Police and Fire Pensions in Florida: A Comparison of Conditions After 10 Years

This article is an analysis of 31 defined benefit police and fire pension plans of 20 municipalities in Florida. The authors conducted a similar assessment of these same plans ten years earlier to determine the fiscal impact of these plans due to state mandates that accompany state funding for each of these plans. The current study analyzes key measures of fiscal health over the last ten years for these same plans to ascertain whether the fiscal condition of these plans remained constant, that is, whether underfunded plans continued to be questionably managed and whether well-funded plans continued to be fiscally stable considering economic trends and the lessening of state mandates on the use of state funding for these plans. The findings show that the overwhelming majority of the plans neither significantly changed their financial condition nor their general ranking among the plans evaluated.

Emergency Action Plans in Secondary Schools: Barriers, Facilitators, and Social Determinants Affecting Implementation

Context Secondary schools (SSs) inconsistently adopt emergency action plans (EAPs) for athletics. Objective To describe the barriers, facilitators, and social determinants influencing EAP adoption in SSs in the United States. Design Cross-sectional study. Setting Secondary schools. Patients or Other Participants A national sample of athletic trainers (ATs; n = 9642) and athletic directors (ADs; n = 9687) were invited to participate in a Web-based questionnaire. A total of 1273 (13.2%) ATs and 702 (9.2%) ADs responded to the survey. Main Outcome Measure(s) The questionnaire addressed self-reported barriers to, facilitators of, and social determinants (eg, locale, funding classification [eg, public or private SS]) of EAP adoption. The responses of ATs and ADs were analyzed separately. Barriers, facilitators, and social determinants were evaluated using descriptive statistics. Contingency (2 × 2) tables were used to calculate the odds ratios (ORs) of adopting an EAP and the presence of each social determinant. Results Perceived barriers to implementation were a lack of knowledge about how to implement an EAP and financial limitations. Facilitators were having access to health care personnel, state mandates, and support from a person in an authoritative position. Compared with ATs at rural schools, ATs at suburban schools displayed greater odds of having an EAP (χ2 = 5.63, P = .01, OR = 1.63 [95% confidence interval = 1.08, 2.44]). According to the ADs' responses, a larger SS enrollment (≥500) led to greater odds of adopting an EAP (OR = 2.02 [95% confidence interval = 1.41, 2.89]). Conclusions Perceived barriers to EAP adoption suggest that ATs and ADs need to be educated so they can provide additional information on the low cost of EAP adoption. Further, ADs described state mandates as facilitators to improve EAP adoption; therefore, efforts to educate state leaders about the need for mandated policies may be warranted. Certain social determinants (eg, school enrollment) may affect EAP adoption, but not every proposed determinant significantly affected adoption.

Exertional Heat-Stroke Preparedness in High School Football by Region and State Mandate Presence

Context Exertional heat stroke (EHS) is a leading cause of sudden death in high school football players. Preparedness strategies can mitigate EHS incidence and severity. Objective To examine EHS preparedness among high school football programs and its association with regional and state preseason heat-acclimatization mandates. Design Cross-sectional study. Setting Preseason high school football programs, 2017. Patients or Other Participants A total of 910 athletic trainers (ATs) working with high school football (12.7% completion rate). Main Outcome Measure(s) We acquired data on high school football programs' EHS preparedness strategies in the 2017 preseason via an online questionnaire, looking at (1) whether schools' state high school athletic associations mandated preseason heat-acclimatization guidelines and (2) heat safety region based on warm-season wet-bulb globe temperature, ranging from the milder region 1 to the hotter region 3. Six EHS-preparedness strategies were assessed: EHS recognition and treatment education; policy for initiating emergency medical services response; emergency response plan enactment; immersion tub filled with ice water before practice; wet-bulb globe temperature monitoring; and hydration access. Multivariable binomial regression models estimated the prevalence of reporting all 6 strategies. Results Overall, 27.5% of ATs described their schools as using all 6 EHS-preparedness strategies. The highest prevalence was in region 3 schools with state mandates (52.9%). The multivariable model demonstrated an interaction in which the combination of higher heat safety region and presence of a state mandate was associated with a higher prevalence of reporting all 6 strategies (P = .05). Controlling for AT and high school characteristics, the use of all 6 strategies was higher in region 3 schools with state mandates compared with region 1 schools without state mandates (52.9% versus 17.8%; prevalence ratio = 2.68; 95% confidence interval = 1.81, 3.95). Conclusions Our findings suggest a greater use of EHS-preparedness strategies in environmentally warmer regions with state-level mandates for preseason heat acclimatization. Future researchers should identify factors influencing EHS preparedness, particularly in regions 1 and 2 and in states without mandates.

Responding to State Mandates around Instruction

In this paper, we document development of administrator networks around teacher evaluation and Common Core in an urban district over four years. Using social network analysis, we look at the extent to which networks focused on instructional initiatives spanned formal roles. Findings highlight influences of role and grade level as well as the nature of different initiatives in the ways that networks developed. As interactions increase, administrators share their knowledge and expertise—and district leadership has the potential to develop structures that support this. We conclude with implications for policy and practice.

“#houstonstrong”: Resisting and reifying the neoliberal public

This article argues that during and after Hurricane Harvey, Houstonians used the hashtag #houstonstrong as a way of creating a public. This public functioned much in the ways defined by scholars as a means to forward collective action outside the confines of the state. Although it formed adjacent to state mandates, this public never agitated against state practices. Instead, #houstonstrong became not only a way to organize civilian and privatized rescue during the storm but also a point of pride for Houstonians and businesses across Houston. Therefore, I argue that even though #houstonstrong functioned as a traditional public in many ways, its adherence to neoliberal logics makes it a complex form of publicity that challenges the binary between traditional and neoliberal definitions of public behavior.