Austin, TX (myPressManager.com) January 20, 2012
The TTARA Research Foundation has released an update of its award-winning publication, “An Introduction to School Finance in Texas.” This latest version describes changes made by the 82nd Legislature and provides the information needed for citizens and taxpayers to understand the issues raised by pending lawsuits. The previous report, also authored by Sheryl Pace, won the 2011 award for Most Effective Education from the nationally respected Governmental Research Association.“The public education system in Texas consumes over $47 billion each year educating 4.8 million young Texans. Even though education is the most important public service provided in this state, few understand how Texas finances it. This report is written to allow those of us who are not school funding ‘insiders’ to fully grasp the issues and play an informed role in developing state policy. With four lawsuits challenging the state’s school finance system, education finance will certainly be at the front of the public consciousness this year. There may never have been a more important time for citizens to be well informed. This report will make that possible,” said Bill Allaway, the TTARA Research Foundation’s President.Copies of the report may be obtained by contacting the TTARA Research Foundation and are available on our website.The TTARA Research Foundation is a non-profit educational entity organized to make factual analyses and studies related to economic, fiscal and public policy in Texas. It has conducted research that has enlightened the development of public policy in Texas for more than 50 years and has won numerous national awards in the process, including this year’s top award from the Governmental Research Association for its report on school finance in Texas.For more information on the TTARA Research Foundation please visit us online at www.ttara.org
Health Equity Initiative (HEI), a NY-based nonprofit organization dedicated to building community, capacity, and communication resources for health equity, announces today that it received approval by the National Board of Public Health Examiners (NBPHE) as a provider of Certified in Public Health Continuing Education (CPH CE) credits, which are required for maintaining the certification in public health issued by the NBPHE. Eligible professionals who participate in HEI’s professional development workshops, mini-courses and other training events can earn CPH CE credits after completing a multiple choice test. The CPH certification is administered by the NBPHE after successful completion of an exam, which is open to graduates of and students at CEPH-accredited schools and programs of public health. CPH certification recognizes the complexity and evolving nature of public health challenges, and addresses the need for public health professionals to stay at the forefront of their field. CPH maintenance requires the completion of CPH CE credits via participation in continuing education activities. As one of its core action areas, HEI helps other organizations succeed by increasing their effectiveness in serving vulnerable populations and developing sustainable health interventions in diverse settings – via its consulting and technical assistance services, and capacity building programs. HEI’s training events focus on a variety of topics and competencies in the public health, global health and healthcare fields, with a specific emphasis on implications for health equity. “We are very pleased with this important milestone and look forward to a long-term relationship with the NBPHE,” says Dr. Renata Schiavo, HEI’s Founding President and CEO. For additional information on HEI’s capacity building and training services as well as upcoming 2012 professional development workshops, go to: 
Only after the author stared bankruptcy in the face was he prepared to do the unthinkable, create a budget. Not only did he avoid bankruptcy, he survived his own financial nightmare and seasons of unemployment. The author also learned and fine-tuned the budget process. After getting his own house in order, Patrick Mellody, started sharing his easy budget process with others. In this book Patrick uses real life stories from his 17 years as a volunteer budget coach to walk the reader through this timely new book. Over 14 Million Americans are unemployed and need a plan to survive, now! With incomes slashed and assets on the line families need help prioritizing their limited funds. This book includes two budgets.The Crisis Budget – For anyone that needs help today! When life is down to the wire and families need to make quick but informed decisions, this budget is for them. The reader learns how to protect their personal triangle of basic needs and can utilize the solid list of referral services in the book to work with their creditors. The Unemployment Budget – This budget is more detailed and will help the reader get more organized. They will have a solid foundation on which they can not only survive but be able to move forward. Financial stress will be reduced and allow them to focus on finding their next job. Each short chapter starts with a story of someone Patrick helped develop a budget over his seventeen years as a volunteer budget coach. Every story is unique and has a part to play in the budget process. At the end of each chapter there is a simple form to fill in that will help the reader on their way. Here is what the reader can expect from this book: 
The Illinois Recycling Association announces a ban on the disposal of electronics in Illinois landfills as of January 1, 2012. This is in accordance with a new Illinois State Law SB2106 (P.A. 97-0287), signed by Governor Quinn in August 2011, that has drastically limited the types of items that can be disposed in landfills. 
The National Association of Retail Collection Attorneys (NARCA) is hosting its 2012 Attorney Workshop on January 15th and 16th, 2012, in Newport Beach, California. The program begins with dinner on Sunday evening featuring an expert on employee motivation and continues on Monday with educational sessions and informal roundtable discussions. Unlike the educational programs offered at the NARCA Spring and Fall Collection conferences, which focus primarily on legal updates, ethics and compliance, the NARCA Attorney Workshop is dedicated to law practice management issues. Topics include: • Strategic Planning 
Stanley Freed, author and curator at the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) in New York City has just released his newest book, Anthropology Unmasked, Museums, Science, and Politics in New York City (Orange Frazer Press, $80).In two volumes, illustrated with 220 black and white and color photographs from worldwide archives, Freed tells the story of how the AMNH began, from a single building in a rough isolated tract surrounded by vagabonds and drifters, and gradually evolved into one of the world’s preeminent scientific and cultural institutions. Today it remains a leader in basic research and one whose permanent exhibits are unmatched anywhere. Each volume is filled with fascinating stories about famous anthropologists such as Franz Boas, Clark Wissler, Waldemar Bogoras, and Margaret Mead, who all journeyed to remote and dangerous regions. Their field studies, and those of their colleagues, made major contributions to anthropology.Stanley Freed has worked at the AMNH for over fifty-two years. When Freed was asked what he enjoyed the most about being an anthropologist at the AMNH he replied: “For me, three qualities of life in the AMNH were irresistible. First, there was the extraordinary freedom of research and publication enjoyed by all curators in the Department of Anthropology. Second, fieldwork was part of a curator’s role. A curator does not have to wait for a sabbatical year or a summer’s vacation to do field work. One can go to the field at almost any time and stay for as long as necessary. Finally, the department has been able to maintain its initial, clublike ambiance until the present day, despite a staff of strong-minded and fascinating characters. This fortunate circumstance helped to make it one of the happiest places to work in all of American anthropology.”When asked why he wrote the book, Freed said: "In the 1980s, I joined the small group of anthropologists who were writing about the history of their subject. I believed that I could add some balance to American anthropological history, and that the best place to start was with museums - where the story began. The more I delved into the archives, the more I was fascinated. I was hooked." The book will be available in December and copies can be purchased via 
Youth sport and interscholastic coaches can now access the Coaches Toolbox, a new free website on hot-button issues regarding sport and coaching at