News Roundup

Unemployment Drops to 5-year Low, but Job Growth Disappoints
Don Lee
Los Angeles Times
October 22, 2013

According to government reports, the national unemployment rate has dropped to 7.2 percent, which is the lowest it has been in five years.  Over the past month more than 148,000 jobs have been added to the job market, however, employers are still reluctant to hire new employees. As a result of the hiring halt, the Federal Reserve will be hesitant in withdrawing its monetary stimulus programs. Policymakers are also considering an $85 billion-a-month cutback on the purchase of bonds, but decisions are at a standstill until employment grows.

During the first half of the year, the economy added about 195, 000 jobs a month to the market, a number that has dropped to about 143,000 jobs a month. The decrease in job creation was harmful to the 11.3 million people who are officially unemployed and the 8 million part time workers who are looking to pick up more hours. Despite the declining job creation and the unsettling rate of unemployment, government payrolls increased by 22,000 in September (though federal employment shrank by 6,000).

Sequestration Cuts Lead To Bigger Classes, Shuttered Arts Programs In Schools
Joy Resmovits
The Huffington Post
October 22, 2013

Stilwel, Oklahoma’s rural Rocky Mountain Public School is one of many schools whose building updates and funding have been indefinitely delayed by sequestration. The old Rocky Mountain Public School built in 1965 is long overdue for a new roof, considering that every time it rains, it rains inside of the school building as well. About 90 percent of the school’s students are from low-income families and Native American communities. Therefore, the school has a non-existent tax base, in addition to the school’s 22 percent state funding cut since 2009. Schools that house students residing on Native American reservations and military bases rely solely on special federal funding called impact funding, which cannot be distributed in advance.

According to the National Association of Federally Impacted Schools, 86 percent of schools represented have factored sequestration cuts into their budget, 114 schools have postponed building maintenance, and eight schools have completely closed. Due to sequestration cuts in 94 impact aid districts, instructional staff has been cut but class sizes increased by 102 percent. If sequestration continues, impact aid schools and districts will continue to be disparately affected.

Prisoners of Profit
Chris Kirkham
The Huffington Post
October 22, 2013

The Justice Departments and local authorities in New York, Florida, Nevada, and Texas have had conflicts with James Slattery’s for-profit prison enterprises due to a suspicion of several offenses such as condoning abuse of inmates. In 2009, Maryland auditors found that juvenile facilities under Slattery’s operation had allowed inmates to fight on Saturday mornings to resolve any disputes from the previous week. In Florida, one facility has also failed to report occurrences of sexual abuse and assaults.

Over 40,000 juveniles in 16 states have gone through prisons, boot camps, or detentions under Slattery’s supervision. Based on state audits, local police reports, and lawsuits over the last 20 years, inmates in Youth Services International (YSI) often face neglect, sexual abuse, and unsanitary food. Unfortunately, in several states YSI continues to expand its contracts to operate juvenile prisons. . Today, 40 percent of juvenile delinquents are committed to private facilities much like the facilities run under Slattery’s supervision.