Entries by Editorial Staff

Benchmarking Tools For Municipal Officials – Budget Season Edition

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Understanding how your community performs relative to its peers is critical in effectively scrutinizing municipal budgets. Pioneer Institute has developed a free online tool, MassAnalysis, with the most up-to-date information available from the Department of Revenue and FBI to help you do just that. With a couple of clicks, you can develop a dashboard for your community based on its revenues, expenditures, demographics, employment, crime, debt, education, financial strength, taxes and transportation. For example, this is a graph of the City of Worcester’s revenue:   On MassAnalysis, you can also generate a peer group using our peer finder, which considers up to ten measures in order to benchmark performance on revenues, expenditures, employment, demographics, crime, debt, education and taxes. In […]

Time to End Mass. Legislature’s Self-Exemption from Open Meeting Law

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PRESS RELEASE: Pioneer Contends the Legislature’s Self-Exemption from the Massachusetts Open Meeting Law is Unconstitutional and Requested an Informal Advisory Opinion from the Attorney General’s Office Related press coverage: Boston Herald: Chabot: Transparency watchdog takes aim at AG; Associated Press: Group: Lawmakers’ open meeting exemption unconstitutional; State House News Service: AG declines request for opinion on Legislature, open meeting law; MassLive: Massachusetts AG Maura Healey won’t offer opinion on legislative exemption from Open Meeting Law Pioneer’s Argument      We contend that the legislature’s self-exemption from the Massachusetts Open Meeting Law (OML) impedes the public’s ability to exercise the rights conferred to it under the Massachusetts State Constitution.  A public kept in the dark about critical policy decisions cannot hold its elected representatives accountable. Article […]

New Study Reveals MBTA’s Reckless Financial Derivatives

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Read coverage in The Bond Buyer: “MBTA Lost $236M in 15 Years over Swaps, Report Says.” MBTA has paid Wall Street some $236 million in interest, millions more in fees  after gambling on interest-rate swaps despite state auditor’s warning BOSTON – The MBTA built up a large exposure to financial derivatives and had to pay an estimated $236 million in interest on synthetic swaps for fiscal years 2001 to 2015, according to a new study published by Pioneer Institute. “The T projected $20.4 million in swap interest losses for fiscal 2015 alone,” said Pioneer Institute Senior Fellow on Finance Iliya Atanasov, who authored “The Reckless Cost of MBTA Financial Derivatives.” To offset the risk of wild fluctuations in their interest […]

National Survey Finds Limited Access To Price Estimates For Routine Hospital Procedure

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Price for MRI of knee ranges from $400 to $4,544 BOSTON – A survey of 54 hospitals in six metropolitan areas across the United States reveals that consumers seeking a price estimate for a routine medical procedure face a difficult and frustrating task, despite price transparency provisions in the Affordable Care Act and five of the six states, according to a new Pioneer Institute Policy Brief. For “Healthcare Prices for Common Procedures Are Hard for Customers to Obtain:  Survey finds hospitals not prepared to give price information to consumers,” researchers called hospitals in and around Des Moines, IA, Raleigh-Durham, NC, Orlando, FL, Dallas-Ft. Worth, TX, New York, NY and Los Angeles, CA asking for the price of an MRI of […]

Fordham’s PARCC v. MCAS Report Falls Short

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Guest post by Richard P. Phelps The Fordham Institute has long been at work on a study of the relative quality of tests produced by the two Common Core-aligned and federally funded consortia (PARCC and SBAC), ACT (Aspire), and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (MCAS).  What Fordham has produced is only in the most superficial way an actual analysis – in fact, it reads more like propaganda and lacks the basic elements of objective research. It takes only a little digging under the surface to reveal pervasive conflicts of interest, a one-sided sourcing of evidence, and a research design so slanted it cannot stand against any scrutiny. In developing their supposedly analytic comparisons of PARCC, SBAC, Aspire and MCAS, the authors […]

Presidents Day: The Innovative JQA

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Guest Post by Jordan Harris Although several Presidents have ascended to the Oval Office from the business world, very few have been innovators or entrepreneurs. Only one, Abraham Lincoln, has held a patent in his name. One of America’s most innovation-friendly Presidents was not a businessman at all, but was instead lifelong statesman, Massachusetts-born John Quincy Adams. John Quincy Adams, who became President in 1824, envisioned a federal government which spent more money on building canals, developing highways (130 years before Eisenhower’s Interstate System), and providing financial support for scientific expeditions. It was evident that the economy was rapidly changing; a transition to manufacturing was occurring, and science and technology were becoming increasingly important. According to historian Paul C. Nagel, […]

Study: Continuing Decline Over Last Decade In Massachusetts’ “Middle Cities”

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Read news coverage of this report in The Springfield Republican, The Brockton Enterprise, The Taunton Daily Gazette, The Worcester Telegram & Gazette, the Fitchburg Sentinel & Enterprise. Taunton and Leominster buck the trend, see population and incomes rise, educational outcomes improve and crime decline BOSTON – Unemployment and crime rates are higher, and per-capita income, educational performance and property values are lower than state averages in 14 Massachusetts “Middle Cities,” a subset of the state-designated “Gateway Cities,” according to a study published by Pioneer Institute. In “Ten Years Later: Trends in Urban Redevelopment,” author Aaron Beitman updates a 2006 study of 14 Massachusetts cities with populations of more than 40,000 and average per-capita annual incomes of below $25,000 (Pittsfield is the one city […]

Out-of-Control Administrative Staffing Budget Increases at the MBTA

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With talk of fare hikes and ongoing performance problems, Pioneer has released a timely new report on the MBTA’s skyrocketing administrative costs: In Data Reveals Out of Control Administrative Staffing Budget Increases at MBTA, authors Greg Sullivan, Research Director, and Michael Weiner, Research Assistant, both at Pioneer Institute, analyze data from the National Transit Database (NTD) to show that the T far exceeds peer agencies in terms of expenditures on administrative personnel over the past several years. Some key findings: The T’s general administration employee count increased by more than 79% between FY08-14, from 279 to 481 The T’s budget (including salaries and fringe benefits) increased by 120.5% ($27 million to more than $60 million in 6 years Over the same […]

A $49 Million Sweetheart Deal: MBTA Employee Sick Time Perk Enhances Pensions

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Listen to the WRKO radio clip of Mary Connaughton interviewed by Kim Carrigan; read a Boston magazine article. On Tuesday, Mary was on Boston Herald radio: A story in the Boston Herald today shows that MBTA workers are boosting their pensions with sick days – costing taxpayers tens of millions of dollars. The article cites Pioneer’s newest report, A $49 Million Sweetheart Deal: How MBTA Employee Unused Sick Time Perk Enhances Pensions, written by Mary Connaughton. In the report, Mary writes: The result of a sweetheart deal won by the Carmen’s Union paved the way for MBTA employees to enhance their pensions — potentially amounting to a whopping $49 million for current staff as of December 31, 2014. A 1975 arbitrators’ […]

Teaching U.S. Economic History In Schools Is Topic Of Pioneer Forum

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Monday, January 25 event “Big Business & Big Labor” to feature Pulitzer Prize, National Book Award, and Robert F. Kennedy Book Prize-winning historians Contact Jamie Gass, 617-723-2277 ext. 210 or jgass@pioneerinstitute.org A Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award winner, and a recipient of the Robert F. Kennedy Book Prize will deliver keynote addresses at Pioneer Institute’s forum “Big Business & Big Labor: Teaching U.S. Economic History in Schools,” to be held Monday, January 25, 8:00-10:45 a.m. at the Omni Parker House hotel in Downtown Boston. One keynote address will be delivered by T.J. Stiles, biographer.  His book, The First Tycoon: The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt, won a National Book Award and the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography. […]

Study: Charter Schools Delivering on Promise of Curricular Innovation

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Mystic Valley and Advanced Math and Science Academy charter schools refine traditional curricula, adjust them to fit their students’ need and create something entirely new BOSTON – A new study profiles two high-performing charter public schools that innovate not by using different content or pedagogical methods, but by combining widely available, often traditional approaches in a way that creates something entirely new. “One purpose behind the creation of charter schools in Massachusetts was to stimulate the development of innovative educational programs,” said Pioneer Institute Senior Education Fellow Cara Candal, author of Massachusetts Charter Public Schools Best Practices in Curricular Innovation.  “Mystic Valley Charter Public School and the Advanced Math and Science Academy charter school are examples of schools that are […]

Dr. King and American History

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Today, America celebrates the legacy of The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., whose eloquence and courage mobilized this nation during the Civil Rights era. Over the last several years, Pioneer Institute has promoted U.S. History instruction in K-12 schools, to ensure that our children will learn about their national heritage, including the story of African Americans’ long struggle to gain the rights and freedoms that were promised at our country’s founding. In 2014, Pioneer held an event, “America in the Age of MLK: Teaching the Civil Rights Movement,” with Robert P. Moses, who directed the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee’s Mississippi Project from 1961-64 and was a key voter registration leader. He is currently a visiting lecturer at the New York […]

Helping Those with Mental Illness Find Treatment, Not Incarceration

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Mental illness, the theme of our 2016 Better Government Competition, impacts all of us. In the second part of our ongoing blog series, below, we explore mental health and our criminal justice system. Prisons and jails have become our country’s de facto mental health institutions. Each year, there are two million arrests in the U.S. involving a person with a serious mental illness. In 2014, there were 550,000 Americans suffering from a serious mental illness in jails or prisons.  Ill-prepared to manage populations with a mental health disorder, our criminal justice system has become a revolving door for vulnerable people who need treatment but instead face imprisonment and conditions that exacerbate their afflictions. The common practice of incarcerating individuals with […]

Happy Holidays!

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This holiday season, we thank you for your support over the years. Best wishes for a happy, healthy, and prosperous New Year! – Your Friends at Pioneer

Helping Children Impacted by Mental Illness

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Mental illness, the theme of our 2016 Better Government Competition, impacts all of us. It takes a toll on our education, healthcare, and criminal justice systems, and affects our economy. We cannot end mental illness, but we can do much more to ensure that those who live with it receive better treatment. Preventive mental health care is an area of critical importance, and an unparalleled opportunity. Approximately half of all mental health issues begin before the age of 17, and 75 percent begin before the age of 24. Despite this, an estimated 80% of children with mental health issues ages 6-17 receive no help. This leads to an average delay of 9 years between the onset of symptoms and intervention. […]

Study: Health Care Costs on Course to Threaten Livelihood of Most American Families

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Read news coverage of this report in the Springfield Republican. Percentage of household expenses dedicated to health care on track to double over two decades BOSTON – Health care costs are projected to continue to rise much faster than either inflation or household income, and a new Pioneer Institute study finds that if the trend continues unchecked, it will threaten the livelihood of most American families. “As the cost of employer-sponsored health insurance continues to rise much faster than incomes, so do employee contributions to those plans,” said Pioneer Institute Executive Director Jim Stergios. “What Will U.S. Households Pay for Health Care in the Future?” author Matthew Blackbourn shows that health care costs for a U.S. family of average income (including […]

Study: Mass. Charter Public Schools Boosting Achievement for English Language Learners

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Schools using inclusion, data-driven instruction, and parent engagement to help thousands of under-served students in Chelsea, Lawrence, and Lowell BOSTON – Massachusetts K-12 education policymakers and all public schools should closely examine the best practices of charter schools in Gateway Cities that are effectively recruiting students who are English language learners (ELLs) and improving their academic outcomes, according to a new Pioneer Institute White Paper. In Massachusetts Charter Public Schools: Best Practices Serving English Language Learners, author and Pioneer Senior Education Fellow, Cara Stillings Candal, draws on interviews with school leaders and classroom observations in three charter schools to describe some of the successful strategies used to enable large ELL populations to achieve at high levels. Charter schools are increasingly […]

New Report on Advanced Civics for U.S. History Teachers, Preface by Churchill Biographer

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Study Recommends That States Require Passage of U.S. History Assessment as High School Graduation Requirement Content knowledge, not pedagogy, should be focus of teacher hiring and professional development BOSTON – States should mandate passage of a U.S. history assessment with a strong focus on the founding documents as a high school graduation requirement, according to “Advanced Civics for U.S. History Teachers,” a study published by Pioneer Institute. “Absent meaningful statewide assessments, district leaders will not make history and civics a priority,” said Pioneer Institute Executive Director Jim Stergios. The paper features a preface from Paul Reid, the co-author with William Manchester of Winston Churchill, The Last Lion:  Defender of the Realm, 1940-1965.  In 2004, Manchester requested that Reid complete the […]

Happy Thanksgiving

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Pioneer Institute extends its deepest gratitude to our donors for your ongoing support. We are pleased to announce that we have recently adopted a new long-range Strategic Plan.  Progress in the marketplace of ideas means Pioneer must always seek improvement and stay ahead of the competition.  Look for Pioneer to expand its research, programs and communications even as we strengthen our focus and message around the goal of ensuring prosperity and fair play in Massachusetts. From the Pioneer family to yours, we wish you a happy Thanksgiving!

Why Mental Health, Why Now?

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When the topic of “Improving Mental Health” was chosen, the importance resonated immediately. It may be more relevant than at any other point in our nation’s history. Every area of core government function is affected by the status of mental health. Our failure to find answers and reduce inefficiencies costs the Commonwealth innocent lives and millions of dollars each year.

Enter Pioneer Institute’s 2016 Better Government Competition – Winning Prize: $10,000!

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Enter the 2016 Better Government Competition Each year, Pioneer Institute’s Better Government Competition focuses on one of the country’s biggest challenges. For 2016, Pioneer seeks innovative ideas to improve quality and access to care for individuals living with mental illness. We invite you to submit entries on innovative approaches to insurance, health care, human services and partnerships between government agencies and mental health care providers. Sample topics are listed below. An independent panel of judges will select a winner, who will receive a $10,000 prize, and four runners-up, who will each receive a $1,000 prize. In addition, Pioneer will select four entrants for Special Recognition. At a June awards dinner, Pioneer will honor and highlight all of the winners. Their […]

Pioneer Statement on Next-Generation MCAS Announcement

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We applaud the Baker administration for proposing that Massachusetts retain its academic independence and testing autonomy, but the Commonwealth should reject any further participation in the PARCC consortium. MCAS has served Massachusetts very well for nearly two decades. The test and the pre-Common Core standards were the key to Massachusetts’ leadership position that was forged by the 1993 Massachusetts Education Reform Act and demonstrated by historic gains on national and international tests. As its name suggests, “Next-Generation MCAS” should largely be based on the pre-2011 MCAS and, where appropriate, include questions and modes from other models such as PARCC. This will provide continuity and foster accountability by allowing performance to be measured over time. Next-Generation MCAS should also use questions […]

Driving Force Behind California Tenure Lawsuit to Deliver 2015 Lovett C. Peters Lecture in Public Policy

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BOSTON – David F. Welch, Ph.D., the driving force behind Vergara v. California, a California court decision that found the state’s K-12 teacher tenure, firing and layoff statutes violated the equal protection clause of the state Constitution, will deliver Pioneer Institute’s 2015 Lovett C. Peters Lecture in Public Policy on Thursday, November 12 at 6:00 p.m. at the Seaport Hotel in Boston. Dr. Welch is a Silicon Valley-based entrepreneur who launched Students Matter in 2011 with the goal of creating positive change in California’s K-12 public education system. In 2001, he co-founded Infinera Corporation, the leading supplier of optical systems based on innovative Photonic Integrated Circuit technology. He currently chairs the board of directors for the company, which is valued […]

Fordham report predictable, conflicted

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Guest Post by Richard P. Phelps On November 17, the Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) will decide the fate of the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) and the Partnership for Assessment of College Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) in the Bay State. MCAS is homegrown; PARCC is not. Barring unexpected compromises or subterfuges, only one program will survive. Over the past year, PARCC promoters have released a stream of reports comparing the two testing programs. The latest arrives from the Thomas B. Fordham Institute in the form of a partial “evaluation of the content and quality of the 2014 MCAS and PARCC “relative to” the “Criteria for High Quality Assessments”[i] developed by one of the organizations […]

Study: Poor Performance of Other States in PARCC Consortium Would Translate to Lower Standards for Mass.

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Attacks on MCAS for not producing “college-ready” graduates demonstrates lack of understanding of test’s purpose BOSTON – Political realities dictate that, as with any tests, passing scores on those developed by the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) will be set at a level that avoids having an unacceptable number of students fail.  Since Massachusetts is by far the highest performing of the states that remain in the PARCC consortium, the commonwealth’s K-12 education standards have the farthest to fall, according to a policy brief published by Pioneer Institute. “If too many students fail to reach the new threshold and are denied diplomas, our education system seizes up,” said Dr. Richard P. Phelps, author of “Setting […]

Study: Overhauling Two-Tiered Case Intake System Is Key to DCF Reform

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Troubled agency also needs technology infrastructure changes including creation of management dashboard BOSTON – In late September, the Baker administration announced that, going forward, the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families (DCF) will make children’s well-being its top priority in determining response options to alleged maltreatment of children.  According to a new study published by Pioneer Institute, this change in DCF’s mission will require that the state overhaul its two-tiered case intake system with particular focus on the assessment track to which low- and moderate-risk cases are supposed to be assigned. “Jeremiah Oliver was not the only tragic case assigned to the low-risk track,” said Pioneer Executive Director Jim Stergios. “According to press estimates, 10 children on that track died […]

What True Education Reform Leaders Think About MCAS & Charters

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An op-ed in Tuesday’s Boston Globe urges Massachusetts policymakers to adopt the Common Core-aligned PARCC test because MCAS is supposedly too outdated to help prepare our schoolchildren for future success. But as Pioneer has argued in our recent book, and numerous reports, op-eds and public appearances, Common Core and PARCC are academically mediocre and inferior to the Bay State’s homegrown MCAS and historically successful standards. Education leaders and the public should be reminded about the tremendous progress that Massachusetts’ students have made as a result of the implementation of the state’s previous standards and MCAS tests. At a Pioneer forum in 2013, two of the three co-authors of Massachusetts’ landmark 1993 Education Reform Act questioned the state’s decision to jettison […]

Testing the Tests: Why MCAS Is Better Than PARCC

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Study:  MCAS Less Expensive, More Rigorous and Provides Better Information than PARCC  Authors call for state to phase out both PARCC and Common Core BOSTON – In the wake of an apparent shift by Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education Mitchell Chester making it increasingly likely that Massachusetts will update MCAS rather than adopt English and math assessments developed by the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC), a new study published by Pioneer Institute concludes that revising and updating MCAS would result in lower costs and more rigorous assessments that would provide better information about student performance. “The research leads us to support keeping MCAS and making it an even better test,” said Jim Stergios, Pioneer’s executive […]

Op-ed: K-12 educational focus on government, civics must be restored

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John Boehner’s resignation as speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, second in line to the presidency, has rightfully sparked much media commentary in Washington, D.C. and across the country. But thanks to the commonwealth’s 2009 cancellation of the requirement that students pass a U.S. history MCAS test to graduate from high school, far too many of our K-12 students don’t even know what the U.S. House of Representatives is, never mind why its speaker is so important. Read the rest of this op-ed in:  The Standard Times of New Bedford, The MetroWest Daily News, the Springfield Republican, Taunton Daily Gazette. and the Fall River Herald News