Fifteen prison chaplains from South Florida are asking the legislature to move forward with privatization plans. The chaplains delivered letters to the House Speaker and Senate President today. Claudio Perez, president of South Florida Jail Ministries says privatizing the prisons will give faith groups more freedom to implement religious programs. Capitol News Service
PA: Anatomy of a deal: Scranton’s streetlight plan examined
Scranton embarked on streetlight privatization a decade ago under the assumption that maintenance costs would be fixed and the city would save money in the long run, according to minutes of a 2002 city council hearing on a bond that funded the plan. “The costs are fixed for the life of this bond issue. The costs are fixed,” former Councilman Alex Hazzouri said during an Oct. 28, 2002, council hearing, according to meeting minutes on file at city hall. Now, however, the city and its former streetlight maintenance firm, Municipal Energy Managers, are embroiled in a dispute over $657,000 in bills the firm claims it is owed by the city. The Times Tribune
AL: Gov seeks charter schools amid austere budget forecasts
Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley is asking the Legislature to create a limited number of charter schools…In addition to charter schools, which are free of many of the regulations of regular schools, Bentley said he was proposing a law that would give local school systems more freedom in developing strategies, “free from federal bureaucracy “.He also said he wants to see the Legislature give parents the choice in deciding where their children attend schools. “We must also allow parents a choice in how and where their child receives an education,” Bentley said. The Birmingham News