Illinois’ FY 2013 Budget: Navigating away from “empty promises”

Deltek Analyst Joanna Salini reports. Governor Patrick Quinn unveiled his proposed FY 2013 budget to the General Assembly on February 22, 2012. His plan outlines a need to repair a broken system and restore fiscal stability through major reductions and state spending reforms. While Governor Quinn’s plan emphasizes a need to cut costs and reduceRead… Read more »

Coding Better Government

I was laid up sick all last week and didn’t have time to put anything together. Rather than leave you hanging, I’m just going to point you at this TED talk about Coding Better Government by Code for America Founder Jennifer Pahlka. Cheers Originally published by Nick Charney at cpsrenewal.ca subscribe/connect Original post

Local Governments Need To Embrace The Passion Of Amateurs!

One of my favorite quotes is: “ Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” Margaret Mead The first edition of Britannica Encyclopedias appeared in Scotland in 1768. In 11 years a group of Internet volunteers has ended the 244Read… Read more »

Civic institutes this summer (via Peter Levine’s blog)

Here’s a great little list straight from Peter Levine’s blog at http://peterlevine.ws/?p=8351… People interested in various aspects of civic education and civic renewal have a whole range of summer institutes to consider in 2012. At Tufts, we offer a Summer Institute of Civic Studies (a seminar with a strong focus on theory) followed by aRead… Read more »

Educating Chicago

Chicago parents have a new tool for understanding the public school selection process: Chicago Public School Tiers, an app launched last week by Open City. The application is a perfect example of how independent civic developers can use open data to improve complicated yet important public processes; an approach that Code for America supports byRead… Read more »

Iowa, Louisiana move on education reform

Louisiana is examining an education reform package being advanced by Governor Bobby Jindhal that would tie teacher job security to how they fared on external performance metrics. The Iowa House has passed a slate of education reforms that would require yearly evaluations for school teachers, a test for graduating high school seniors and an extraRead… Read more »

Overcoming Obstacles to Social Media Use in Government

Participants in the Government Social Media Class offered by Digital Government University’s recently compiled a list of common arguments they’ve heard against the use of social media in government. How do you counter–firmly, but politely–these arguments? Are there any others that you encounter and have had to defend against? Please respond to these and addRead… Read more »

Do you need a “TempGig” until you land a Federal job? How about working at the 2012 Olympics?

Yes, I think I just coined a new GovLoop term–TempGig. You would have to go to London, however. It looks like they are hiring for everything from IT professionals, translators, chefs, to drivers. Could be a fun gig though! Here is a snapshot of top Olympics salaries: Job Title Olympics Salary National Average % DifferenceRead… Read more »