Entries by Editorial Staff

Open Letter: Regarding Reform of the MBTA Retirement Fund

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The past year has seen the MBTA Retirement Fund mired in scandals involving conflicts of interest, losses of taxpayer money and, to put it mildly, imprudent attitudes towards the general public and the public trust. A high-quality mass transit system is critical to Greater Boston’s economy and the well-being of its residents.  As a result, the financial health of the authority’s pension system is a real public-policy concern. Please make no mistake about it: The deteriorating financial condition of the fund and exploding pension costs, a heavy burden on an MBTA already saddled with debt, are no accident. The fund’s governance is broken. Without bringing it into a state of good repair, no amount of money or temporary fix will […]

Public Statement on MA BESE Vote Limiting Charter School Enrollment

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Today, at the recommendation of Commissioner Mitchell Chester, the Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education voted unanimously in favor of a regulatory policy that will alter the way that the state determines and measures school district performance, limiting charter public school enrollment in low-performing districts. Growth in student performance is always a worthy goal. But we know the Commonwealth has lost its way in K-12 education policymaking when it accepts modest growth in student test scores in failing districts (the lowest 10% of performers) as an excuse to block new charter public schools from opening.  It is worth remembering that Massachusetts’ charter schools are the best in the nation.  We need more high-quality charter schools, not fewer.  And it […]

Study: Tax Credits Would Help MA Stem Loss of R&D Market Share

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$1 billion life sciences initiative has created just 571 jobs, is too narrow to impact most Massachusetts firms engaged in R&D BOSTON – Despite the 10-year, $1 billion life sciences initiative passed in 2008, Massachusetts has created just 571 direct life sciences jobs and was the only one of the leading states for research and development to see overall R&D spending fall between 2007 and 2011, according to a new study published by Pioneer Institute. Regaining Massachusetts’ Edge in Research & Development In “Regaining Massachusetts’ Edge in Research & Development,”former Massachusetts Inspector General Greg Sullivan recommends that the commonwealth adopt a Super R&D Tax Credit for increased research and development conducted in Massachusetts and an Alternative Simplified R&D Credit (ASC), […]

U.S. History Essay Contest Awards Nearly $4,000 in Prizes to MA High School Students

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Five secondary school students and one high school recognized as part of initiative to encourage stronger instruction in history and civics  BOSTON – Five Massachusetts high school students have won awards totaling nearly $4,000 as a result of their participation in Pioneer Institute’s Frederick Douglass Essay Contest in U.S. History, which called on entrants to research and write about historical texts and the responsibilities of citizenship. “We’d like to congratulate the winners and thank the judges of our inaugural U.S. history-civics student essay contest for their excellent work,” said Jamie Gass, Pioneer Institute’s Director of the Center for School Reform. “Given that a working knowledge of U.S. history is the prerequisite for full participation in our democracy, we’re very pleased that […]

Pioneer Institute Announces Winner of 23rd Annual Better Government Competition

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Pioneer Institute Announces Winner of 23rd Annual Better Government Competition Boston Mayor Martin Walsh to Deliver Keynote at September Awards Ceremony  BOSTON – Pioneer Institute is pleased to announce that “Compass® CoPilot,” a proposal to integrate data collection and reporting at state and county human services agencies, is the winning entry in the 23rd annual Better Government Competition (BGC). This year’s contest sought ideas that leverage technology to improve the public sector. Pioneer will recognize the winner and runners-up at its annual Better Government Competition awards dinner in September, featuring a Keynote Address by Martin J. Walsh, Mayor of Boston. Tickets are available for purchase online.  “Here in Massachusetts, we are all too familiar with the tragic consequences of communication failures within […]

Our View: Keep the Hotel Subsidy Out of the BCEC Expansion Bill

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Today (Thursday), the Massachusetts State Senate is planning to vote on the proposed $1 billion expansion of the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center.  Pioneer has been working hard to shine the spotlight on problems with the project. The good news is that added public attention helped bring about a revision in the Senate Ways and Means draft, removing the $100 million hotel subsidy that Pioneer found troubling. Last week, Boston Globe columnist Jeff Jacoby wrote about our concerns that the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority (MCCA) would have been allowed to select a developer to build and operate a 1,000- to 1,200-room hotel on land owned by Massport, with $110 million in public subsidies. There is no provision in the bill requiring MassPort and MCCA to award […]

WCVB Team 5 Reports on Pioneer’s Analysis of $92M Boston Fire Contract

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Pioneer Institute Executive Director Greg Sullivan appeared on a WCVB Team 5 Investigates news report about the City of Boston’s $92 million contract with the Fire Department, which disproportionately benefits highly paid administrators and supervisors over rank and file firefighters. Watch the WCVB video here. Read the story here. Study: Boston fire, EMS most expensive in US 148 supervisors earn more than Gov. Deval Patrick BOSTON —Team 5 Investigates exclusive new details about the $92 million deal just inked for the city of Boston’s firefighters. Read more: http://www.wcvb.com/news/study-boston-fire-ems-most-expensive-in-us/26405806#ixzz34F21XGpT Greg Sullivan said, ““The top brass is overstaffed and overpaid.” These graphics from the WCVB report compare the average salaries of district chiefs in 4 large cities: Baltimore, Chicago, New York City, and […]

Worcester Telegram & Gazette: Avoid fate of the Land of Lincoln

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This op-ed appeared in the Worcester Telegram & Gazette on June 5, 2014. Illinois is often considered a basket case when it comes to obligations for public pensions and retiree health care liabilities, but really how far is Massachusetts from a similar status? A look at the facts may help illuminate this point. The fallout from Illinois’s woefully underfunded pension system continues to expand. The state has less than 40 percent of the money it needs to pay for pension obligations and a total unfunded liability of some $100 billion. Every day the pension issue goes unaddressed, Illinois taxpayers sink $17 million further into the hole. Adding insult to injury, about a year ago Illinois had to settle fraud charges brought […]

States Should Adopt Stand-Alone Teacher Licensure Test in Reading Linked to Common Core

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States Should Adopt Stand-Alone Teacher Licensure Test in Reading Linked to Common Core Passing the test should be a requirement for all early education and elementary school teachers, most special education teachers BOSTON – States that have adopted the Common Core English language arts standards should require prospective elementary school teachers to pass a stand-alone licensure test in reading, according to a new study published by Pioneer Institute. How to Address Common Core’s Reading Standards: Licensure Tests for K-6 Teachers Licensure tests ensure that new teachers possess the basic content knowledge needed for professional practice. “There are two major reasons for licensure tests,” said Sandra Stotsky, author of “How to Address Common Core’s Reading Standards: Licensure Tests for K-6 Teachers.” […]

Study: New Technology, Relaxation of Protections Threaten Student Privacy

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Press Release: Study Finds That New Technology, Relaxation of Protections Threaten Student Privacy Federal government using grants to induce states to build identical, increasingly sophisticated student-data systems Contact: Jamie Gass, 617-723-2277, ext. 210 or jgass@pioneerinst.wpengine.com BOSTON – New technology allows advocates for education as workforce development to accomplish what has long been out of their reach: the collection of data on every child, beginning with preschool or even earlier, and using that data to track the child throughout his/her academic career and then through the workforce, according to a new study published by Pioneer Institute. Cogs in the Machine: Big Data, Common Core, and National Testing “It is an idea that dates back to the Progressive era,” says Emmett McGroarty, a co-author […]

Another Misleading Attack on Charter Schools from the BTU

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A recent Boston Teachers Union e-bulletin grossly misrepresented data on Boston students’ performance on Advanced Placement (AP) exams, claiming that district high schools outperform public charter high schools.  Pioneer’s analysis demonstrates that the BTU’s manipulation of the data is meant to create a false perception about charter schools and to cover up dismayingly poor results in BPS’s non-exam schools. The BTU newsletter shamefully includes in its calculation of districtwide AP exam results the City’s three exam schools, which have a passing rate (an AP test score of three or better) of 72%.  Remove the City’s elite exam schools, and BPS’s non-exam district schools have a passing rate of only 14%. The City’s public charter schools do not accept students on the basis of entrance exams; rather they accept students based on lottery.  […]

Study Finds Poetry Slighted in Common Core English Standards

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Significant overall reduction in time spent on classic literary texts will make it difficult to give poetry the prominence it deserves BOSTON – April is National Poetry Month, but poetry is not well addressed in Common Core’s English language arts standards. It’s unclear whether the genre will survive a Common Core-based English classroom given the dramatic reduction in time spent on literary texts implicitly mandated by these national standards, and the ambivalence, if not hostility, of the standards writers towards literature, according to a new study published by Pioneer Institute. The Dying of the Light: How Common Core Damages Poetry Instruction In “The Dying of the Light: How Common Core Damages Poetry Instruction,” co-authored by Anthony Esolen, Jamie Highfill, and […]

Statement on Proposed City of Boston – Fire Department Collective Bargaining Agreement

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This post was updated on May 7, 2014. Pioneer Statement on the Proposed City of Boston – Fire Department Collective Bargaining Agreement If the proposed collective bargaining agreement between the City of Boston and the Boston firefighters union is approved, more than $20.97 million in retroactive paychecks will be paid out this summer and $71.43 million in extra compensation will be paid over the next three years, totaling $92.4 million, in a way that disproportionately benefits highly paid administrators and supervisors. This informational report sets forth details about who will get how much. The proposed agreement has not been made public. However, city officials have disclosed in public comments that the tentative agreement reached by the mayor and the union […]

Common Core English and Math Standards Not Properly Validated

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Study Finds Common Core English and Math Standards Not Properly Validated Some Validation Committee members refused to attest that the standards are comparable to those in the world’s highest-performing countries BOSTON – Five of the 29 members of the Common Core Validation Committee refused to sign a report attesting that the standards are research-based, rigorous and internationally benchmarked.  The report was released with 24 signatures and included no mention that five committee members refused to sign it, according to a new study published by Pioneer Institute. Common Core’s Validation: A Weak Foundation for a Crooked House No member of the Validation Committee had a doctorate in English literature or language and only one held a doctorate in math.  He was […]

2014 Hewitt Health Care Lecture: Miller & Reinhardt on the ACA

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Join us May 6th for an evening with national experts,Tom Miller and Uwe Reinhardt, at our 2014 Hewitt Health Care Lecture: “What Just Happened and What’s Ahead for the Affordable Care Act.” [button color=”#COLOR_CODE” background=”#COLOR_CODE” size=”medium” src=”https://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/eventReg?oeidk=a07e9688m5u759dc508&c=&ch=”]Register Now[/button] Tom Miller is a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI). He also has served as a senior health economist for the Joint Economic Committee, and director of health policy studies at the Cato Institute. Miller also was a member of the National Advisory Council for the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality from 2007 to 2009. His work includes “Conservative Health-Care Reform: A Reality Check” (National Affairs), “When Obamacare Fails: The Playbook for Market-Based Reform” (AEI), and “How to Cover Pre-existing Conditions” (National Affairs). Uwe […]

Watch “Building the Machine,” New Common Core Movie

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“Building the Machine” is an excellent primer on the fatal deficiencies of Common Core national education standards. It features Pioneer’s Jim Stergios as well as all the major authors of Pioneer’s research on the inferior quality of the Common Core: Sandra Stotsky, R. James Milgram, Ze’ev Wurman and Bill Evers. Watch it here: [youtube height=”HEIGHT” width=”WIDTH”]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjxBClx01jc[/youtube]

Cokie Roberts Speaking at Forum on Women in U.S. History, Literature, & Schooling

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Cokie Roberts among Speakers at Forum on Women in U.S. History, Literature, and Schooling  Event will feature award-winning authors, including a Pulitzer Prize winner BOSTON – A legendary broadcaster and award-winning authors, including a Pulitzer Prize winner, will be among the speakers at a Pioneer Institute forum, “Remember the Ladies”: Women in U.S. History, Literature, and Schooling,” to be held Monday, March 24 from noon to 3:00 p.m. at the Omni Parker House Hotel in Boston. March is Women’s History Month. One keynote address will be delivered by Cokie Roberts, a contributor to National Public Radio’s Morning Edition and ABC News political commentator. Three Emmys are among the countless awards she has won over her more than 40-year broadcasting career. […]

Massachusetts Deserves Better Education Leadership

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Massachusetts Deserves Better Education Leadership Education Secretary Matt Malone’s views on charter schools characterized by bigotry and demonization Can Matt Malone provide educational leadership in a state with the nation’s most successful charter public school sector? Emails recently obtained by Pioneer Institute show that Secretary Malone engaged in various forms of bigotry and demonization when, as superintendent of the Brockton Public Schools, he fought against opening the city’s first charter public school. After the 2008 rejection of a proposed Brockton charter public school under highly unusual circumstances, another charter proposal was submitted by a founding group with deep ties to Brockton.  The leadership group included former Mayor Jack Yunits, City Councilor Jass Stewart, and longtime advocate and business leader Faelton […]

Convention Center Expansion Pricetag: $5 Billion in Foregone Revenue

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Convention Center Expansion Would Cost About $5 Billion in Foregone State Revenue Claim that BCEC can be expanded without new taxes or fees only tells part of the story BOSTON – A proposed $1 billion expansion of the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center (BCEC) would divert billions from state coffers by delaying the reversion of convention center tax receipts to the general fund and could endanger capital funding for much-needed transportation improvements and other capital expenditures, according to a new Policy Brief published by Pioneer Institute. Does Boston Convention & Exhibition Center Expansion Really Pay for Itself? Update: Watch author Charles Chieppo’s interview with BNN News Host Chris Lovett on this topic: The original 1997 convention center finance plan levied […]

Setting the Record Straight on Common Core Part 2

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Pioneer Institute has been a prime mover in the debate over Common Core national education standards.  Pioneer was among the first to call attention to the nature of the threat, producing rigorous research and relentlessly raising public awareness. Last month, Pioneer released the first of two videos setting the record straight on Common Core, questioning its legality, transparency and financial toll. Today, we release the second video, to shed light on the mediocre academic quality of Common Core and its negative impact on school choice. Since 2010, Pioneer has commissioned academic-quality research exposing the mediocre quality of Common Core, which put Massachusetts’ two decades of educational gains in jeopardy. The reports, authored by national academic content experts, showed that Common Core contained weaker content in math […]

Match Charter Residency Program Effective Teacher Training Model

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Report Finds Match Charter Residency Program an Effective Model to Equip Teachers for Challenges of Urban Classrooms Educator preparation program can address shortage of high-quality teachers, deficiencies in traditional education schools BOSTON – The Match Teacher Residency (MTR) program’s approach to recruiting and training highly effective teachers should be a model for other charter schools, school districts, and traditional schools of education as they face an impending shortage of high-quality teacher candidates, according to a new Pioneer Institute report. Matching Students to Excellent Teachers: How a Massachusetts Charter School Innovates with Teacher Preparation “The Match Teacher Residency program is filling a gap in the teacher pipeline,” said Cara Candal, author of Matching Students to Excellent Teachers: How a Massachusetts Charter […]

The End of the Line for the MBTA Retirement Fund?

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Without Taxpayer Support, MBTA Retirement Fund Would Become Insolvent Between 2024 and 2036 Current employees would have to contribute at least one quarter of their salaries to stabilize fund’s finances BOSTON – The MBTA Retirement Fund (MBTARF) has long claimed that it is fully capable of meeting its obligations without help from the commonwealth, but a new Pioneer Institute study finds that without taxpayer support the fund will run out of money between 2024 and 2036. Solvency and Insolvency of the MBTA Retirement Fund “Under the current collective bargaining agreement, three quarters of contributions to the pension fund are coming from the MBTA – in other words, from taxpayers,” said Pioneer Institute’s Senior Fellow on Finance Iliya Atanasov, author of “Solvency […]

Is the Commissioner of Education Complying with the Law?

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Twenty years after the passage of the landmark Massachusetts education reform law, how did the Bay State get to a place where it is unclear whether the Commonwealth’s Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) is abiding by federal and state law on a key pillar of reform – testing for accountability? Education Commissioner Mitchell Chester’s rush to pilot new national exams has caused consternation among superintendents, with 38 districts refusing to participate in the effort to pilot the new PARCC tests. After repeated questions from district officials, Pioneer sent a January 27th letter to Commissioner Mitchell Chester questioning (1) whether the Commonwealth’s plan to pilot PARCC (while exempting certain students from MCAS) was aligned with the state’s landmark 1993 law and (2) […]

Video: Setting the Record Straight on Common Core

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There is so much misinformation on all sides of the debate on Common Core national education standards and tests.  In this first of two videos by Pioneer Institute, we seek to set the record straight on three key issues: Was Common Core State Led? Is Common Core Legal? What Will Common Core Cost?   [youtube height=”HEIGHT” width=”WIDTH”]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQoEvDS3ZX8&list=UUxPr4y_MBrcdji_ockXjuPA&feature=c4-overview[/youtube] (A second video we’re releasing next week addresses the academic quality of Common Core and its impact on school choice.) Pioneer Institute’s leadership in the debate over Common Core is recognized across the country. Pioneer has commissioned the most independent, scholarly research on multiple facets of a policy that will affect the lives of 45 million US schoolchildren. Common Core will affect millions of […]

Matching Students to Excellent Tutors

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Research Finds Match Charter-Like Tutoring Programs Should Be Central Part of School, District Turnaround Efforts “High-dosage” tutoring found more effective, less expensive than commonly touted reform efforts like reduced class size, extended school day BOSTON – “High-dosage” tutoring of the kind pioneered at Match Education’s charter schools in Boston should be a central component of school and district turnaround efforts, schools and districts that adopt the model should be given the autonomy to customize the tutoring program to fit their own needs, and tutoring costs should be baked into school budgets so the program’s existence won’t depend upon the availability of outside funding, according to new research published by Pioneer Institute. Matching Students to Excellent Tutors: How a Massachusetts Charter School Bridges […]

Study Calls for MBTA Employees to Be Transferred to State Pension System

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Despite claims to the contrary, overly generous benefits, early retirement perks render troubled MBTA Retirement Plan unsustainable BOSTON – The commonwealth should develop a plan to transfer MBTA employees from the transit authority’s troubled retirement plan to the state system, according to a new study published by Pioneer Institute. Myths and Reality about MBTA Pensions “The MBTA plan modifications included in the 2009 transportation reform law were too little too late,” said Pioneer Institute Senior Fellow on Finance Iliya Atanasov, author of “Myths and Reality about MBTA Pensions.” “Far more radical measures are needed to ensure that MBTA employees’ pensions will be there when they retire.” In the wake of transportation reform, the conventional wisdom has been that the MBTA […]

Let’s Not Waver on Testing: An Open Letter to MA Education Commissioner

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In the letter below, Pioneer Institute Executive Director Jim Stergios raises important questions about academic accountability and legality with regard to Massachusetts’ administration of student assessments. New PARCC tests related to Common Core national standards are being field-tested in Massachusetts this year, in lieu of or in addition to MCAS, adding countless more hours teachers’ workloads. Schools and parents would not receive results of PARCC tests, despite federal and state laws (NCLB and MERA) that require testing for consequences of every child in grades 3-8 and again in high school. Stergios asks Massachusetts Education Commissioner Mitchell Chester to disclose whether the Commonwealth has received a waiver from the federal government that would authorize school districts to forego administering  testing for consequences. […]

Study: Reduce Privacy Leaks to Achieve Full Potential of Electronic Health Records

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Press Release: Study Finds That Focus on Reducing Privacy Leaks Needed to Achieve Full Potential of Electronic Health Records Citizens – not the federal government or medical institutions – should determine who can access their medical records BOSTON – Governor Deval Patrick announced the second phase of rollout of the Commonwealth’s Health Information Highway (HIway) project earlier this month, which allows doctors across the state to access a patient’s records from anywhere. Yet numerous issues related to the privacy of patients’ data still remain unanswered. Electronic Health Records (EHR), a technological system that allows health care providers to store and share private medical information, hold the potential to reduce medical errors, and promote efficiency, but achieving their full potential will […]