FROM THE ARCHIVES.

15 YEARS AGO

October 2006

The regulations are so onerous that principals rarely even try to fire a teacher. Most just put the bad ones in pretend-work jobs, or sucker another school into taking them. (They call that the 'dance of the lemons.') The city payrolls include hundreds of teachers who have been deemed incompetent, violent, or guilty of sexual misconduct. Since the schools are afraid to let them teach, they put them in so-called 'rubber rooms' instead. There they read magazines, play cards, and chat, at a cost to New York taxpayers of $20 million a year.

JOHN STOSSEL

How To Fire an Incompetent Teacher

Beyond the issues of race and guns, beyond even the question of Cory Maye's guilt or innocence, the death of Ron Jones illustrates the dangers of an increasingly literal war on drugs featuring unnecessarily aggressive, militaristic tactics that regularly lead to tragedies for police officers and civilians alike.

RADLEY BALKO

The Case of Cory Maye

25 YEARS AGO

October 1996

Congress did not mean to censor political speech, and the courts have for years attempted to restrain the commission's regulatory reflexes. Rather, the [Federal Election Commission] is a case study in the growth and transformation of oversight power. It begins with the reform of political financing, develops into ever more complex regulation of political activities, and finally matures into attempts to control political speech itself.

ALLISON HAYWARD AND STEVEN HAYWARD

Gagging on Political Reform

Ultimately, the defining political characteristic of the religious right is its concern with moral issues. Economic conservatives can and should work with the religious right to achieve common aims. But libertarians should never fool themselves. There remain profound disagreements between the two groups.

CHARLES OLIVER

Coalition Politics

35 YEARS AGO

October 1986

Even some leftists are beginning to notice that rent control hasn't helped poor people. Earlier this year, the Center for Community Change, an Oakland-based organization that provides housing aid to low-income tenants, released a study entitled 'Who Benefits from Rent Control?' It concludes that the principal beneficiaries have been middle-class people who could afford market rents and now spend their money on such luxuries as gourmet food and stereos. And it declares that rent control, notably in Santa Monica and Berkeley, has driven away landlords and cut off new construction. All, it notes...