Entries by Editorial Staff

Chipping away at charter schools

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http://boston.com/community/blogs/rock_the_schoolhouse/2012/01/chipping_away_at_charter_schoo.html Charter school approvals are granted in February.  They shouldn’t be. They should have been granted on January 16th this year–Martin Luther King Day–for one simple reason: No education policy change has done more in Massachusetts to alleviate achievement gaps than charters.  None. We too often hear about how education is the civil rights issue of the 21st century.  The fact is that education was the Civil Rights issue of the 20th century, starting with the landmark Brown v. Board of Education ruling and the battle to ensure that all kids, regardless of race or creed, had equal access to good schools. Today, the face of Civil Rights has many colors, and the principal battleground is in inner cities, places […]

Patrick’s economic development plan is flawed

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http://www.heraldnews.com/newsnow/x66783145/GUEST-OPINION-Patricks-economic-development-plan-is-flawed Gov. Deval Patrick’s new economic development plan is well intended and for  the most part worthy. Released last month by the state’s Economic Development  Planning Council, “Choosing to Compete in the 21st Century” is welcome evidence  that the governor understands that Massachusetts can only address the state’s  persistent unemployment and generate revenues for public services by making the  Bay State an attractive place to grow businesses. Elements of the plan are realistic and wise steps toward that goal.   For example, the plan calls for government to execute on its core functions,  such as upgrading infrastructure.  It calls for government to remove  barriers to hiring by cutting the tangle of regulation, streamline permitting,  and make the corporate tax structure predictable […]

The 21 studies that generated the findings in “Civics Exam: Schools of Choice Boost Civic Values”

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http://educationnext.org/the-21-studies-that-generated-the-findings-in-civics-exam-schools-of-choice-boost-civic-values/ Campbell, David E. 2001a. “Civic Education: Readying Massachusetts’ Next Generation of Citizens.” White Paper 17, Boston: Pioneer Institute for Public Policy Research. Available by request of the author, Dave_Campbell@nd.edu. ———. 2001b. “Making Democratic Education Work.” In Charters, Vouchers, and Public Education, edited by Paul E. Peterson and David E. Campbell. Washington, DC: Brookings, pp. 241-67. ———. 2002. “The Civic Side of School Reform: How Do School Vouchers Affect Civic Education?” Working Paper of the Center for the Study of Democratic Politics, Princeton, NJ, April 16. Available by request of the author, Dave_Campbell@nd.edu. Coleman, James S., and Thomas Hoffer. 1987. Public and Private High Schools: The Impact of Communities. New York: Basic Books. Dee, Thomas S. 2005. “The Effects of […]

Poftak: Freeze the unemployment tax

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http://www.dailynewstranscript.com/opinion/columnists/x2062852269/Poftak-Freeze-the-unemployment-tax#axzz2NGLZfsv3 You don’t have to be a genius to know that you get less of whatever you tax.  And you don’t have to be an economist to know that now isn’t the time to tax  jobs. State senators from both parties recently called on Senate President Therese  Murray to stop a scheduled increase in the commonwealth’s unemployment insurance  tax. House and Senate Republicans have filed a bill to freeze the current rates  and the House is taking up a spending bill that would also freeze the rates. Unemployment insurance benefits are paid for by a tax on employers for every  person they employ. Without the freeze, the tax would go up 31 percent, from an  annual average of $715 per […]

Accountability Overboard: Massachusetts poised to toss out the nation’s most successful reforms

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http://educationnext.org/accountability-overboard/ President Barack Obama and Massachusetts governor Deval Patrick are both brilliant orators who espouse the “politics of hope.” Both know about hope firsthand, having overcome less-than-privileged backgrounds to achieve great success. Patrick endorsed Obama early in the campaign and is a close advisor. That closeness got Obama in trouble during the primaries, when he was caught cribbing lines from some of Patrick’s speeches. More recently, Patrick chaired the platform committee for the Democratic National Convention that nominated Obama. But we can only hope their similarities don’t extend to education policy. Patrick calls education his “singular pursuit.” Yet after winning election in a 2006 landslide fueled by strong support from the Bay State’s powerful teachers unions—including $3 million in contributions—he […]

An education in virtual schooling

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http://www.lowellsun.com/editorials/ci_19734981 From working to shopping and paying our bills, the Internet seems to have  transformed virtually every aspect of modern life. Now it’s changing the way we  educate our children. Thirty states plus the District of Columbia have full-time online schools.  And while those schools only educate about 200,000 students nationwide, that  number is growing by about 25 percent each year. Florida opened one of the first  online schools in 1997 and the Florida Virtual School is now the nation’s  largest. California alone has 16 virtual schools. In 2006, Michigan became the first state to make completion of at least one  online class a high-school graduation requirement. Since then, Alabama and  Florida have followed. Reasons for attending a virtual school […]

Evaluate teachers with a single or multiple measures?

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http://boston.com/community/blogs/rock_the_schoolhouse/2012/01/evaluate_teachers_with_a_singl.html Back in July, I wrote a series of posts on teacher evaluations, outlining why the Massachusetts law that was passed, with much fanfare a “bold, pioneering teacher-evaluation system,” was not likely to lead to much improvement for teachers or for students. There are many other reasons to doubt the boldness or pioneering-ness of the new Massachusetts teacher evaluation system. There’s the small ball criticisms like The law required evaluations 18 years ago, and few school districts have fulfilled their requirements for that time – so what makes this different? By the time the evaluations go into effect (three years hence), the MCAS will be a thing of the past, with the state having promised to move to an unknown […]

Fare Hikes, Service Cuts and MBTA Mismanagement: A Recent History of the T

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http://hingham.patch.com/articles/fare-hikes-service-cuts-and-mbta-mismanagement-a-recent-history-of-the-t On Tuesday January 3 the MBTA outlined two proposals to reduce the over $161 million budget deficit projected for Fiscal Year 2013 in a presentation to legislators. Both proposals included fare hikes, the reduction of services and a complete elimination of the commuter boat subsidy. As the Senator representing the South Shore, I know this will have a negative effect on my district. I am frustrated with the MBTA’s proposal, especially the elimination of the commuter boat subsidy. The Hingham Commuter Boat has been a means of public transportation that I have supported since its inception. In fact during the years of negotiations over the construction of the Greenbush Commuter Rail Line from 2001 to 2007, I strongly advocated for […]

Chester plan for Lawrence falls short on ideas, options

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http://www.lowellsun.com/oped/ci_19718547 In November, state Education Commissioner Mitchell Chester announced he will  name a receiver with “all the powers of the superintendent and school committee”  to right Lawrence’s troubled schools, where about 80 percent of students score  in the two lowest categories on MCAS exams. The announcement is hardly reassuring on at least two counts. First, research  demonstrates that school turnaround efforts across the country have yielded  meager results and aren’t a scalable strategy for fixing troubled urban  districts. Second, the state’s education leadership doesn’t exactly inspire confidence.  In his very first budget, Gov. Deval Patrick proposed defunding the state’s  independent educational accountability office. Is it any wonder that the  Merrimack Special Education Collaborative flouted financial controls and misused  more than […]

Health Reform May Lessen Sting of Charity Care for NJ Hospitals

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http://www.njspotlight.com/stories/12/0110/2345/ New Jersey hospitals, feeling the strain of nearly $2 billion in uncompensated care, are hoping the Affordable Care Act will be more than a band-aid to help alleviate huge debts hospitals carry for treating uninsured patients. Studies by the Rutgers Center for State Health Policy have estimated that an additional 444,000 New Jerseyans will be covered in 2014, whether through an expansion of Medicaid or through the new health care exchanges, where low and moderate income individuals will be able to buy subsidized health coverage. “It is always positive to have more people insured, but we don’t know what will be the impact,” said Suzanne Ianni, president of the Hospital Alliance of New Jersey. “The burden on hospitals is […]

MBTA nixes takeover, ponders next rail contract

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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20120107/us-commuter-rail/ MBTA management has ruled out the possibility of taking over direct operation of the state’s commuter rail network. Instead, it may seek a longer-term contract with a private operator to spur investment in an aging system that has become increasingly prone to breakdowns. Who runs the trains and for how long is undoubtedly of less interest to 70,000 or so daily commuter rail passengers than whether the service is reliable and on time. But the cash-strapped Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s ability to provide consistently reliable service may well hinge on a series of crucial decisions it faces over the next 12-18 months. Comprised of 394 miles of track stretching from Boston west to Worcester, north to Merrimack Valley and […]

2012 Massachusetts State Spending Map

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In 2012, Pioneer Institute proudly reprised this exciting online tool — a spending map of Massachusetts’ state government — designed to help bring about more openness and accountability.   The map presents hundreds of government departments, agencies, and programs in a visual format, proportionate in size to their funding level. Looking at the whole map, viewers can ascertain the state’s spending priorities. You will also be able to scroll over and zoom into each component for a more in-depth examination of the number of agencies and departments that exist, and easily identify bureaucracy, inefficiency, and unnecessary duplication. Pioneer is pleased to provide this useful online map in an adjustable display format for all Massachusetts citizens interested in obtaining information about […]

‘The Mass Factor’ takes on state politics from Danvers studio

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http://www.salemnews.com/local/x1818106068/The-Mass-Factor-takes-on-state-politics-from-Danvers-studio A small cable TV show called “The Mass Factor” is taking on big topics and spreading its unfiltered half-hour interviews to dozens of communities, thanks to a politically minded producer, Linda Flaherty, and a well-known Boston radio personality, Todd Feinburg. Feinburg, a Beverly resident, serves as host of the semi-monthly interview show on politics. Produced at Danvers Community Access Television’s studios on Elm Street, “The Mass Factor” is the brainchild of Flaherty, a Danvers resident who was able to persuade Feinburg to host it. Feinburg is a conservative, but the show is not about the host’s ideological perspective, rather it is an attempt to create a dialogue with elected officials or ordinary people on topics of the day. “My […]

Can employers require job applicants to have a high school diploma?

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http://boston.com/community/blogs/rock_the_schoolhouse/2012/01/can_employers_require_job_appl.html BNA, a subsidiary of Bloomberg L.P., is a great source of reporting on legal and regulatory issues that matter to businesses.  In mid-December BNA shared the following item, which will be a shocker to most employers: Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, an employer’s requirement that applicants have a high school diploma must be job-related and consistent with business necessity, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission stated in an “informal discussion letter” posted on its website Dec. 2. I don’t know of many employers who think twice about requiring a high school diploma.  The EEOC letter “does not constitute an official opinion of the commission,” but rather is an indication that at a date not too far in to the […]

Education Reform in Massachusetts: Pioneer Institute’s 20 Anniversary Celebration

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Former Massachusetts Governor William Weld, Former Massachusetts Senate President Thomas Birmingham, Former Massachusetts Legislator and Pittsburgh Superintendent Mark Roosevelt, former state Education Commissioner David Driscoll, and former Secretary of Education Michael Sentance, Citizens United for Charter Schools co-founder Nancy Myers Coolidge, Neighborhood House Charter Headmaster Kevin Andrews, and former Pioneer Executive Director Jim Peyser discuss the instrumental role in advancing education reform played by Pioneer and its founder, Pete Peters.

Tough Times on virtual learning?

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http://boston.com/community/blogs/rock_the_schoolhouse/2011/12/tough_times_on_virtual_learnin.html Back at the start of December, I blogged on the need for both an open door to online learning and also a greater focus on accountability for those who would operate in that space. Understanding the quality of the choices in the marketplace will have to be informed by more than giddy passion about the promise of virtual learning. A cursory look at the research done on virtual learning suggests that there has been to date more energy than light on the impact of VL on sustained student achievement. …We are just at the start of the virtual learning movement, and there is so much promise in the short term regarding access to high-quality content, targeted instruction, peer tutoring […]

Payroll tax cut means thousands in savings for Mass. workers

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http://www.wickedlocal.com/brookline/news/x550228243/Payroll-tax-cut-means-thousands-in-savings-for-Mass-workers?zc_p=1#axzz2OHGE6ymJ Congress has temporarily extended a contentious payroll tax cut that means  significant savings for Bay State workers, but another battle looms in early  2012 on whether to keep the cut in place all year. After weeks of debate, Congress continued the tax cut through February next  year, avoiding a Dec. 31 expiration date. But Democrats and Republicans still  disagree on how to pay for a full-year extension. The temporary cut to Social Security taxes withheld from paychecks will  yield about $1,290 in savings by the end of 2011 for a worker earning the  state’s median household income of $64,500. A worker earning the median household income of $34,236 in Fall River would  save $685 by the end of this […]

How to Fill the Salvation Army’s Red Kettles

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http://www.bostonmagazine.com/news/blog/2011/12/21/how-to-fill-the-salvation-armys-red-kettles/ The Salvation Army is struggling to raise money this year through its traditional red kettle/bell-ringing campaign, with donations down 22 percent.  It might be due to a down economy.  I know that my dependence on electronic transactions frequently leaves me without bills or coins to donate. But new economic research suggests strategies to increase donations.  A team of economists conducted a four day experiment at a Boston-area supermarket using two different approaches to the red kettle campaign. The first approach was passive — just bell-ringing, no speaking, no eye contact.  The second was active — bell-ringing plus a direct ask for a donation. The result? People avoid being asked verbally (as opposed to the implicit, passive ask that the […]

Romneycare faces financial meltdown

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http://www.wnd.com/2011/12/379485/#Hyav3UGghAyuQWq5.99 According to several insurance and public-policy analysts, Massachusetts’  much heralded health-insurance reform plan, labeled “Romneycare” by its critics,  is facing a potential financial crisis and may have to be scaled back. A senior analyst at a Virginia-based think tank that has monitored  Massachusetts’ health care system says that Gov. Deval Patrick will have to take  the budget-cutting axe to the program because of a major stress on the state  health-care system. Citizens Council on Health Freedom President Twila Brase says the stress on  the system is no surprise. “With the economic downturn, what is happening is that people are losing  their jobs or that their employers have decided that one of the ways to cut  their own costs is […]

Why hold a grudge?: Ed czar won’t accept success of SABIS charter schools

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http://www.lowellsun.com/oped/ci_19584224 February will be decision time for another round of Massachusetts  charter-school applications. In 2012, the focus will be on “Gateway Cities” —  middle-sized cities outside the Boston area. As part of a successful bid to win federal grants, state leaders last year  doubled the number of charter seats in low-performing school districts. But the  additional seats are only available to “proven providers” that already operate  successful charter schools. No entity fits the bill better than SABIS, an  educational management company operating schools in Springfield and Holyoke. In Springfield, 30 percent more SABIS International Charter School students  scored advanced or proficient on 2011 English MCAS tests than did students in  the surrounding district. The difference was 31 percent in math. […]

Pioneer Institute Medical Malpractice Paper

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Josh Archambault, Health Care Policy Director, highlights the costs of medical malpractice and options for reform, as described in Pioneer’s report, Innovative Medical Liability Reform: Traditional and Non-traditional Methods.