The Alaska Policy Forum has released online maps visually depicting school test results from the recently released Performance Evaluation for Alaska’s Schools, or PEAKS. The PEAKS assessment is a general overview of public student performance at grade-level standard for English Language Arts (ELA)...

By David Boyle Just recently, the Anchorage School Board approved a contract for the Anchorage Education Association (AEA) for the period 2010-13.  We expressed concern at the School Board meeting (May 24th) that the board may not have been informed of the total costs of this contract.  When asked...

(Sunlight Foundation) The transparency group Sunlight Foundation has followed up on its 2007 list of “8 Principles of Open Government,” extending the list to ten must-do’s for proper public access to information. Read the article <here>

An often overlooked provision in Alaska statute allows cities to exempt themselves from campaign financial disclosure requirements, and several Alaskan boroughs have made the move to include the exemptions on the upcoming October ballots. On Tuesday night, the Mat-Su Borough Assembly introduced an ordinance...

(Kansas Policy Institute) Identifying potential savings is critically dependent upon full transparency. Taxpayers and government officials need easy access to information that is uniformly tracked and reported. Local governments may understandably prefer to decide these matters for themselves but their...

Under a little-noticed provision of the recently passed financial-reform legislation, the Securities and Exchange Commission no longer has to comply with virtually all requests for information releases from the public, including those filed under the Freedom of Information Act. The law, signed last week...

The Mercatus Center at George Mason University takes a serious look at state budgets and the inflation of them caused by gimmickry, fiscal evasion, and fiscal illusion; all common practices which pass extra costs off to taxpayers. Read the full report <here>

(AlaskaWatchdog.org) After several years of internal discussion and organization, the Legislative Finance Division has completed a project that adds more than $750 million into the General Fund in an effort to simplify State finances. Legislative Fiscal Analyst David Teal said the Budget Clarification...

(The State) A state education association has asked a federal court to decide whether South Carolina freedom of information laws violate the group’s First Amendment rights. The case centers on whether the South Carolina Association of School Administrators must comply with an open records request....

By Jeremy Thompson July 7, 2010 It shouldn’t be this difficult. Earlier this year, the Alaska Policy Forum submitted public records requests to local governments and school districts looking for any sole-source contracts they may have, asking for the name of the vendor, date of the contract, and...

STATEHOUSE (June 24, 2010) – Senate Republican leaders today proposed the Daniels administration unilaterally move forward without a legislative mandate on a new “transparency website” showing budgets and spending by Indiana state government. The key GOP senators said the site should later be expanded...

(The Spokesman-Review) The U.S. Supreme Court delivered a big victory for open government when it ruled that political petition signers do not have a broad First Amendment guarantee to hide their names from public view. The 8-1 decision stemmed from a challenge by a Washington state religious group,...

Battle lines are being drawn in San Diego over a possible November ballot measure that supporters say would ensure competitive bidding for municipal contracts, but which opponents argue is deceptive and has hidden consequences. Councilman Carl DeMaio plans to submit more than 138,000 signatures to the...

(Fairbanks Daily News-miner) The state suspended, for one year ending in mid-2009, a school-focused Medicaid reimbursement program after muddy financial reporting raised red flags with federal agencies. The Department of Health and Social Services has asked for a legislative OK to balance its books by...

Former crime lab director, George Taft, criticizes proposed crime lab and recommends Alaska Policy Forum report.  April 5, 2010 Anchorage, Alaska – Another former director of the Alaska State Crime Lab has expressed his opposition to the crime lab replacement project as it has been currently proposed...

For some, the word “transparency” may seem like a political football. While there exist those who do use it as such, there is a larger worldwide effort to change the perception about government data and its usefulness to the public. Can more disclosure of government data be useful to Alaskans? Alaska...