Entries by Editorial Staff

Inmate Vocational Training, Improved Re-entry Programs and Officer Magnet School Win 2015 Better Government Competition

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Top Criminal Justice Reform Proposals To Be Highlighted at June Awards Gala Featuring Mass. Governor Charles Baker and Former Boston Police Commissioner Edward Davis BOSTON – Pioneer Institute’s 24th annual Better Government Competition received over 150 entries from non-profits and community groups, law enforcement agencies, and policymakers across the U.S. on the topic, “Improving Public Safety and Controlling Costs in America’s Criminal Justice System.” “Crime, policing and incarceration are at the forefront of the national consciousness,” said Jim Stergios, Executive Director. “Pioneer Institute believes that criminal justice must mean more than taking criminals off the streets. Our 2015 Better Government Competition focuses on innovative ways to address over-incarceration, recidivism, crime lab processes and other areas of America’s – and Massachusetts’ […]

A Step Closer to the First-Class Transit System Massachusetts Deserves

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This week, a Finance Control Board for the MBTA won the support of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, the Mayor of Boston, and finally, yesterday, the Massachusetts State Senate. Make no mistake about it: There is more work to do to ensure that the control board will have the powers it needs to improve the MBTA. This winter, as thousands of riders were stranded on MBTA platforms, Pioneer Institute was the first organization to articulate a reform plan for the state’s major public transit system, the centerpiece of which was a finance control board. Our team continues to do the most substantive probing into the T’s management issues, plumbing the murky depths of its union contract and binding arbitration, and […]

Testimony: Why Pioneer Supports MBTA Reform

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Pioneer Research Director Greg Sullivan and Senior Fellow Charles Chieppo will present testimony before the Massachusetts state legislature this afternoon in support of House Bill 3347 to bring MBTA costs under control, increase efficiency, and improve performance. Read excerpts from their testimony below, or download them here and here. Greg Sullivan’s Testimony: I want to focus on three specific components of the Governor’s proposal that I believe are necessary to solve the MBTA’s chronic fiscal and management problems: 1) putting an end to final and binding arbitration at the MBTA, the only public entity in Massachusetts whose collective bargaining agreements are not subject to approval by a governmental entity, by substituting in its place a collective bargaining system used elsewhere […]

Press Release: Whistleblowers’ Behind-the-Scenes Account of Health Connector Meltdown

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UPDATE: Read news coverage of this report in The Wall Street Journal, The Boston Globe, Boston Herald, MassLive,  WBUR‘s RadioBoston, State House News Service, WRKO’s Howie Carr Show, NECN’s “Broadside.” and in a nationally syndicated column by Michelle Malkin. New Study Details Whistleblowers’ Behind-the-Scenes Account of Connector Meltdown that Has Led to U.S. Attorney Subpoena Project leaders failed to hold contractor accountable for shoddy work, and misled federal government and other stakeholders BOSTON – State officials knew that development of a federal Affordable Care Act (ACA) website was off track for more than a year before the October 1, 2013 launch date.  Instead of raising concerns about the project, they misled the public by minimizing the shortcomings of the contractor hired […]

Teaching WWII in Schools: David Kennedy

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Published on May 5, 2015 “Never Give In – Never, Never, Never,” a Pioneer Institute forum on teaching World War II in schools was held on Monday, May 4th in Boston, on the week of the 70th Anniversary of Victory in Europe Day. This clip features co-keynote remarks by David Kennedy, the Donald McLachlan Professor of History Emeritus at Stanford University, where he received the Dean’s Award for Distinguished Teaching in 1988. He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in history in 2000 for Freedom from Fear: The American People in Depression and War. Professor Kennedy is also the author of Over Here: The First World War and American Society.

Two Pulitzer Prize Winners to Be Featured at Event on Teaching World War II in Schools

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UPDATE! Below are some video clips from this event: “Never Give In – Never, Never, Never” to be taped for broadcast on C-SPAN BOSTON – Two Pulitzer Prize winners will be featured at “Never Give In – Never, Never, Never,” a Pioneer Institute forum on teaching World War II in schools to be held Monday, May 4th from 8:00 to 10:45 a.m. at the Omni Parker House hotel in Boston. Next week marks the 70th Anniversary of Victory in Europe Day. The event will be taped for national broadcast on C-SPAN. To attend, guests may register online.    Co-keynote remarks will be delivered by Rick Atkinson and David Kennedy. Atkinson is a best-selling author and historian, and the winner of Pulitzer […]

Former Boston Police Commissioner Edward Davis to Keynote 2015 Better Government Awards Gala

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Former Boston Police Commissioner Edward Davis to Keynote 2015 Better Government Awards Gala 35-Year Law Enforcement Veteran to Address Criminal Justice Reform and Public Safety at June 24th Awards Dinner Edward F. Davis, security consultant and former Boston police commissioner, will deliver the keynote address, and Massachusetts Governor Charles D. Baker will provide welcome remarks at Pioneer Institute’s 24th annual Better Government Awards Gala. The event will take place at the Seaport Hotel in Boston on June 24th, 2015.   “Criminal justice must mean more than taking criminals off the streets,” said Jim Stergios, Executive Director. “Pioneer Institute’s 2015 Better Government Competition focuses on innovative ways to address over-incarceration, recidivism, crime lab processes and other areas of America’s – and […]

OP-ED: Lincoln’s Assassination and U.S. History

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Read the full op-ed on The Springfield Republican Editorial Page  and the MetroWest Daily News on April 14, 2015 By Tom Birmingham                                                                                           “Now he belongs to the ages,” Secretary of War Edwin Stanton said upon the death of President Abraham Lincoln. But on the sesquicentennial of Lincoln’s assassination we’re in jeopardy of producing a generation of young people who are largely ignorant of our nation’s past. Along with Mark Roosevelt, I co-authored Massachusetts’ 1993 Education Reform Act (MERA) [PDF]. The Commonwealth has much to be proud of over the last 22 years of reform. Since 2005 we’ve led the nation at every grade level and every subject tested on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), called the “Nation’s Report Card.” Read more […]

Innovative Approaches to Developing Effective Teachers

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Pioneer Institute study looks at charter public school successes beyond state-mandated requirements Read coverage of this report  in The Lowell Sun and The Fitchburg Sentinel and Enterprise. BOSTON – Some Massachusetts charter public schools are taking novel approaches to teacher recruitment and training, and taking advantage of the fact that the law does not require charters to hire licensed teachers. There is evidence that some of these approaches to teacher training are enabling students to achieve at high levels, according to a new study published by Pioneer Institute. In Great Teachers are Not Born, They are Made: Case Study Evidence from Massachusetts Charters, education researcher and writer Cara Stillings Candal highlights five high-performing charter schools that have assembled and trained highly effective […]

2015 Hewitt Health Care Lecture : Under the Microscope: Advancing Health Care Value Through Greater Transparency

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Dr. Robert S. Kaplan is the world’s leading authority on strategic performance measurement. Professor Kaplan discussed measuring medical-condition outcomes as well as the costs of treating medical conditions, and how these can lead to more transparent pricing.   Tickets: $50. To register click the Register Now! Button. For faster check-in please print and bring your ticket to the event. Ticket price for students: $25. No cost for Pioneer Members. Become a member today! Sponsorship opportunities are available, on the registration page. About the Featured Speaker: Dr. Robert S. Kaplan is the world’s leading authority on strategic performance measurement. He is a co-founder of both Palladium and its predecessor firm, Balanced Scorecard Collaborative, and currently advises practitioners on emerging best practices and […]

The MBTA Commuter Rail’s Cost Structure Is Off the Rails

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Read coverage of this report in The Boston Globe and the Boston Herald. Pioneer Institute’s ongoing analysis of the MBTA’s operations, finances, and performance aims to inform the public debate about the true problems plaguing the T and the most effective ways to improve the commuter experience for Massachusetts’ 1.2 million public transit system riders. Calls for more state funding ignore the system’s serious governance issues, including its misguided focus on expansion projects at the expense of its maintenance backlog. In recent weeks and months, we published reports using Federal Transit Data to compare the MBTA to other, similar systems across the US. Our last report on the T’s level of capital funding showed that the MBTA has not been cash […]

Barbara Anthony Joins Pioneer Institute as Senior Fellow in Healthcare

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Former undersecretary of consumer affairs will work to enhance healthcare transparency Read coverage of this announcement by MassLive, State House News Service, and The Boston Globe. Media inquiries: Micaela Dawson, 617-723-2277 ext. 203 or mdawson@pioneerinstitute.org BOSTON – Pioneer Institute is pleased to announce the appointment of former Massachusetts Undersecretary of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation Barbara Anthony as a consultant and Senior Fellow in Healthcare. Anthony will gauge the status of compliance with new state laws that require consumer-directed transparency among healthcare providers and insurers. “I look forward to partnering with Pioneer Institute to continue to advocate and offer suggestions for best practices for greater transparency in healthcare costs and prices for Massachusetts consumers and businesses,” Anthony said.  “Few services are […]

New Report: Closing the Achievement Gap Through METCO

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Closing the Achievement Gap Through METCO Pioneer Institute study urges expansion beyond Boston and Springfield, as well as additional state funding Read news coverage of this report on WBUR’s Learning Lab, WBZ (“Educators Call For Metco Program Expansion“), and The Boston Globe. BOSTON – Pioneer Institute published research today highlighting the success of the Metropolitan Council for Educational Opportunity (METCO) in closing the achievement gaps in Massachusetts; and calling for expansion and additional state funding to serve more students in the state’s urban areas. In Expanding METCO and Closing Achievement Gaps co-authors Kate Apfelbaum and Ken Ardon describe METCO’s work as a limited but successful voluntary program to reduce racial imbalances in public schools. The paper also features a preface by Gerard […]

Forum on Teaching Cold War in Schools to Feature Three Pulitzer Prize Winners

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BOSTON – Three Pulitzer Prize winners, two retired teachers, and the director of the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum will be among the speakers at “Tear Down This Wall!,” a Pioneer Institute forum on teaching the Cold War in schools to be held Thursday, March 26th at 8:00 a.m. at the Omni Parker House Hotel in Boston. Viewers can watch this event online. One keynote address will be delivered by Anne Applebaum, a historian, journalist, and columnist for The Washington Post and Slate. Applebaum’s book, Gulag: A History, won the 2004 Pulitzer Prize for Non-Fiction. Her most recent book, Iron Curtain, was nominated for a National Book Award and won the 2013 Cundill Prize for historical literature. A […]

Introducing MassAnalysis: Online tool for comparing communities

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Want to benchmark your community against its peers? Want to bring significant variances to the attention of your town’s finance committee before they vote on the budget?    Considering moving to a new town and want to see if your property taxes are going more towards providing current services or paying down costs of the past?   Do you want to see how well your town operates compared to neighboring communities?   Pioneer Institute’s new online tool, MassAnalysis, will do all that for you and much more. The website provides detailed fiscal and general information about any town or city in the commonwealth, ranging from revenue and expenditure levels to employment and crime rates. We’ve already found really interesting facts.  […]

Patriot Ledger: TOM BIRMINGHAM: Plan to scrap MCAS is a race to the middle

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Read this op-ed in The Patriot Ledger, where it was originally published on March 14, 2015 Since adopting the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System test, student achievement in Massachusetts has become the envy of the nation and among the best in the world. It is a record that hardly merits scrapping the test, particularly for one that is likely to be less effective at preparing students for college and careers. Beginning in 2005, the commonwealth’s students have scored first in the nation in every subject at every grade tested on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, known as the Nation’s Report Card. American students as a whole fail to measure up against their high-performing international peers. But when Massachusetts students participated […]

Why Huck Finn Matters: Classic Literature in Schooling (Pt. 1: Keynotes)

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The Pioneer Institute hosted a forum September 19, 2012 at the Omni Parker Hotel. “Why Huck Finn Matters: Classic Literature in Schooling” with keynote speakers Jocelyn Chadwick, author of The Jim Dilemma: Reading Race in Huckleberry Finn, who makes her return to Harvard this year, and Ron Powers, Pulitzer and Emmy Award winning Twain biographer and co-author of the bestseller, Flags of Our Fathers.

New Report Outlines Massachusetts’ Experience with State Receiverships

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Proposes legislation for MBTA emergency control board BOSTON – As a special gubernatorial panel reviews a broad slate of operational issues at the MBTA, Pioneer Institute is releasing a report that outlines a roadmap for revamping the Authority governance, considering lessons learned from other emergency situations in Massachusetts including the Chelsea receivership and the control board model employed in Springfield. Massachusetts Experience with Hard and Soft Receiverships The special panel, which will review reports internal and external to the T, can play a helpful role in synthesizing diagnostics and proposing changes to operations, communication and future planning and investment.  It can also lay out long-term governance changes that can ensure better decision-making. “Ask any T rider or Greater Boston employer and […]

The Civil Rights Issue of Our Era

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Black History Month may have come and gone but Pioneer believes we must fight year round to ensure that all children have access to a high-quality education without regard to zip code or race. Massachusetts has in the past and must continue to lead the way in this fight. As numerous political leaders across the spectrum have come to understand, education is the Civil Rights issue of our era. It is important to keep pushing for improvements in the school “system” in Boston (where the school district is hiring a new superintendent) and all across the state. But Pioneer is not pinning its hopes for our younger generations on the arrival of another “Superman” or silver bullet solutions. We believe that […]

Civil Rights: Charter Schools and Teacher Unions

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Widow of Civil Rights Legend, Editor of MLK Papers to Keynote Event on Charter Schools, Teacher Unions, and Civil Rights Panel featuring presidents of both Massachusetts teachers unions to be moderated by author of definitive book on the Freedom Riders BOSTON – As the nation celebrates African-American History Month, a charter school leader who is the widow of a civil rights legend, and the man chosen by Mrs. Coretta Scott King to edit her husband’s papers, will deliver co-keynote addresses at “Civil Rights: Charter Schools & Teacher Unions,” a Pioneer Institute forum to be held Thursday, February 26 from 8-10:45 a.m. at the Omni Parker House in Boston. Dr. Sephira Shuttlesworth is the widow of the late civil rights leader […]

Tom Birmingham Joins Pioneer as Distinguished Sr Fellow in Education

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Was a principal author of 1993 Massachusetts Education Reform Act BOSTON – Pioneer Institute is pleased to announce the appointment of former Massachusetts Senate President Tom Birmingham as a Distinguished Senior Fellow in Education. President Birmingham, a lifelong Democrat from Chelsea, was a principal author of Massachusetts’ landmark 1993 Education Reform Act, which led to historic gains in Bay State student achievement. By 2005, the commonwealth became the first state whose students posted the top scores in the nation at every grade level and each subject tested on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, known as “the nation’s report card.”  After enactment of the 1993 education reform law, Massachusetts SAT scores rose for 13 consecutive years.  The commonwealth’s students also […]

Pioneer Institute Privacy Statement

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This privacy policy sets out how Pioneer Institute uses and protects any information that you give Pioneer Institute when you use this website. Pioneer Institute is committed to ensuring that your privacy is protected. Should we ask you to provide certain information by which you can be identified, then you can be assured that it will only be used in accordance with this privacy statement. Pioneer Institute may change this policy from time to time by updating this page. You should check this page from time to time to ensure that you are happy with any changes.  This policy is effective as of February 2015. What we collect: We may collect the following information: name contact information including email address […]

Pioneer in the News (February 2015): Fixing the MBTA

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Boston Business Journal op-ed: ViewPoint: What will save the T? A state-appointed financial control board would be a start BNN News: What it will take to get the MBTA on Track CBS Boston: Free Commuter Rail Rides Frustrate Monthly Pass Holders Boston Herald: Carr: Break out the shovels for this load NECN: Fixing rhe MBTA Boston Herald: Editorial: Rx for the MBTA The Patriot Ledger: OUR OPINION: State must consider receivership of MBTA Boston Herald: Editorial: Starting from scratch The Boston Globe: The T’s long, winding, infuriating road to failure The Worcester Telegram & Gazette: Runaway Trains WGBH “Greater Boston”:  Growing Calls For MBTA System Changes Fox 25: “What’s behind the MBTA mess?” WCVB: Explaining the T’s Problems Howie Carr Show:  Clip of interview with Greg Sullivan Boston […]

The Pioneer Institute’s Statement on the MBTA

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The MBTA is broke and broken.  It is structurally insolvent.  Breakdowns and late arrivals are, indeed, unacceptable, but the bulk of the T’s troubles are not about Dr. Beverly Scott, who resigned yesterday as general manager.  They are, in fact, the fault of multiple administrations and legislatures, as well as advocates who pushed the MBTA to expand faster than is reasonable – and without adequate funding to undertake, operate or maintain the projects.  More immediately, they are the fault of the MBTA’s board, which is ultimately responsible to Massachusetts residents for the T.  The board’s job is to uphold the public trust and ensure the good operation and management of the transit authority.  They did not do that. Over-expansion. The […]

STUDY: MA Public Pension Systems Unprepared for Next Recession

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Actuarial assumption adjustments clarify which funds are troubled and which are more stable BOSTON – Almost five years after the stock-market bottom, Massachusetts public pension systems’ investments had not yet fully recovered to pre-crisis levels while liabilities increased to new records, leaving systems unprepared for the next economic downturn. “There are very limited fiscal reserves to meet the next market slump, yet plans are not stress-tested,” said Pioneer Institute Senior Fellow on Finance Iliya Atanasov, who authored MassPensions.com Update on Public Retirement Systems. “Most systems still have much wider funding gaps than before the financial crisis.” MassPensions.com Update on Public Retirement Systems The state and its retirement systems have been taking steps to accelerate funding and to bring certain actuarial […]

Study: Massachusetts Public Pension Systems Unprepared for Next Recession

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Actuarial assumption adjustments clarify which funds are troubled and which are more stable BOSTON – Almost five years after the stock-market bottom, Massachusetts public pension systems’ investments had not yet fully recovered to pre-crisis levels while liabilities increased to new records, leaving systems unprepared for the next economic downturn. “There are very limited fiscal reserves to meet the next market slump, yet plans are not stress-tested,” said Pioneer Institute Senior Fellow on Finance Iliya Atanasov, who authored MassPensions.com Update on Public Retirement Systems. “Most systems still have much wider funding gaps than before the financial crisis.” MassPensions.com Update on Public Retirement Systems The state and its retirement systems have been taking steps to accelerate funding and to bring certain actuarial […]

How an Obscure Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Ruling Crippled Public Records Law

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Who’s buried in Grant’s tomb? What color was Napoleon’s white horse? What constitutes a public record under Massachusetts public records law? On the surface, all of these seem like straightforward questions with equally straightforward answers. However, anyone whose been on the receiving end of those first two gotchas – Grant and his daughters, grey – know that what sounds straightforward can be anything but. Let’s take a closer look at the third question. Now, on the straightforward surface level, public records should constitute any records created by a Massachusetts public official while performing their public duties, right? Well, according to Massachusetts Supreme Court, wrong. It depends a great deal which public official you’re asking, and whether or not they’re in […]

Study: Refocus on Workfare to Lift Mass. Residents from Poverty

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Two decades after welfare reform, only 7.3 percent of Mass. recipients are participating in workfare, compared to the national average of 29.5 percent; Mass. has the lowest rate among the 50 states and Washington, D.C. BOSTON – During the 1990s, Massachusetts led a welfare reform revolution. A key pillar of that groundbreaking reform was workfare – giving able-bodied recipients the tools to become self-reliant by making work a condition of receiving benefits.  For a decade, workfare was a central part of Massachusetts’ continued efforts to truly make welfare a vehicle to transition to the mainstream economy. But a new Pioneer Institute study, Rebuilding the Ladder to Self- Sufficiency: Workfare and Welfare Reform, shows that today, the commonwealth has the lowest workfare participation rate in the […]

Congratulations to Gov. Charlie Baker

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As a new Governor takes office today, words of advice will flow from many quarters. Pioneer Institute has for 26 years shared advice with political leaders and policymakers, and most importantly with the media and the general public.  Our job is simple: Drive public debate on the handful of policy areas that will make Massachusetts residents better educated, healthier and more prosperous. We don’t mind admitting that our hopes for Governor Baker are high. With good reason – for over 25 years, we have known him as someone who appreciates the value of evidence-based research. He understands the potential impact of state policy. He understands that government must lend a helping hand, and that it can also act as a […]

Baker’s Dozen: A Common Sense Healthcare Agenda for the Next Governor

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Pioneer Institute is pleased to present, “Baker’s Dozen: A Common Sense Healthcare Agenda for the Next Governor” – 13 steps we can take that cover everything from transforming incentives in the system and bringing transparency to pricing, to needed reforms to our public health system, patient engagement, and ways to lower the cost of insurance. We have been highlighting one section per day but all four sections are contained in the PDF file that is available for download below.  Baker’s Dozen A Common Sense Healthcare Agenda for the Next Governor Day 4: Lowering Insurance Costs In this fourth and final installment of “Baker’s Dozen: A Common Sense Healthcare Agenda for the Next Governor,” Josh Archambault and Neil Minkoff suggest reforms to lower health […]