Entries by Editorial Staff

Major Gift Announcement: The Peters Legacy Society

~In Memory of R. Kingman Webster~ We were deeply saddened to learn of the passing of R. Kingman “King” Webster, a longtime confidant to Pioneer’s founder, Lovett C. “Pete” Peters, a benefactor for almost two decades, and a key member of the Institute’s early Board of Directors. After retiring from a fourth generation, family-owned business in 1989, Kingman and his wife Dee shifted their focus toward philanthropy – concentrating on common sense education reform and helping underprivileged youth trapped in failing schools. In addition to Pioneer, King promoted numerous initiatives such as the “I Have a Dream” project at Arlington Middle School, and the Community Day and Family Development Charter Schools, both based in Lawrence, Massachusetts. Though we have lost […]

Be informed, especially today

Pioneer Institute’s core mission is educating the public on policy issues. No issue is more important to the future of the Commonwealth – and our nation – than education. So, as you head to the polls, we’d like to make sure you are armed with facts – not noise. The ballot this year includes a question about whether charter public schools should be expanded in the lowest-performing districts. Charter public schools, like district schools and vocational-technical schools, are public schools. Gold-standard research demonstrates that Massachusetts charter public schools are the most powerful achievement gap-closing public schools in the nation. (More evidence here and here.) Districts do not lose funding as a result of creating more charter public schools. Currently, four […]

Study Finds Boston Charter Students More Likely to Take and Pass AP Tests

Pass rates for African-American, Latino, and economically disadvantaged students also higher than corresponding Boston Public Schools numbers BOSTON – Boston charter public school students are more likely than their counterparts in non-exam Boston Public Schools (BPS) to take Advanced Placement (AP) courses and tests, and Boston charters have also done a better job of helping traditionally underserved students pass AP tests, according to a new study published by Pioneer Institute. “Access to AP within the Boston Public Schools is radically skewed toward the system’s three exam schools,” said Dr. Cara Candal, co-author of “Advanced Placement Opportunities and Success in Boston Charter and District Schools: A Demographic Report.”  “Unlike charter schools, admission to the exam schools is selective and they are […]

Cap, Talent Pipeline, And Facilities Funding Among Factors Prohibiting State Charter Sector From Achieving Scale

“Yes” vote on statewide ballot initiative could attract more quality charter management organizations BOSTON – Raising the cap, strengthening teacher and school leader pipelines, and revising facilities funding are among the key factors if Massachusetts is to succeed at bringing its charter school sector to scale, according to a new study published by Pioneer Institute. “Gold-standard research demonstrates that Massachusetts charter public schools are among the nation’s best,” said Dr. Cara Stillings Candal, author of “Massachusetts Charter Public Schools: Best Practices in School Expansion and Replication.”  “But many of these high-performing charters are small ‘boutique’ schools.” Uncommon Schools, KIPP, and SABIS are the only charter networks operating in Massachusetts that are also present in other states. While it’s not unusual […]

Putting Healthcare Consumers First

Last week, Massachusetts’ Health Policy Commission convened for the annual Cost Trends Hearing, a two-day event exploring the Bay State’s healthcare market through expert testimony from industry representatives and policy makers. Although the wide-ranging discussion covered many important topics, there was a distinct lack of focus on how consumers interact with and perceive our current healthcare system, until Pioneer’s Senior Fellow in Healthcare and long-time consumer advocate, Barbara Anthony, spoke during the public comment session. Anthony’s testimony brought the Commission’s focus back to consumers and expressed disappointment with the implementation of the state’s 2012 healthcare price transparency legislation. The Chair of the Commission, Dr. Stuart Altman, thanked Anthony for her testimony and invited Pioneer to meet with the Commission and […]

Op-ed: Vote ‘yes’ on Question 2

This excerpt is from an op-ed published on Oct. 18, 2016 in The Boston Globe, authored by Thomas Birmingham and Mark Roosevelt, co-authors of the 1993 Massachusetts Education Reform Act. “We included charter public schools in the 1993 law to provide poor parents with the type of educational choice that wealthy parents have always enjoyed. By keeping charter schools outside of school district bureaucracies and establishing a rigorous state-run application process, we hoped to spur innovation and ensure that more children had access to an excellent education. We now have enough data to conclude that charter schools have exceeded expectations. In our cities, public charter schools consistently close achievement gaps. No wonder more than 32,000 children are on charter school waiting lists. Imagine […]

Op-ed: Mass. charters fight racial oppression

By Sephira Shuttlesworth By 1959, my late husband, the Birmingham, Ala. civil rights leader Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth, had been beaten with bike chains, brass knuckles, and baseball bats by a segregationist mob, had his church bombed twice and survived his house being bombed by the Ku Klux Klan on Christmas Day. On a Monday night that year at the St. James Baptist Church, he was convening a mass meeting of his parishioners and other community activists. After weeks of harassment from the Birmingham Fire Department, firemen showed up claiming a report was called in about a fire in the church. Upon leaving the church to resume the mass meeting at another church a block away, Fred Shuttlesworth told the Birmingham […]

The Future of the MBTA

Last year the legislature created the MBTA Fiscal and Management Control Board with the explicit purpose of ensuring that attention would be focused on the transit system’s safety, reliability and sound fiscal management. This afternoon, the FMCB will host a forum to review work to date on a strategic plan for the MBTA. Pioneer has long played a prominent role in debates about how to improve area transit services.  In 2015, we provided thought leadership on various governance models including the concept of a “receivership-lite” control board to oversee and implement needed reforms in a truncated time period.  We continue to provide timely input, as is the role of a think tank committed to improving the quality of life in […]

Study: Massachusetts Charters Enrolling More English Language Learners

Charter ELLs have lower attrition rates, better academic outcomes than district counterparts BOSTON – Massachusetts charter public schools are enrolling more English language learners (ELLs) in recent years, and those students have lower attrition rates and better academic outcomes than their district counterparts, according to a new study published by Pioneer Institute. As late as 2009, ELL enrollment in Boston charter schools was just 2 percent.  But a 2010 state law obligated school districts to share mailing lists with charters and required charter schools to submit detailed recruitment and retention plans for ELL students with the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE). “The mailing lists gave charters an effective means of recruiting English language learners,” said Dr. Cara […]

Charter School Special-Needs Students Achieving Excellent Outcomes

Percentage Of Charter School Special-Needs Students Is Rising, Outcomes Improving 2010 law required more extensive outreach to students with special needs, provided means to enhance recruitment Read coverage of this report in the Boston Herald: Report counters argument that charters don’t serve special-needs students BOSTON – In the wake of recent public policy changes, Massachusetts charter public schools are beginning to reach demographic parity with their district counterparts in terms of the percentage of special-needs students they educate, and those students, especially in Boston, are achieving excellent outcomes, according to a new study published by Pioneer Institute. A 2010 state law requires every Massachusetts charter school to develop a detailed plan for how to recruit and retain special-needs students and English […]

Survey Finds Prescription Drug Prices Easy To Access, But Not Always Accurate

Wide variation found in price of generics, less for brand-name drugs; consumers must navigate difficult terrain to find lowest price BOSTON – It’s far easier to get prescription drug price information than to get similar numbers from hospitals or specialty physicians, but the information is not always reliable, according to a new survey published by Pioneer Institute. Researchers called 44 independent and chain drugstores across Massachusetts and asked for a 30-day supply in a common dosage of five generic and three brand-name drugs.  Callers said they were self-pay and pressed the stores for information about discounts. Massachusetts’ 2012 state law mandating price transparency does not cover retail pharmaceutical sales. “There were virtually no transfers or dropped calls, no lengthy hold […]

Study Finds Common Core Incompatible With Catholic Education

Singular focus on workforce development conflicts with Catholic schools’ academic, spiritual and moral mission BOSTON – The workforce-preparation focus of the K-12 English and math standards known as Common Core puts them at odds with Catholic education, and the standards should not be adopted by parochial schools, according to a new study published by Pioneer Institute and the American Principles Project. As most states rushed to adopt the standards at the beginning of the current decade, the National Catholic Education Association urged Catholic schools to get on board, and many adopted Common Core.  But the tide began to turn, and in 2013 a group of 132 Catholic scholars sent a letter to American bishops asserting that adopting Common Core would […]

How Phoenix Academies Transform Potential High School Dropouts into College Grads

Study Explores How Phoenix Academies Transform Potential High School Dropouts into College Graduates Network combines second chances and individualized support with academic rigor BOSTON – A network of three Massachusetts public schools is using “relentless support” to help at-risk students not only graduate from high school, but also succeed in college, according to a new study published by Pioneer Institute. In Massachusetts Charter Public Schools: Best Practices from the Phoenix Charter Academies, author Cara Stillings Candal writes that during the 2014-15 school year, more than 86 percent of Phoenix Academy students were teen parents, court-involved, highly truant, English language learners, received special education services, or had already dropped out of high school. “The Phoenix Academies network proves that with patience, […]

More Mass. Charter Public Schools: Daughter of Brown v. Board of Ed Plaintiff Makes the Case

Last Monday, Pioneer hosted the event “Equal Access to Excellence: Charter and District School Reform,” which was co-sponsored by the Program on Education Policy and Governance at the Harvard Kennedy School, the Center for Education Reform, the Massachusetts Charter Public School Association, SABIS®, the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, Families for Excellent Schools and the Black Alliance for Educational Options. The keynote address was delivered by Cheryl Brown Henderson, whose father, the late Rev. Oliver L. Brown, was lead plaintiff in Brown v. Board of Education, the landmark 1954 U.S. Supreme Court case that banned segregation in public education. Cheryl is founding president of the Brown Foundation for Educational Equity, Excellence, and Research, and the owner of Brown & Associates, an […]

Op-ed: Charter and district schools need not be adversaries

By Thomas Birmingham This op-ed appeared in the New Bedford Standard Times, The Lowell Sun, The Springfield Republican, and The MetroWest Daily News. In the run-up to a November ballot initiative that would allow more charter schools to open in Massachusetts, charter and traditional public schools have been cast in an adversarial relationship. But that isn’t always the case. The Phoenix Academies Network operates charter schools in Chelsea and Springfield, and a district school that is part of the turnaround effort underway in Lawrence. The schools focus on at-risk students like teen parents, the chronically truant, court-involved students, those with special needs, English language learners, and young men and women who have already dropped out. Like all charters, Phoenix’s schools can’t choose […]

Education Access Event to Feature Daughter of Lead Plaintiff in Brown vs Board of Ed

As Massachusetts debates raising the charter school cap, school district reforms, and how to close achievement gaps, Pioneer Institute will host “Equal Access to Excellence: Charter and District School Reform,” at which a diverse group of nationally recognized education reform experts will discuss how to make equal access to quality education a reality for all children. The event, to be held Monday, September 19th from 8:00-10:10 a.m. at the Omni Parker House hotel in Boston, will feature a keynote address by Cheryl Brown Henderson, whose father, the late Rev. Oliver L. Brown, was lead plaintiff in Brown vs. Board of Education, the landmark 1954 U.S. Supreme Court case that banned segregation in public education. Update: Watch the policy presentation and […]

PioneerLegal Submits Amicus Brief In Pacheco-Law Case Before SJC

Pioneer Institute (Pioneer) has submitted an amicus brief supporting the defendants in SEIU, Local 509 v. Massachusetts Department of Mental Health et al. (SJC-12035). The case was argued on September 6, 2016, before the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts (SJC). It involves a claim by the SEIU challenging contracts awarded by the state Department of Mental Health (DMH) to private mental health providers by asserting that the contracts failed to comply with the Pacheco Law – when they were first entered into in 2009. Pioneer identified this case through PioneerLegal, its new public-interest law initiative. Pioneer recognizes that September 6th was the first day of the SJC’s 2016-2017 term and, therefore, the first day of argument for the Court’s three […]

New ACA-Related Medicaid Fee Will Cost MA $162M+ Over Next Decade

Read news coverage of this report in The Boston Globe. Health Insurer Provider Fee Will Cost Taxpayers $324 Million by 2025 BOSTON – Taxpayers will be saddled with over $320 million in additional costs in the next decade as a result of a revenue provision of the federal health care law that helps fund increased public insurance coverage, according to a new Pioneer study. In “Over a Decade, the ACA Fee on MassHealth Will Cost Hundreds of Millions of Dollars,” authors Lauren Corvese and Josh Archambault examine the potential budget impact of the Health Insurer Provider Fee (HIPF), a revenue-raising mechanism for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA). “The ACA insurer fee is taken from taxpayers’ wallets, and […]

Op-ed: Teaching American History: A Straightforward Fix For The Bay State

Read this full article on WGBH News.  THOMAS BIRMINGHAM It’s often said that what isn’t tested isn’t taught.  At the same time, recent federal laws compel far too much standardized testing.  State education leaders should reinstate passage of a U.S. history MCAS test as a high school graduation requirement, as was envisioned in the commonwealth’s Education Reform Act. Given the proven performance of Massachusetts public schools over the last two decades in English language arts and math, the commonwealth should also apply for a waiver from federal, annual testing mandates. Massachusetts public schools have had much to be proud of over the last two decades.  Between 2005 and 2013 we led the nation at every grade level and every subject […]

Join us 9/19: Equal Access to Excellence: Charter & District School Reform

As the Commonwealth debates lifting charter school caps, district reforms, and strategies for closing achievement gaps, Pioneer is hosting an event featuring Cheryl Brown Henderson, daughter of the late Rev. Oliver Brown, namesake of the landmark case, Brown v. Board of Education. A diverse panel of nationally recognized school reform experts will discuss how best to make equal access to academic excellence a reality for schoolchildren.   When Monday September 19, 2016 from 8:00 AM to 10:00 AM EDT Cost: Free Where Omni Parker House 60 School Street Boston, MA 02108

Study Highlights Best Practices In Summer Enrichment Programs

Read coverage of this report in The Recorder. Second of three-part summer enrichment series with focus on high-need students BOSTON – The second of a three-part Pioneer Institute series of studies on summer enrichment programs with a particular focus on opportunities for disadvantaged students highlights best practices in the field by profiling a range of summer programs. “Learning loss during the summer is a serious issue, especially for low-income students,” said Pioneer Executive Director Jim Stergios.  “Summer enrichment programs can reverse that trend, and this paper highlights some of the best.” “Expanding Educational Opportunities: Best Practices in U.S. Summer Enrichment Programs” highlights a range of these programs.  Some are at independent schools like Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire and […]

Mass. Public Officials Must Brush Aside The Know-Nothings’ Legacy Of Bigotry

Last week, Pioneer Institute Executive Director Jim Stergios sent a letter to Governor Baker and the leaders of the Massachusetts House of Representatives and the Senate asking them to support our call to move the portrait of Know-Nothing Governor Henry J. Gardner from its current location at the entrance to the House of Representatives. Gov. Gardner and that 19th century political party he led, the Know-Nothings – the most infamous party in state history – promulgated bigotry against Irish-Catholic immigrants. Their legal agenda left a legacy that persists today – the Know-Nothings’ constitutional amendment prevents tens of thousands of poor and minority kids from attending high-quality private and parochial schools. Below, you can read an excerpt of Jim Stergios’ letter, […]

Event To Call For Moving “Know-Nothing” Governor’s Portrait From State House Wall

Bigoted Know-Nothing Amendments still part of state constitution Read coverage in The Boston Globe: “School-choice advocates target portrait of 19th-century governor” BOSTON – Former Ambassador to the Vatican and three-term mayor of Boston Raymond Flynn will headline an event calling for moving symbols and repealing amendments from a disgraceful and bigoted chapter in Massachusetts history. “Move This Portrait: The Know-Nothings’ Governor and Barriers to School Choice” will be held on Monday, August 1 from 9:00 to 10:20 a.m. at the State House. “It should trouble Massachusetts residents that the portrait of Gov. Henry Gardner, a member of the nativist “Know-Nothing” party, hangs in the State House right next to the main entrance of the Massachusetts House of Representatives,” said Pioneer […]

Leveling the Playing Field for the Taxi Industry

As a Massachusetts state legislative committee considers a contentious ridesharing regulation bill, a new Pioneer Institute report urges lawmakers to explore changes to the taxi industry that would modernize service and increase competition in a marketplace that includes innovators like Uber and Lyft.  A recent U.S. District Court ruling ordered the City of Boston to revise its taxi regulations, and cab drivers in Cambridge are suing the city on equal protection grounds. In Leveling the playing field: the need for taxi reform in the Commonwealth, authors Matt Blackbourn and Gregory Sullivan describe some of the unfair and outdated regulatory restrictions that cab operators face, and recommend that the ride-for-hire task force, to be established by new legislation, consider the feasibility of […]

Study: Expand Use of Transponder Technology to Parking, Other Non-Tolling Services

Report calls for creation of single account to simplify customer experience, boosting transponder market share, streamlining MassDOT services BOSTON – With all-electronic tolling and the elimination of Turnpike toll booths set to take effect later this year, a new Pioneer Institute white paper calls on state leaders to embrace transponder technology for a wider variety of applications such as parking and retail services. Driving Innovation: Tolling and Transponders in Massachusetts, by Pioneer researchers Wendy Murphy and Scott Haller, explores transponder use in other states and encourages cooperation between public agencies and private industry to simplify and rethink customers’ transportation experience. “Whether it’s dealing with a parking lot ticket machine or sitting in line at a drive-thru window, Massachusetts commuters face […]

Join us 8/1: “Move This Portrait: The Know-Nothings’ Governor & Barriers to School Choice”

Henry Gardner was the Know-Nothing Governor of Massachusetts who led the effort to persuade lawmakers to adopt a state constitutional amendment that blocks greater access to school choice. Today, his State House portrait hangs next to the Main Entrance to the House of Representatives. Bigoted and antiquated state legal barriers prevent Massachusetts’ K-12 students and families  from choosing private and parochial school options through educational vouchers and tax credits. Please join us for a public forum with Former Boston Mayor and Ambassador to the Vatican Raymond Flynn and a panel of nationally recognized experts on education and religious freedom as they discuss Massachusetts’ anti-Catholic past and the legal vestiges of Know-Nothing nativism that still limit school choice.

PioneerLegal Joins Amicus Brief In Takings Case Before Sixth Circuit

Pioneer Institute (Pioneer) has joined in an amicus brief in Brott vs. U.S., a case before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit involving a claim that the federal government took plaintiffs’ land through eminent domain without compensation in violation of the Fifth Amendment’s requirement of just compensation. Pioneer identified this case through PioneerLegal, its new public-interest law initiative. The plaintiffs in Brott are twenty-two families and small-business owners in Michigan who claim that the federal government took their property in violation of the Fifth Amendment by refusing to compensate – or offer to compensate – them for their land.  The federal Tucker Act provides that Fifth Amendment claims of this type can be brought only in the […]

Study: Character Education in Mass. Charter Public Schools Improving Academic Results, Social Behavior

Two local case studies demonstrate benefits, but many programs also fall short. BOSTON – At a time when the priorities in K-12 education have skewed towards STEM courses and academic achievement scores, two new papers from Pioneer Institute highlight how teaching character education in schools can benefit students even beyond the classroom, but can be challenging to implement effectively. In Massachusetts Charter Public Schools: Best Practices in Character Education, author and Pioneer Senior Education Fellow Cara Stillings Candal looks at two high performing Massachusetts charter public schools—Abby Kelley Foster Charter School in Worcester, MA and the Brooke Charter School Network of Boston, MA—and how they approach character education. Her study is part of a series of papers from Pioneer highlighting […]

Mobile Medication, Early Intervention, Suicide Prevention, and Opioid Addiction Programs Win 25th Annual Better Government Competition

BOSTON – Pioneer Institute’s 25th annual Better Government Competition received nearly 100 entries from agencies and organizations across the U.S. on the topic, “Improving Care for Individuals with Mental Illness.” One winner, four runners-up and four special recognition recipients will be recognized at the Institute’s Awards Gala on June 20th at the Hyatt Regency in Boston. The Keynote Speaker is Pennsylvania Congressman Timothy Murphy, whose work as a psychologist and best-selling author has gained national acclaim. Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker will meet with the Congressman and make a special appearance at the event. Rep. Murphy is the author of the Helping Families In Mental Health Crisis Act, that would reduce the barriers to psychiatric treatment for the most seriously ill […]