The methodology employed by the Atlanta Journal Consitution to identify schools that manipulate test scores may be going on the road.  Principals beware!  If you teach political science or public administration, or even plain old statistics, this case is well-suited for showing that statistical analysis is a real public policy and management tool, not just disembodied math stuff students are forced to learn.  http://www.ajc.com/news/cheating-our-children-ajcs-1398178.html

Some government agencies are more welcoming of patronage appointments than others, with seemingly little rhyme or reason that applies across jurisdictions and time.  In this Massachusetts story, the probation agency allegedly went from role model to patronage mill. Ex-probation chief, 2 aides indicted in hiring scandal.

Another Pennsylvania political corruption case, ho hum.  Two interesting angles, the convicted defendant’s sister is a Pennsylvania Supreme Court judge and the initial whistleblower was an intern.  Fresh-eyed, with college-age naivete, the intern noted as a bad thing that co-workers were doing poltical campaign work on taxpayer time.  The horror.  http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/pittsburgh/s_788426.html

John Perzel, one of Pennsylvania most powerful Republican legislators as House Speaker in the early 2000s is soon off to jail, where he joins Vince Fumo, long the legislature’s most powerful Democrat.  Each was found to have diverted millions in state funds to personal and/or partisan purposes. Steve Lopez, a political columnist for the Philadelphia Inquirer before moving to the LA Times, used to end pieces on such milestones with “Pennsylvania, Land of Giants,” wry sarcasm hard to improve on. http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/news/politics-state/former-speaker-of-the-pa-house-sentenced-in-corruption-case-627304/. The timeline of the “Computergate” case that ensnared the former House Speaker is here. http://old.post-gazette.com/pg/12043/1209366-454.stm

So, a tweeting Philly detective, actually a healthy sign, which of course means he has to stop while the chiefs make rules about it.  Hope the practice emerges from “rule-making” looking as healthy as when it went in.  UPDATE!  After a remarkably short time looking at the issue, the PPD let the detective continue his tweeting. Blasting crime the ‘Fuzz’ way.

Philadelphia–where unions are muscular and civil service mechanisms, including state-level arbitration, extend and dilute just about any discipline meted out to errant officers.  So independent  civilian complaint review comes last, can’t force action, suffers budget cuts and faces calls for its extinction.  Anybody want a job?  Police Advisory Commission must cut through backlog of complaints.

Will be interesting to see what happens when cops showing up at other cops’ accidents act less like concerned buddies and more like Internal Affairs accident investigators. http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-0314-lapd-collision-story-20120313,0,3330845.story