THE PIONEER BLOG

Jim Stergios

Weak on Unemployment Insurance Reform

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As we head into the end of the first half of the two-year session, it’s a good time to reflect on the promises that we began with.  During the second week in January came a raft of proposals from the governor’s office on reforms.  It was a Week of Reform, with announcements of pending change regarding public housing authorities, budget savings and unemployment insurance.  Not all of the details were fully baked or, to be honest, even truly well thought out, but it seemed clear that the governor was not going to be a lame duck cooped up in the Corner Office.  He was ready and willing to engage the legislature on some key issues that affect the cost of […]

Sandra Stotsky

What To Do Once Common Core Is Halted (by Sandra Stotsky)

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What could states do once implementation of Common Core’s standards is halted? Most states are unlikely to want to return to the standards they once had, mainly because their boards and departments of education loudly claimed they were adopting more rigorous standards when they adopted Common Core. In most cases, they would be rightly accused of returning to equally non-rigorous standards. It will also be difficult for 45 state boards and departments of education to say to the public and their state legislators that Common Core’s standards are really not more rigorous than what they had because they will look foolish. How can they justify having voted to adopt Common Core’s standards and committing the state to huge future technological […]

Joshua Archambault

10 Questions About ACA/Obamacare Implementation in Massachusetts That Need to be Answered

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1.      Why is Massachusetts giving the federal government a free pass to overtake the states right to regulate our insurance marketplace? For an example, see the ongoing saga over rating factors changes, under which 60% of small companies will experience premium increases. Bob Dylan singing  The Times They Are a-Changin’ 2.      Why is Massachusetts letting the federal government push 100,000 low-income individuals out of the Connector and onto the flawed MassHealth (Medicaid) program? Arkansas has obtained approval from the federal government for a different approach that Massachusetts should learn from. When the ACA is fully implemented roughly 25 percent of our total state population will be on Medicaid. The MassHealth budget is scheduled to balloon well over 10 percent next […]

Sandra Stotsky

Why Do They Lie? And Why Do Others Believe Them? (by Sandra Stotsky)

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One of the most puzzling phenomena in recent years is the unquestioned acceptance by seemingly rational people of the many claims made by the proponents of Common Core’s standards. The claims have been made repeatedly despite the fact that they have been shown to be either lies or simply utopian hopes. So, what are the lies or the utopian hopes? And why do others repeat these lies or pie-in-the-sky claims about what these standards will achieve? First, we are regularly told that Common Core’s standards are internationally benchmarked. Joel Klein, former head of the New York City schools, most recently repeated this myth in an interview with Paul Gigot, the Wall Street Journal editor, during the first week in June. […]

Joshua Archambault

ACA Premium Roller Coaster for Small Business Coming to Massachusetts

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A handful of owners of small companies in the Commonwealth have recently shared with me their deep sense of uncertainty and apprehension about what the ACA will mean for their health insurance premiums. They finally realized that local politicians were not telling the whole story when delivering speeches highlighting some of the similarities between RomneyCare and ObamaCare. In fact, implementation by federal HHS has only served to confuse them further and repeatedly moved the goal posts. The latest example is the ongoing saga of the ACA’s rating factors mandate on the Commonwealth. Beacon Hill is set to take up a bill on Wednesday that would place Massachusetts on track to be compliant with the federal health care law. A recently released Division […]

Jim Stergios

Ed Glaeser’s Straw Man on Common Core (by Jim Stergios)

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In today’s Globe, Ed Glaeser, an economist by trade and a member of the Gates Foundation advisory board for domestic programs, shares his thoughts on education standards – a topic on which we generally refer to experts. Think national education experts like Sandra Stotsky, James Milgram, Ze’ev Wurman, Mark Bauerlein, and folks who have worked in states and studied this topic closely. Ed attributes opposition to Common Core to fear (the title of the piece is “Fear of Common Core”). It’s the old win-an-argument-against-a-straw-man tactic, which he compounds by saying that critics of Common Core (I’m a card-carrying member of a loose affiliation of tribes opposing the Core) are even scared of a “bogeyman.” A ghost, a chimera, we’re seeing […]

Jim Stergios

Mass. charter schools: No sector like it in the US

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In 1992, Pioneer published a book that had the kind of squishy title and wishy-washy message you have all come to expect from Pioneer Institute: “Reinventing the Schools: A Radical Plan for Boston.” Its core message was nested in the dozens of pages of the state’s landmark 1993 Education Reform Act, along with high-quality standards and accountability through teacher and student testing. Thus began the charter experiment in Massachusetts. How would it turn out? Public charter schools here as elsewhere were an experiment, the success of which would depend on state policy decisions about how to authorize, hold accountable and expand the emerging charter sector. Interestingly, in the minds of the Massachusetts Senate and the Governor at the time, charters […]

Joshua Archambault

60% of MA Docs Will Not Meet Ch224 Electronic Medical Record Mandate

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Putting aside a lengthy discussion about the merits of and cost saving of EMRs for a minute, comes this gem from the land of not so well thought out policy making… In 2010, the Massachusetts Legislature passed a law requiring that, as a condition of licensure starting in 2015, Massachusetts physicians must demonstrate proficiency in the use of electronic health records, computerized order entry, e-prescribing, and other forms of health information technology. Last year [ in chapter 224], the Legislature amended that statute to state that physicians must “demonstrate the skills to comply with the ‘meaningful use’ requirements.” There was no further language to explain the intent or scope of that amendment. Given that even the most optimistic forecast holds that […]

Ted Rebarber

Federal Fig Leaf or Flexibility? (by Ted Rebarber)

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As the fight over the national Common Core academic standards continues to heat up in the states, it’s worth taking another look at the Obama Administration’s claim that they are absolutely, positively not using federal power to coerce states into adopting the Common Core. For those who haven’t been following the ins and outs of this particular federal soap opera, states are now in the position of pleading with federal officials for waivers from unworkable provisions in federal law. In 2002, Congress and the Bush Administration passed the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), which mandated that by the spring of 2014 (next year!) fully 100% of all public school students in America must meet grade level standards in English […]

Jamie Gass

Memorial Day: Honoring Our Fallen Soldiers and Cherishing Our Freedom

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For many, Memorial Day is regarded as the official kick-off of summer – in Massachusetts, the start of the season of backyard barbecues, beaches, and boating. But in communities all across America – small towns and large – we’ll also see lively parades with marching bands, and breathtaking images of veterans’ memorials and cemeteries adorned with rows of Star-Spangled Banners. In the 150 years since the Civil War, Americans have shown remarkable dedication to the annual ritual of honoring the one million service men and women of the United States Armed Forces who have made the ultimate sacrifice on behalf of their country and its founding philosophy. These brave soldiers gave their lives in defense of our enjoyment of the […]

Joshua Archambault

Update and Public Statement on Continued Lack of Transparency on the Impact of the Affordable Care Act on Massachusetts

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The following is a statement from Pioneer Institute executive director Jim Stergios: “Massachusetts business owners need to be able to plan, and that means they need to have some idea about the future cost of their healthcare premiums. The fact is, state officials have information about the potential economic impact of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), and they have thus far refused to disclose what they know to the public. “While ACA will have the effect of reducing insurance premiums for some in the state, it will also cause premiums to spike for a number of individuals and businesses. In just seven months, major changes in our marketplace will take place due to the new federal law, and it is […]

Mary Connaughton

When Is a Tax Not a Tax?

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When is a tax not a tax? When no one pays it. That’s basically the case with Massachusetts’ voluntary 5.85 percent income tax rate. In 2011, the latest year for which information is available from the Department of Revenue (DOR), a tiny fraction of the 3.5 million tax filers opted to pay the increased rate, generating under $200,000 in additional tax revenue – less than chicken feed compared to a $32.5 billion budget. The number of truly liberal among us who shade the oval to pay an extra 0.6 percent of income to the state is spiraling downward, dropping from 2,727 filers in 2009 to 2,400 in 2010 and to 1,737 in 2011. And it turns out that a hefty […]

Joshua Archambault

New “Grace Period” For ACA Implementation in Mass

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These are strange days in healthcare. Even the Boston Globe is starting to push back on and question the one-size fits all approach of the ACA. See the editorial from Sunday’s paper below. First it was the problem of Massachusetts being forced to switch our rating factors to new federal rules. (Read here for more background.) This led to the recent decision by federal HHS to unilaterally grant the state a phase-in for these new rating factor rules. Of course, this doesn’t fix the problem, it just spreads it over three years instead of one. Making matters worse, the Patrick Administration has also refused to release an updated version of reports that estimate the true impact on small business. In […]

Tom Nash

Basic information about IEP access lacking in Massachusetts public schools

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Individualized Education Plans (IEPs), geared at students whose educational needs fall outside the norm, are crucial to the academic success of tens of thousands of Massachusetts children. But because IEPs can be costly for public school systems, students on the cusp of need can easily fall through the cracks. If parents suspect their child needs an IEP to perform to his or her potential and the school has not raised the issue, the parents can request that the school district perform an evaluation.  If the district finds the child to be within norms, no IEP is proposed.  Parents can then get an independent evaluation at a cost of about $2,000 or can challenge the school to pay for it, but […]

Sandra Stotsky

Wanted: Internationally Benchmarked Standards in English, Mathematics, and Science (by Sandra Stotsky)

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The many flaws in Common Core’s standards are finally beginning to be discussed in state after state, especially the damaging expectation that all American high school students should be prepared for college, whether or not they are willing or able to do the reading that college coursework requires.  The hidden problem with such an expectation is that it can be achieved on tests of college-readiness only when empty skills (e.g., find the main idea) are applied to non-demanding texts and when performance tasks are subjectively evaluated (e.g., how well does Jamie show “critical thinking” or collaborate with peers when solving a problem). That is why Common Core’s standards were intentionally not internationally benchmarked.  Other countries expect “college-ready” students to know […]