Spera Connect

The practice of religion is a powerful antidote to many of our nation's pressing social ills, many of which have reached historically high proportions. Yet, despite the societal benefits of religion, the expression of faith in the public square has faced many challenges. Social science research indicates that permitting and accommodating free religious practice is necessary to move society in positive directions. Because education is important in so many ways for all citizens, any factor ...

Mixing religion with government is typically taboo. But I'm going to try here. Just the other day, I read an article about clergy in certain churches being denied the same protections under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) when it came to dealing with mental health. They (rightfully) came forth with mental issues, and instead of being supported by their organizations, were discharged or forced to resign. It's pretty obvious why the ADA does not ...

Vacant and abandoned properties are a problem for local governments, businesses and individuals. Typically the reasons go beyond simply being a government spending, with macroeconomic and social issues lying at the center. Vacancies can result from any number of reasons: a corporation moves a plant to another state; developers decide to build new blocks of homes on the city's fringe; or gentrification forces up the rents in the area causing eviction in less-developed, more blighted ...

Public education is a vital function of local governments. And making up the majority of annual budgets, its spending is often under the most scrutiny during public referendums. Many studies have been performed that analyze the social impact and economic benefits of public school spending and performance. One of these studies, published by Penn State, outlines several key impacts and offers business cases for further investment. The impacts of education are vast, ranging from employment ...

Is there a relationship between school performance and property values? It is largely accepted that school systems tend to be major drivers where many families decide to live. Now while it isn't always easy to judge how "good" a particular school district performs, it's much easier to use per-pupil spending as a proxy. According to a report by the National Bureau of Economic Research, there may be a real connection between school spend and property ...

When organizations talk about creating a "social return on investment," it often comes in the form of improving GDP of a given area. But what is this really? By definition, gross domestic product is the total market for goods produced within a government's borders -- an overall proxy measure for the success of an economy. It's impressive and all, and we can all readily cite impressive GDP growth targets we'd like our country to achieve ...

America's $18 trillion economy relies on a vast network of infrastructure from roads and bridges to freight rail and ports to electrical grids and internet provision. But the systems currently in place were built decades ago, and rising maintenance costs are causing these systems to fall into disrepair while holding economic performance back. Many bridges are structurally deficient and antiquated drinking water and wastewater systems pose risks to public health. Meanwhile, Americans’ international peers enjoy ...

There is a growing skills gap in America. A growing percentage of people are either overskilled and underemployed, or underskilled and can’t find desirable work.This is mainly due to society’s poor valuing of mastery. If governments, businesses and schools were more incentivized to understand and leverage this concept, our jobs and the people working them might be much more aligned.This article seeks to examine this problem, provide an example for working through it, and offer ideas for solving it ...

Home ownership has long been part of the American Dream. However, this dream isn’t equal for everybody. Decades of racist federal housing policies and segregation have made it much harder for black people to purchase homes and build wealth, in turn making it harder to afford college education and invest in businesses. The Brookings Institute researched this problem, attempting to assess the economic cost of racist policies through the lens of the housing market. If ...

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Nonprofit and public agencies continue to lead the march toward prison reform in an era of increasing mass imprisonment, especially among poor and minority communities. Many new programs practice and provide “holistic defense.” This is concept where each client gets a team of lawyers, social workers, and other advocates to help address the reasons a client ended up in court in the first place. But because this type of defense is inherently much more expensive ...