Innovate, Educate, Elevate

Urban school reform was working. Did antiracism break it? We have sought to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion in public education for decades. For us, that means a diverse staff, a multicultural curriculum, inclusive school communities where children feel known and heard, and most importantly, academic achievement for all students. In the 2010s, new schools dedicated to educational equity were posting striking results. When the Center for Research on Education Outcomes at Stanford University examined student outcomes from 2015 to 2019 in 29 states as well as Washington, D.C., and New York City, it identified some 200 charter school networks serving urban areas that were closing — or even reversing — longstanding achievement gaps in reading, math, or both.

Massachusetts may be known for extensive public spending, but that did not prevent it from getting a “C” on the 2025 Infrastructure Report Card published by the American Society of Civil Engineers. Infrastructure problems have plagued Massachusetts since well before the pandemic, and the past several years have made maintaining and improving the systems much more difficult for many metropolitan centers in the US. Pioneer Institute’s DataLabs platform yields some insight into persistent infrastructure quality concerns with Massachusetts’ transportation network. For context, Massachusetts ranked 38th nationally, with only 74.3% of its roads in acceptable condition, compared to the national average of 81.2%. Massachusetts also ranks 4th highest in the share of bridges in poor condition. These rankings reflect longstanding infrastructure issues that have become increasingly expensive to address post-pandemic.

Entrepreneur Alex Carter invested about a quarter-million dollars to build an innovative cost-sharing service for auto repairs. Unfortunately, state regulators in Utah shut it down, not because it caused any harm, but because it resembled insurance closely enough that regulators deemed it illegal. Unable to afford lawyers to fight the ruling, Carter was ultimately forced to close his company. His experience is not uncommon. Regulations written decades ago can hamper business creation in a way lawmakers never anticipated. When a business model does not fit nicely into a regulator-recognized category, it is often treated as a violation rather than an innovation. The cost falls on businesses that quietly fail to launch. A growing number of states are now testing a policy to address this issue – regulatory sandboxes.

Today’s ruling by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court is a serious disappointment for Commonwealth families struggling under one of the highest tax and cost burdens in the nation. The Court’s decision rests on a drafting error in the Attorney General’s summary of…