Jason Richwine: Author of Controversial Heritage Foundation Report on Immigration Resigns!

Dear Commons Community,

Jason Richwine, the co-author of a controversial Heritage Foundation report on immigration resigned yesterday.   As reported in the Huffington Post: 

“Jason Richwine let us know he’s decided to resign from his position. He’s no longer employed by Heritage,” spokesman Daniel Woltornist said in an email to HuffPost.

The report put the cost of immigration reform at a whopping $6.3 trillion. Though Heritage’s 2007 report was one of the reasons an earlier immigration bill failed, the 2013 report was widely mocked.

Richwine also came under fire this week for arguing in his Harvard dissertation that Hispanic immigrants to the U.S. have substantially lower IQs than whites.  Harvard accepted Richwine’s 2009 dissertation for a doctorate in public policy. In it, he spoke of the “growing Hispanic underclass.”

“Superior performance on basic economic indicators is to be expected from later generations, who go to American schools, learn English, and become better acquainted with the culture,” he wrote. “Despite built-in advantages, too many Hispanic natives are not adhering to standards of behavior that separate middle and working class neighborhoods from the barrio.”

“There can be little dispute that post 1965-immigration has brought a larger and increasingly visible Hispanic underclass to the United States, yet the underlying reasons for its existence cannot be understood without considering IQ,” he wrote.

It seems to me that some of the higher-ups at Heritage should also consider leaving for allowing the report to go public.  But at Heritage it is politics first, truth second!

Tony

Rhee-ality check: Michelle Rhee’s StudentsFirst is a Bad Investment!

Dear Commons Community,

A group called New Yorkers for Great Public Schools (NYGPS) released a report Friday called “Rhee-ality Check” that calls into question Michelle Rhee’s success. It mostly relies on news clippings to assert that Rhee’s StudentsFirst reform advocacy group is ineffective in fundraising and legislative efforts.

“This is the first report of its kind to examine whether this education advocacy group founded by Michelle Rhee has made progress toward its key goals,” the report said. “A national education advocacy group with such a track record of ineffectiveness is not what Rhee’s investors signed up for.”  As reported in the Huffington Post:

In recent days, as the report’s release neared, a few allies of Rhee and her associates have sprung to her defense, offering accounts of her success. “National unions and other union front groups like NYGPS sure spend a lot of time, money, and attention on an organization they say is ineffective. The union bosses funding these groups are underestimating the public’s intelligence,” Erin Shaw, a StudentsFirst spokesperson, said in an email. “In the meantime, we are focused on passing laws and policies state by state … that put kids’ interests above all else.” Recently, Shaw noted, Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal (R) signed a teacher evaluation bill.

The report, and the back-and-forth in advance of its publication, touches on interesting questions at a time when philanthropies wield significant power over public policy: How can advocacy efforts be measured? What information can philanthropic groups use to guide their investments?

Tony