News

PA: Voter poll pulls losing numbers for Corbett’s lotto plan

A Daily News/Franklin & Marshall College Poll released Thursday shows that registered voters strongly oppose Corbett’s plan to privatize the Pennsylvania Lottery and don’t like the way he’s pursuing that goal. And, as with a long-running series of polls, Corbett’s job approval numbers are anemic as he turns toward a campaign for a second term in 2014. Sixty-four percent of the voters polled said they oppose his plan to turn over control of the lottery to a British company, Camelot Global Services. Just 18 percent support the idea, which Corbett announced Jan. 11. Nearly one in five voters, 18 percent, didn’t have an opinion.  Phlly.com

NM: NM Schools Chief Overrules Panel, Clears Path for Virtual School

New Mexico state schools chief Hanna Skandera has overruled her state’s public education commission and approved a new statewide online provider, arguing that the panel’s rejection of the virtual program relied on faulty logic and a misreading of the law. The online provider, Connections Academy, seeks to operate a full time, virtual charter school in New Mexico. The state’s public education commission, an elected body, in September rejected the academy’s application by a 6-3 vote. Education Week News

OH:  City Councilman petitions to stop outsourcing

Sittenfeld, who has been a vocal opponent of a proposed plan to lease Cincinnati’s parking meters and garages to a private company, said the petition has been circulated in business districts including Oakley, Mt. Lookout, Clifton and Hyde Park…. Mark Rogers, The only reason a business would be interested in buying the right to lease parking is if it expected to make a lot of profit, said Rogers. “If there is that much profit on the table why would we give that away?” Cincinnati.com

MS: Miss. considers privatizing child support collections

The Mississippi Department of Human Services could hire private companies to handle child support collections under a bill that passed the state Senate on Wednesday. Jackson Clarion Ledger

IL: Privatizing Chicago – opinion

On the surface, Mayor Rahm Emanuel is taking great pains to assure the public that any Midway transaction will not be a sequel to the parking meter fiasco…. While such good intentions are welcome, the public’s comfort level would be much higher if there were a law that established a clear set of rules to ensure an open, transparent and accountable process for every privatization transaction. Unfortunately, the City Council, charged with keeping a watchful eye on such dealings, has not rallied to that important cause. The council has buried a proposed privatization disclosure act in the Rules Committee, where it cannot get a full public hearing.  Chicago Tribune

Study: Private Prison Growth Can Impede Local Job Growth

Researchers at Washington State University are challenging the widespread belief that private prisons can help job growth in rural counties…. “What we found is that when a new prison opens in a rural county, they tend to have fewer jobs instead of more,” says Gregory Hooks, a WSU sociology professor. “There is no evidence of private prisons being statistically significant in terms of job growth but we did find that states embracing privatization went the other way.” The Skanner

Taking a Stand Against Water Privatization in Our National Parks

One of the strategies corporations like Coke employ to undermine our faith in the public water system is using our national parks to promote and sell bottled water—one of the most environmentally destructive products on the market. That’s why Corporate Accountability International, the membership organization working to protect human rights, public health and the environment from irresponsible and dangerous corporate practices, is working to compel Yosemite National Park and Golden Gate National Recreation Area (GGNRA) to buck the bottle. We want these parks to join the tens of thousands of people, businesses, public officials, universities and fourteen other national parks in declaring freedom from bottled water. Beyond Chron