PUBLIC FINANCE

Jan 25 2025POLITICS

Kansas Lawmakers Propose Big Cut to School Funding Tax

Public school supporters are worried about a bill in the Kansas House that aims to reduce the state tax funding public schools by $800 million over five years. The plan is to drop the statewide property tax rate from 20 to 18. 5 mills starting next fiscal year and then keep the tax collections at th

reading time less than a minute
Jan 21 2025HEALTH

Volunteers' Diverse Backgrounds: Managing Them Better with Online Profiles

Public health emergencies bring together volunteers from all walks of life. This mix can make management tricky. To understand volunteers better, researchers are looking at social media data to create online profiles. These profiles could help paint a clearer, more objective picture of who's helping

reading time less than a minute
Jan 10 2025POLITICS

How Data Can Boost Civil Servant Morale

Public servants play a crucial role in connecting the government with its citizens. Their work directly influences how national policies are put into action. A recent study in China used the Labor Force Survey to find out more about these public servants and their professional identity. The study a

reading time less than a minute
Dec 28 2024POLITICS

President-Elect Trump's Swords at Public Media: NPR and PBS Brace for Impact

Public media like NPR and PBS are facing some serious heat. Donald Trump, soon to be president, has been openly criticizing US media, including calls to strip CBS of its broadcast license and refusing interviews with 60 Minutes. But it’s the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), which funds org

reading time less than a minute
Dec 27 2024HEALTH

Mixing Messages: Different Advice on Activity Levels

Public health bodies around the world, like the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), offer guidelines to keep us active. But hold on – are they telling us the same thing? Not quite. For starters, they use different names for what we know as 'aero

reading time less than a minute
Dec 27 2024SPORTS

AI's Role in Verifying Football ACL Injury Reports

Public databases like Transfermarkt offer a wealth of information about ACL injuries in professional footballers. However, these databases aren't always accurate. That's why we thought an AI-powered system could help. This AI framework can compare ACL tear data from large public databases with high

reading time less than a minute
Nov 23 2024EDUCATION

Improving Customer Satisfaction: What Motivates Public Service Employees?

Public service workers play a crucial role in customer satisfaction, but in many developing countries, this isn't always achieved. Governments have tried to enhance public service delivery, yet the results haven't been impressive. This calls for a deeper understanding of what drives employees to per

reading time less than a minute
Nov 19 2024TECHNOLOGY

Improving Campus Social Networks: A New Way to Track Opinions

Public opinion can spread like wildfire on campus social networks. Traditional methods of monitoring and searching these networks can be slow and wasteful. To solve this problem, researchers have introduced a new approach. They've combined dynamic deletion with the shortest path algorithm to classif

reading time less than a minute
Nov 17 2024EDUCATION

Why Special Ed Costs Are Catching Up with Schools

Public schools like Marblehead and Gloucester are facing a major challenge: the cost of special education is skyrocketing. This year, Marblehead spent $4. 4 million on special education outside their district, which is almost three times more than a decade ago. Gloucester’s costs have also shot up b

reading time less than a minute
Nov 08 2024HEALTH

Harnessing Web Data for Better Public Health

Public health officials have long kept an eye on events like disease outbreaks and vaccination drives to assess the health of the population. This helps them measure the impact of public health efforts and allocate resources wisely. A recent study delves into using web data mining to monitor public

reading time less than a minute