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This has to be good for journalism and democracy. Stateline.org says that 17 states are in the process of developing a new Web search engine that will make looking up state spending as easy as a Google search.

How would this sort of thing look? We can look to a site that is exposing federal spending as an example. With these kinds of Web sites, you could see, for example, which congressional districts are getting the most in federal dollars for bioenergy programs.

Here's another example: Which congressman's district gets the most in federal contracts? It is interesting that the speaker of the House's district lands the third-highest number of federal contracts in the country.

Which congressional districts get the most in federal grants?

Iraq Coverage Has Been About U.S.

The Project for Excellence in Journalism just released a new study that reports on who covered what, which stories dominated and how news organizations differed in the first quarter of 2007. Check out the first graf:

Why the "Forever Stamp" is a Sucker Deal

Slate says what I have been thinking. Why the heck have people invested more than $82 million in these stamps? Does an occasional 2-cent increase in stamp prices freak us out that much?

Who is MNFIRAQ?

It is the YouTube posting name for the Multi-National Force – Iraq. In other words, the military itself is now posting videos on YouTube "to give viewers around the world a 'boots on the ground' perspective of Operation Iraqi Freedom from those who are fighting it." The military has posted 28 videos, and some of them have been viewed more than 120,000 times.

New Military Vehicles

One Web site I browse every week is Jane's International Defence Review. A few of the more interesting pieces lately include how the Army and Navy are considering new unmanned vehicles that would be comparable to the Predator drones in Iraq and Afghanistan. These vehicles could be rolling within a decade. Smaller versions are on the ground now. The 6-by-6-feet larger vehicles will be delivered to the battlefield by helicopter with the idea that unmanned vehicles could be especially useful in urban warfare environments where roadsides are littered with danger.

Teacher Dropouts

As your school systems near the end of the calendar, it might be useful to talk with teachers who are calling it quits. The Los Angeles Times reported recently that nearly a fourth of teachers will leave the profession after four or fewer years on the job. The top reasons they cite:

• Bureaucratic interference
• Lack of support from the district
• Low staff morale
• Lack of resources
• Unsupportive principal
• Low pay

As the story points out, when teachers unions negotiate contracts and mostly focus on pay, they are not addressing what concerns teachers most -- working conditions. The article says:

Every five years, the National Education Association conducts an in-depth survey on the lives of public-school teachers. The last survey shows:

• The average teacher has 15 years of classroom experience and more than half of today's teachers (56 percent) hold a master's degree or six-year diploma. Nearly one-quarter (23 percent) began full-time teaching within the past five years.

• Teachers spend an average of 50 hours per week on instructional duties, including an average of 12 hours each week on non-compensated school-related activities such as grading papers, bus duty and club advising.

• More than three-quarters of teachers (77 percent) participated in system-sponsored professional development activities during the school year; more teachers than ever (35 percent) participated in such activities during the summer.

• Teachers spend an average of $443 of their own money each year to meet the needs of their students.

• Three-fifths of teachers (60 percent) said they would become teachers again. More than one-fifth (21 percent) said they would not choose teaching as a career if they could start over again.

Here is something worth noting, however. Teacher turnover is higher in private schools than in public schools. (Data is about three years old.)

Editor's Note: Al's Morning Meeting is a compendium of ideas, edited story excerpts and other materials from a variety of Web sites, as well as original concepts and analysis. When the information comes directly from another source, it will be attributed and a link will be provided whenever possible. The column is fact-checked, but depends upon the accuracy and integrity of the original sources cited. Errors and inaccuracies found will be corrected.