A four-page bill is causing a stink in Cincinnati. It's a back-and-forth battle about parents’ right to know versus private schools’ right to independent operation.
The bill would require private schools to publish some information on their websites, including enrollment and financial data. Other information – reading lists and school bylaws, for example – would have to be accessible to parents of enrolled students.
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Two Phoenix lawmakers outlined proposed legislation Monday that they said would increase police transparency, accountability and trust in the community.
Rep. Reginald Bolding and Rep. Ken Clark, both D-Phoenix, were quick to praise police officers, even as they proposed the new oversight measures.
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Read More… from Arizona bill would increase police transparency
Across the nation, this seems to be a year in which not just distrust but outright contempt for government is driving the body politic.
For both major political parties, perceived outsiders are at or near the top of the polls after months of campaigning and one state caucus. A national average of public opinion polls shows less than 30 percent of Americans feel the country is headed in the right direction while more than 63 percent say it’s headed in the wrong direction.
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Read More… from Editorial: Hawaii voters want transparency, accountability
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, who vowed to bring transparency to City Hall, repeatedly met with lobbyists but failed to disclose the sit-downs as promised.
An analysis of hundreds of pages of de Blasio’s personal schedules found dozens of meetings and conference calls with lobbyists that were not included on a list of “lobbying meetings” posted on the city’s website.
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Read More… from Mayor de Blasio fails to follow through on transparency promise
Only a handful of Kansas' 165 legislators have signed an initiative to promote openness and transparency in state government by taking what is being called the "transparency pledge," but the list does include most Lawrence-area legislators.
The Open Kansas initiative was announced Jan. 27 by a coalition of advocacy groups, including Kansas Appleseed, El Centro, Communities Creating Opportunity, Kansas Action for Children, and Kansas Association of Community Action Programs.
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Read More… from Kansas transparency pledge drawing few lawmakers
Moroni Alvarez attended traditional public school until fifth grade, when a move placed his family near Freedom Preparatory Academy in Provo.
Now seven years later, the high school senior said he appreciates the emphasis on technology, leadership and service at his charter school. But he also acknowledged there are some drawbacks that stem from the school's comparably small student body. "In my class the ratio of boys to girls is like four-to-one," he said. "No. Five-to-one."
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Legislation to subject Michigan's governor and legislature to the state's Freedom of Information Act could drop as soon as next month, say lawmakers working on the plan.
"I've been working on this project now for over a year and hopefully going to roll it out during Sunshine Week in March," said Rep. Ed McBroom, R-Vulcan.
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Flooded with requests for public records, local officials in Washington want to put limits on how much information public servants have to make available to the public.
The concepts have long been enshrined in Washington state law:
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Read More… from ‘Abusive’ info requests lead to push for less government transparency in Washington
In most states, if journalists or citizens want to hold our elected officials accountable, the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) is an important tool in our political toolbox.
However, Michigan is among a small handful of states where the governor’s office and the state legislature are exempt from the FOIA. This means that documents and records can be kept from the public, except in rare occasions.
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Read More… from Flint water crisis highlights lack of transparency with Michigan government
Minneapolis has relaunched its “Results Minneapolis” transparency program, broadening the focus from how well city departments run to how well the city is doing at tackling major issues like economic inequality.
The program, introduced a decade ago to give the public a closer look at the performance of city government, was put on hold in late 2014. The city had previously held weekly public conferences to share data on emergency response times, building permits and a host of other operations.
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Read More… from Minneapolis restarts transparency program with focus on goals
