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Travesty of Justice: Massachusetts Drug War Collapses on Lab Scandal
/in Blog: Better Government, Featured, Podcast Hubwonk /by Editorial StaffJoe Selvaggi talks with Pioneer Institute senior legal fellow Jim McKenna about Massachusetts’ drug prosecution cases resting on evidence produced by badly mismanaged drug testing labs, and the implications for potentially hundreds of thousands convicted on erroneous, tainted, or fabricated evidence.
Struggling For Sunshine: Transparency’s Power To Keep Leaders Accountable
/0 Comments/in Better Government, Blog: Transparency, Featured, Podcast Hubwonk, Transparency /by Editorial StaffHost Joe Selvaggi talks with Pioneer Institute’s Mary Z. Connaughton about the value of transparency and Pioneer’s extensive work to provide greater access to legislative and policy information to hold elected officials accountable and build trust in our state government. Read Pioneer Institute’s Sunshine Week Transparency Resolutions.
UK Classics Scholar Kathryn Tempest on Cicero, Brutus, & the Death of Caesar
/in Academic Standards, Blog: Education, COVID Education, Featured, Podcast, Related Education Blogs /by Editorial StaffThis week on “The Learning Curve,” Gerard and Cara talk with Dr. Kathryn Tempest, a Reader in Classics and Ancient History at the University of Roehampton in London, UK, and author of Cicero: Politics and Persuasion in Ancient Rome and Brutus: The Noble Conspirator. They discuss the historical, civic, and moral lessons political leaders, educators, and schoolchildren today can learn by studying the Roman Republic and the lives of key figures from that era such as Cicero and Brutus.
Pioneer Institute’s 2021 Government Transparency Resolutions: Sunshine Week Edition
/in Better Government, Blog, Blog: Better Government, Blog: Healthcare Transparency, Blog: Transparency, COVID Transparency, Featured, News, Transparency /by Editorial StaffAs it does each year, Pioneer shares the resolutions it hopes state leaders will adopt to bring government actions into better focus and invigorate our democracy with heightened public engagement. As the late Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis noted, “sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants; electric light the most efficient policeman.”
Traffic Strikes Back: New Transportation Strategies for Post-Pandemic Prosperity
/in Blog: Transportation, COVID Transportation, Featured, News: Transportation, Podcast Hubwonk /by Editorial StaffHost Joe Selvaggi talks with Chris Dempsey, Director of Transportation for Massachusetts, about road and mass transit innovations that could address traffic challenges in a high-growth, post-pandemic economy.
Ayaan Hirsi Ali, International Best-Selling Author & Human Rights Activist
/0 Comments/in Blog: Education, Civil Rights Education, Civil Rights Podcasts, COVID Education, Featured, Podcast, Related Education Blogs /by Editorial StaffThis week on “The Learning Curve,” Gerard and Cara talk with Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a Research Fellow at the Hoover Institution, founder of the AHA Foundation, and author of the books Prey: Immigration, Islam, and the Erosion of Women’s Rights, Infidel: My Life, and Nomad: From Islam to America – A Personal Journey Through the Clash of Civilizations.
AZ Supreme Court Justice Clint Bolick on National School Choice Week
/0 Comments/in Blog: Education, Blog: School Choice, COVID Education, COVID Podcasts, Featured, Podcast, School Choice /by Editorial StaffThis week on “The Learning Curve,” Cara and Gerard kick off National School Choice Week with Arizona Supreme Court Justice Clint Bolick, co-author with Kate Hardiman of a new book, Unshackled: Freeing America’s K–12 Education System. Justice Bolick shares his experiences serving on a state supreme court, and how it has shaped his understanding of America’s legal system.
There is a different path…
/0 Comments/in Blog, Featured, News /by Jim StergiosWe all watched with horror at the riots in the nation’s capital. We all understand that America is a place with strong feelings, and a place where freedoms are protected and expressed. We all support those freedoms. As a country, we must reject mobs and rioters. And that is what we saw yesterday in our nation’s capital. Our country is built on a commitment to “ordered liberty” — shorthand for the rule of law, reason, and civil discourse. We have largely avoided the curse of those nations whose political battles are won through violence or implied violence. Our great hope is to be or to become a place where might does not equal right. Our country has been at risk for some […]
Knowledge is Power: Sir Francis Bacon and the Scientific Method – 10 Resources for High School Students
/0 Comments/in Academic Standards, Blog, Blog: Education, COVID Education, COVID education resources, Featured, Jamie Gass /by Jamie GassIn Pioneer’s ongoing series of blogs here, on curricular resources for parents, families, and teachers during COVID-19, this one focuses on: Celebrating the 400th Anniversary of Sir Francis Bacon and the scientific method.
Massachusetts is in the middle of a budget crisis. So why is it still subsidizing out-of-state horse owners?
/0 Comments/in Blog, Featured, Transparency /by Andrew MikulaIn 2021, the Massachusetts legislature will consider raising taxes on corporations and wealthy individuals to finance social services in the Commonwealth during a challenging budget season. Proponents claim such an approach is necessary to avoid cuts to crucial services like healthcare and education. Meanwhile, there are a number of state government programs that defy sound fiscal sense. Unlike raising taxes on the wealthy, it’s often politically difficult to cut these programs because a small group of people depend on the subsidies they provide for their livelihoods, paid for by the rest of the populace. Take the horse breeding industry as an example. A recent update to MassOpenBooks.org, a government transparency data tool operated by Pioneer Institute, shows that Massachusetts has […]
To Keep Worcester’s Polar Park Project Alive during COVID-19, Focus on the Community
/0 Comments/in Blog, Featured /by Andrew MikulaWhile COVID-19 has halted sporting events across the world, it’s also thrown a wrench in franchises’ future plans. The Boston Red Sox’ triple-A affiliate was in the midst of relocating from Pawtucket, Rhode Island to Worcester, Massachusetts when the pandemic struck. COVID-19 has led to construction delays of the new stadium in Worcester, Polar Park, and left plans for the 2021 season in flux. Now, a group of Eastern Connecticut State University students are working to make sure that, during an uncertain time for their team and sports in general, the WooSox have their priorities straight. During this fall’s Pioneer Institute & Nichols College Sports Management Policy College Case Competition, Nikita Biahliak, James Callaghan, and Keira Integlia won 2nd […]
Pioneer recognizes students’ thoughtful approach to stadium financing, adjacent redevelopment in Worcester
/0 Comments/in Blog, Featured /by Andrew MikulaEven as the construction of Polar Park, a new minor league baseball stadium in Worcester, Massachusetts, was plagued by cost overruns, Worcester city officials aimed to use “no existing city tax revenue…to fund the ballpark construction.” Instead, they would essentially pay for the nearly-$100 million project by levying additional property taxes on adjacent development that was slated to sprout up around the new stadium. But as COVID-19 has dampened demand for hotel rooms and office space, and the developer has revised estimates for the apartments’ completion dates and market values, the stadium’s financing could look very different going forward. This fall’s Pioneer Institute & Nichols College Sports Management Policy College Case Competition asked students to craft adaptive solutions to […]
The 400th Anniversary of the Mayflower – 15 Resources for K-12 Students
/0 Comments/in Academic Standards, Blog: Education, Blog: US History, COVID Education, COVID education resources, Featured, News, Related Education Blogs, US History /by Jamie GassIn Pioneer’s ongoing series of blogs on curricular resources for parents, families, and teachers during COVID-19, this one focuses on: Celebrating the 400th Anniversary of the Mayflower’s voyage.
Ghost Dance – Native American Heritage Month – Resources for K-12 Education
/0 Comments/in Academic Standards, Blog: Education, COVID Education, COVID education resources, Featured, Jamie Gass, rCOVID /by Jamie GassIn Pioneer’s ongoing series of blogs on curricular resources for parents, families, and teachers during COVID-19, this one focuses on: Introducing K-12 schoolchildren to Native Americans in U.S. history.
Disputing Democracy – 5 Contentious U.S. Presidential Elections – Resources for K-12 Education
/0 Comments/in Academic Standards, Blog: Education, Blog: US History, COVID Education, COVID education resources, Featured, Jamie Gass, rCOVID /by Jamie GassIn Pioneer’s ongoing series of blogs, on curricular resources for parents, families, and teachers during COVID-19, this one focuses on: Introducing K-12 schoolchildren to the great, contentious presidential elections in U.S. history.