THE PIONEER BLOG

Mary Connaughton

The Dog Ate DCF’s Report Card

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It looks like the besieged folks down at the Division of Children and Families weren’t too happy about having to post their annual performance grades on the Governor’s Mass Results accountability web page this year. They thought they could pull a fast one by leaving off 11 of the 12 annual performance measures they established last year when they posted their self-reported performance evaluation. [quote align=”right” color=”#999999″]Given the horrific series of highly publicized administrative failures at DCF over the past year, Pioneer Institute decided to take a look at what grades the Governor’s Executive Office of Health and Human Services’ gave DCF on its 2013 performance measurements.[/quote] Under the Governor’s Mass Results program, each of his eight Secretaries were required […]

Jamie Gass

Fordham’s Petrilli Rodeo Clowning for ObamaCore, Gates $$, & the Great Society

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Commentary magazine did a great blog about how Common Core is really ObamaCore and how right-leaners and left-leaners alike across the country are now in open rebellion over the growing federal takeover of K-12 education standards, testing, and curriculum. See below: Wherever you stand on the Common Core, an attempt to provide a set of nationwide education standards, it can’t be good news for the program that it has begun to so resemble the disastrous process and rollout of this administration’s last federal reform, ObamaCare. Yet the opposition to the Common Core has followed a familiar pattern. As the Heartland Institute noted in 2011, “The Obama administration made adoption of the Common Core a criterion for winning part of $4.35 […]

Editorial Staff

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 […]

Iliya Atanasov

Who’s Responsible for the MBTA Retirement Fund

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It cannot have been a particularly merry Christmas for Stephen Crawford, spokesman for the MBTA Retirement Fund. In the run-up to the holidays, a series of Boston Globe articles recounted a potentially fraudulent $25 million loss at the pension fund, blatant conflicts of interest and repeated failures to follow standard accounting practices – not to mention an ever-expanding investigation by the state attorney general, Martha Coakley. Seemingly unbowed by the controversy, Crawford told the Globe: “The pension fund is fully capable of meeting its obligations to its retirees and beneficiaries. The trust is solely responsible for meeting that responsibility – not the commonwealth.’’ [quote align=”right” color=”#999999″]Whether Mr. Crawford intentionally misrepresented the facts, fell victim to years of disinformation about past […]

Mary Connaughton

MassDOT’s Cost Savings Dead End

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In a joint press release praising the Transportation Reform bill of 2009, House Speaker DeLeo and Senate President Murray wrote, “the final bill eliminates the Turnpike Authority, streamlines communications, and creates a more efficient and cost-effective system under a unifying agency called the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT), potentially saving the Commonwealth up to $6.5 billion during the next 20 years.” Eighteen months later, Governor Patrick down-sized projected savings from $6.5 billion to $2 billion. In its 2010 report, “Transportation Reform – Year 1 – Transportation Finance Commission Scorecard and Cost Saving Summary.” MassDOT’s management wrote, “as we move into year two, MassDOT will continue to seek more savings, efficiencies and continue to reform the way in which we govern […]

Editorial Staff

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. […]

Iliya Atanasov

Massachusetts Pension Funding Deal Less than Meets the Eye

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Do pension funding changes display true fiscal responsibility or just election-year window dressing?

Editorial Staff

Free Movie Screening (Jan. 23): “The Ticket: The Many Faces of School Choice”

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To celebrate National School Choice Week, please join Pioneer Institute for a special screening of the groundbreaking film “The Ticket: The Many Faces of School Choice.”

Joshua Archambault

General Court Silent On Connector Meltdown: Connector Playing Whac-A-Mole With Enrollment

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Due to poor project management and failing IT contractors, the Connector has been forced into a very expensive game of whac-a-mole for enrollment under the ACA. Even after a tense Connector Board meeting last week, what remains unclear is how quickly the IT issues will be resolved, how much it will cost taxpayers, and why the public was told everything was functional up until the first day of open enrollment Oct 1st. Thankfully the media is finally turning up the spotlight on the major breakdown at the Massachusetts Connector over the past few months. Coverage last week included the  Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Springfield Republican and WLLP Channel 22. I will be writing about the depth of the problems in the near […]

Editorial Staff

Enter the 2014 Better Government Competition – Winning Prize: $10,000 – Theme: Technology

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Pioneer Institute invites you to enter our 2014 Better Government Competition (BGC) for your chance to win $10,000. [button color=”#COLOR_CODE” background=”#COLOR_CODE” size=”medium” src=”http://bgc.pioneerinst.wpengine.com/enter-the-better-government-competition/”]ENTER NOW[/button] The 2014 competition seeks technological solutions to create more efficiency, transparency, cost-effectiveness, and higher quality service in the public sector. (Sample topics below.) Entry deadline: Monday, April 7th. Visit our  BGC 2014 website to download this year’s guidelines and enter online! The winner will receive a $10,000 prize and each runner-up will receive a $1,000 prize. At our June BGC Awards Dinner, Pioneer will announce the winners and celebrate their efforts. What is the Better Government Competition?The Better Government Competition is an annual citizens’ idea contest. Since 1991, the Competition has promoted innovative policy approaches and tested […]

Sandra Stotsky

Why Common Core’s roll-out is as bad as ObamaCare’s (by Sandra Stotsky)

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It’s odd to observe just how oblivious the media have been to the chaotic roll-out of Common Core (what some are already calling ObamaCore) and the disturbing parallels with the so-called Affordable Care Act. These are the two major domestic initiatives of the Obama administration, and while attention has been paid recently to the potentially millions of individuals losing their health plans, still precious little (respectful) attention has been paid to angry parents, teachers, and school administrators. It is the case that the less the public knows about their growing hostility to the long tentacles of Common Core, the harder it will be for the public to understand that the end game is the same—central control of two major segments […]

Sandra Stotsky

Will Michael Brickman, Tim Shanahan, Politifact, Fox News, and USA Today do some careful reading, please? (by Sandra Stotsky)

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In How Common Core’s ELA Standards Place College Readiness at Risk (Pioneer Institute White Paper No. 89, September 2012), Mark Bauerlein and I explain why teachers and superintendents believe that Common Core reduces literary study to about 50% in the English class and where the 70% figure for informational texts comes from. With careful reading, it is possible to understand the confusion that David Coleman and Susan Pimentel created in the English curriculum, in reporters’ minds, and in the minds of so-called policy advisers. Please take note: Michael Brickman, Tim Shanahan, Politifact, Fox News, and USA Today. The following section is from pp. 8, 9, and 10 of that 2012 report. “Section II. Unwarranted Division of Reading Instructional Time The reduction […]

Shawn Musgrave

Somerville police want $780 for routine personnel records

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For the past several months, the Pioneer Institute and MuckRock have been gathering figures of police salary and overtime pay across Massachusetts. While most departments have been accommodating and helpful in acquiring this data on how law enforcement allocate their tax-funded budgets, the City Solicitor of Somerville insists that routine documents will cost a small fortune to release to the public. Beginning in July, Pioneer and MuckRock first began requesting budget data from police departments in the twenty largest cities and towns across Massachusetts. Specifically, we’re gathering figures on officer pay for the past two fiscal years, including both overtime and salary payments. This is an incredibly routine request, and the majority of departments have treated it as such. Four, […]

Jim Stergios

South Coast Rail not the way to go

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RESIDENTS OF MASSACHUSETTS’ South Coast believe their region hasn’t received the state investment it deserves. They’re right. The Big Dig vacuumed money away from transportation projects across Massachusetts. More recently, the South Coast has not been a major focus of recent bridge repair projects. And, today, efforts are underway to plan new mega-projects like expanding the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center (already New England’s biggest building) at the expense of investments elsewhere in the state.  Read the full post on CommonWealth Online.