive
What If States Just Sold Marijuana Themselves?
Voters legalized pot in three more places Tuesday, and now they have to decide how to regulate it. Some favor the government selling the drug directly to consumers over creating a for-profit pot industry.
October 24, 2014
 · John Buntin
Bobby White, co-principal of Frayser High School in Memphis, Tenn.
Archive
Memphis Makes the Nation’s Most Ambitious Effort to Fix Failed Schools
What happens in Memphis will reveal the power -- and limits -- of education reform.
September 17, 2014
 · John Buntin
eric-garcetti
Archive
Does Eric Garcetti Have a Big Enough Vision for L.A.?
In breaking with his predecessors, the mayor isn’t focused on one or two big priorities. Instead, he’s sweating the small stuff -- at least for now.
July 23, 2014
 · John Buntin
prescription-drug-cover
Archive
America’s Biggest Drug Problem Isn’t Heroin, It’s Doctors
Painkillers prescribed by both well-intentioned doctors and so-called "criminals in white coats" are driving the overdose epidemic. States and cities are pioneering ways to control it.
May 21, 2014
 · John Buntin
doctor-worried
Archive
Rural Hospitals Are on Life Support
Hospitals may be rural America’s single most important and most endangered institution. Between having to serve some of the sickest and most expensive populations and federal cuts, can small town America save more from closing?
March 21, 2014
 · John Buntin
rhee-ravitch
Archive
A Battle Over School Reform: Michelle Rhee vs. Diane Ravitch
As the No Child Left Behind era ends and Common Core begins, two education heavyweights face-off over what we’ve learned and where we’ve gone wrong.
December 18, 2013
 · John Buntin
chicago-gangs
Archive
Social Media Transforms the Way Chicago Fights Gang Violence
After experiencing a homicide rate that earned it international attention last year, Chicago is upending the traditional style of policing and using social networks to rank people’s likelihood of killing and being killed.
September 26, 2013
 · John Buntin
california-gop1
Archive
California Republicans Try to Reenergize the GOP
The California Republican Party’s willingness to embrace unconventional leadership may provide insights into what the GOP will need to do to win elections nationally in the coming era of the white minority.
August 28, 2013
 · John Buntin
extreme-goals
Archive
The Power and Danger of Setting Extreme Goals
Extreme goals are ambitious and attention grabbing. They also often seem impossible -- and that can be a problem.
February 26, 2013
 · John Buntin
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