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The Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government

Tuesday, March 16, 2010
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Observations
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Observations

A Dropout Crisis in the Nation's Schools


By Kenneth R. Howey
Kenneth R. Howey
Would the disappearance of a city of over a million people every year get one’s attention? That's how many students drop out of school annually throughout the nation. Yet this startling number has not created a sense of urgency nationally or a major coordinated strategy to redress the problem.
January 2010

Urban Hardship Trends Before the
Great Recession


By David J. Wright
David J. Wright
America’s cities and suburbs are caught in the deepest recession in more than a generation. The nation’s metropolitan areas actually already were in decline before the Great Recession took hold. This slide was steepest in portions of the country that had led the way in economic growth.
November 2009

New York's Budget: Thinking About Tomorrow


By Robert B. Ward
Robert B. Ward
Governor Paterson’s proposed budget asks that state leaders start thinking about tomorrow as they consider today’s proposals. The budget gap looming a year from now is more than $14 billion – a problem no one in Albany or any other state capital knows how to solve.
January 2010

Safe Bet: More State-Sponsored Gambling


By Jeff Perlee
Jeff Perlee
Gambling revenues are a small share of state budgets. Yet they are a steady revenue stream that can be easier to expand than taxes, this former New York Lottery Director writes. In this guest essay, he analyzes resulting issues, including the role of the federal government as the Internet and new gaming technologies make state borders less relevant.
October 2009

Observations Archive