FEATURES

• Wage Learners
• By: Zach Patton

• Some big-city school systems are experimenting with paying students to get good grades. Are cash incentives a ticket to college or a deterrent to learning for its own sake?

• Job Freedom
• By: John Buntin
• Can the lessons of welfare reform be applied to the prison system?

• Six Routes to a Toll Road
• By: Brendan Schlauch

• As business models proliferate, most new highways aren't public or private but somewhere in between.

• Drained
• By: Josh Goodman

• Bogged down in the high finances of a sewer system, Alabama's biggest county is on the verge of bankruptcy.

• Bandwidth on the Bayou
• By: Ellen Perlman

• A Louisiana community wanted to build its own high-speed network to attract business. Pretty soon, it was stuck in court.

DEPARTMENTS

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• By: Ellen Perlman

POLITICS + POLICY

• A Call to Order
• By: Alan Greenblatt

• A new package of rules should bring a modicum of reform to New York's legislature.

• Taming of a Deficit
• By: Alan Greenblatt

• San Diego still has its fiscal woes, but they're no longer scandalous.

• Mind Your Meters
• By: Alan Greenblatt

• Parking-meter privatization has created a lot of headaches for Chicago. Mayor Richard Daley insists the deal will prove smart in the long run.

• A Succession Question
• By: Alan Greenblatt

• After Mark Sanford's affair, can South Carolina Republicans hold the governorship?

• Quittin' Time In Colorado
• By: Josh Goodman

• What's so terrible about the Colorado legislature that is causing everyone to decamp?

• Defining Prevention
• By: Penelope Lemov

• 'Preventive care' means different things, each with its own price.

• Opening Up Medicaid
• By: Penelope Lemov

• States could be at fiscal peril under some health care reform proposals.

• The Poisoned Bill
• By: Donald F. Kettl
• State budget cuts are undermining national health reform.

• Beating the Spread
• By: Josh Goodman

• Despite big-league pressure, Delaware legalizes betting on sports.

• Green at City Scale
• By: Linda Baker

• Portland explores how to create 'eco-districts.'

• Traveling At Good Speed
• By: Alex Marshall
• Transportation policy shouldn’t be reduced to average commuting times.

• Urban Harvest
• By: Christopher Swope

PROBLEM SOLVER

• Lean Legacy
• By: Jonathan Walters

• Iowa's experiment with charter agencies ended when Governor Tom Vilsack left office. But efficiency efforts live on.

• Saving the Nest Egg
• By: Girard Miller
• It’s time to restore balance to the funding of pension plans.

• Technology for Tough Times
• By: Zach Patton

• State and local leaders are counting on information technology to help them navigate these difficult times.

• Caution: Outsourcing Ahead
• By: Ellen Perlman
• Another big statewide IT project hits speed bumps. So does the CIO.

• Bidding Boards Goodbye
• By: Katherine Barrett & Richard Greene
• Boards and commissions can be expensive—whether or not they meet.

• New Alaska Governor Faces Difficult Year
• By: Josh Goodman

• Sean Parnell has a reputation for being low-key, open and collegial.

Training Opportunities

• Outsmarting the Social Services Fraudster
• Learn how IBM InfoSphere Identity Insight helps social services organizations reduce time and labor for caseload management, comply with new regulations fast and cost-efficiently and identify fraudulent behavior rapidly to stop it before it occurs.
• A Safer Public Through Advanced Analytics
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• Accelerating Economic Growth and Vitality