Author: hankkalet

Hank Kalet is a poet and freelance journalist. He is the economic needs reporter for NJ Spotlight, teaches journalism at Rutgers University and writing at Middlesex County College and Brookdale Community College. He writes a semi-monthly column for the Progressive Populist. He is a lifelong fan of the New York Mets and New York Knicks, drinks too much coffee and attends as many Bruce Springsteen concerts as his meager finances will allow. He lives in South Brunswick with his wife Annie.

Memo to banks from New York AG: No impunity

If the feds won’t dig into banking practices, then the states will have to — or, at least, New York will.

The New York attorney general has requested information and documents in recent weeks from three major Wall Street banks about their mortgage securities operations during the credit boom, indicating the existence of a new investigation into practices that contributed to billions in mortgage losses.

Officials in Eric T. Schneiderman’s, office have also requested meetings with representatives from Bank of America, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, according to people briefed on the matter who were not authorized to speak publicly. The inquiry appears to be quite broad, with the attorney general’s requests for information covering many aspects of the banks’ loan pooling operations. They bundled thousands of home loans into securities that were then sold to investors such as pension funds, mutual funds and insurance companies.

  • Send me an e-mail.
  • Read poetry at The Subterranean.
  • Certainties and Uncertainties a chapbook by Hank Kalet, will be published in November by Finishing Line Press. It can be ordered here.
  • Suburban Pastoral, a chapbook by Hank Kalet, available here.
Email me at grassroots at comcast dot net.

The charter question and Cerf’s answer

State Education Commissioner Christopher Cerf probably wishes he could take back his statements about a Princeton-South Brunswick charter school. Cerf, a gung-ho supporter of charters, raised questions about so-called boutique schools like the proposed Mandarin-language one here. (It has been approved by the state but has been unable to find a home that can get through the local zoning process.)

At a forum sponsored by NJ Spotlight last week in Newark, Cerf cited a proposed Mandarin-immersion charter in Princeton in questioning whether the harm such charters could cause to their districts outweighs their potential to enhance a “portfolio” of educational offerings.

“I think you really can have a very serious debate, the outcome of which is unclear, as to whether that rounds out the portfolio or impairs the success of the overall district,” Cerf said, referring to the Princeton International Academy Charter School, which hopes to open in South Brunswick in September and draw students from that district, Princeton and West Windsor-Plainsboro.

Cerf was correct — and not just about the Princeton International Academy Charter School. The charter school movement requires far more scrutiny than state educational officials have been willing to give it, and this goes for those working both for Gov. Chris Christie and Gov. Jon Corzine.

The argument in favor of charters is that it enhances freedom of choice for parents, but it also offers the state a convenient out when it comes to fixing public schools. Rather than do the hard work — which would include modernizing buildings to a much greater degree than has been imagined, training teachers and paying them enough to stay in the public sector, reducing class sizes and doing what needs to be done to improve school safety (and this list does not include the societal changes required to put poor kids in a position to learn) — the state is giving children of motivated parents a way to escape failing schools. This does nothing to fix the failures, but consigns those students unlucky enough to escape to even worse conditions.

So, let me rephrase the question Cerf was asking, but apply it to charter schools more generally: Do charter schools enhance or hinder the quality of public school districts?

  • Send me an e-mail.
  • Read poetry at The Subterranean.
  • Certainties and Uncertainties a chapbook by Hank Kalet, will be published in November by Finishing Line Press. It can be ordered here.
  • Suburban Pastoral, a chapbook by Hank Kalet, available here.
Email me at grassroots at comcast dot net.

Xenophobia on the diamond

Dave Zirin reminds us that there are some courageous celebrities — and a lot of xenophobic fans.

  • Send me an e-mail.
  • Read poetry at The Subterranean.
  • Certainties and Uncertainties a chapbook by Hank Kalet, will be published in November by Finishing Line Press. It can be ordered here.
  • Suburban Pastoral, a chapbook by Hank Kalet, available here.
Email me at grassroots at comcast dot net.

Mets prognosis: Better than expected

The Mets are not a great ball club. But aside from the Phillies — flawed in their own right — there are no great clubs in the National League. So that means the Mets have a shot — not a great shot, but a shot — at the wild card.

Consider: We are now a quarter of the way through the season and the only team to get their record above .600 is the Phillies. The Marlins, at .590, are next, but no one should expect that to continue, given an uneven lineup and mediocre back-end pitching. (With Josh Johnson, however, they have one of the five best starters in the National League at the top of the rotation.)

This is what the Mets have going for them, if they can avoid a prolonged losing streak and find a way to stay close in the wild card through the trading deadline (if they fall back, look for Jose Reyes, Carlos Beltran and possibly Francisco Rodriguez to be dealt).

1. Reyes and Beltran are performing better than they have in at least three years and right now are among the league’s better hitters.

2. Ike Davis was off to a massive start.

3. Rodriguez is pitching great and is getting 8th-inning help from Jason Isringhausen, the first time he has had this kind of setup work since he got here.

4. Chris Capuano has looked good in the rotation and Mike Pelfrey may be turning it around after a bad start.

Those are the early positives. Add to it: Johann Santana is expected to return in July. It is hard to make any assumptions about what he’ll bring to the table, but his presence will make the team better.

The team cannot expect David Wright and Jason Bay to both continue slumping. One and hopefully both will start hitting, which will deepen the lineup.

Since Daniel Murphy and Justin Turner began sharing second, the position has stabilized.

And both Angel Pagan and Davis will be back soon.

Over all, I like the length of this lineup, providing everyone lives up to his potential.

Can they win the wild card? Yes. Will they? Unlikely, but if they can make a run it will be worth keeping their soon-to-be free agents.

  • Send me an e-mail.
  • Read poetry at The Subterranean.
  • Certainties and Uncertainties a chapbook by Hank Kalet, will be published in November by Finishing Line Press. It can be ordered here.
  • Suburban Pastoral, a chapbook by Hank Kalet, available here.
Email me at grassroots at comcast dot net.

Welcome to triangulation, Obama-style

Gas prices are spiking and drivers are angry, a situation that demands both a political response and leadership.

Too bad, President Barack Obama is only offering the former. He announced today that he would make it easier to drill for oil on public lands, particularly in Alaska, a sop to both his GOP critics and selfish drivers who refuse to alter their own habits to address falling supply.

There are a lot of reasons that U.S. gas prices are high — Middle East instability, demand that has been growing without thought of supply, greed in the executive suites, unnecessary federal subsidies and, yes, federal and state regulations.

Some of these causes need to be addressed and can be — reducing demand by changing our driving habits and land-use patterns is imperative and should top the list along with finding alternative fuel sources.

Giving in to the drill-baby-drill crowd, however, is not something that makes sense on any level — the supply would be a short-term boost that would do little for several years, which is both useless in terms of prices at the pump and counterproductive as a long-term strategy.

That hasn’t stopped some environmental groups from signing on — even though, you know they would screaming bloody murder had this been ordered by the Bush administration.

The reality is this would have been bad policy under Bush and it is bad policy under Obama.

Email me at grassroots at comcast dot net.