THE PIONEER BLOG

Steve Poftak

Odds-On Favorite? Not the Lottery

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The Massachusetts state lottery has made news the past few weeks for two things — a $20 holiday raffle that lost money and a proposal to allow gamblers to use their debit cards to buy tickets. The stories might seem only vaguely related but, at root, they highlight the Mass Lottery’s ongoing challenge — sustaining revenue levels and trying to grow in a stagnant market. And that market is going to get more crowded once casinos start operating, with expert opinions forecasting a 5 – 10% drop in lottery revenues initially. As previous studies have shown, Massachusetts has one of the most successful lotteries in the country, particularly on a per capita basis. But it has been difficult work keeping […]

Editorial Staff

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 […]

Joshua Archambault

A Deeper Dive into the Mass Health Reform Waiver & Why it Matters to the Future of the ACA

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On December 20th, Governor Deval Patrick, and the entire Massachusetts Congressional delegation, congratulated themselves on the resolution of a six month delayed renewal of the Massachusetts Medicaid waiver. The waiver will run for the next 3 years. I blogged on Pioneer Institute’s website about the recent waiver delay here, here, here, and here. But for those that may not be as familiar, in essence the waiver serves as the foundation for the Massachusetts health care reform. At first glance at the new waiver, it does appear that the state squeezed substantial sums out of the federal government, but where that money ends up is the critical question. The media largely reprinted the press release, and completely ignored the historical context […]

Steve Poftak

MBTA Puts the Screws to Bus Riders

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The MBTA released two scenarios to deal with a projected FY13 budget deficit of $161 million. Scenario 1 fills the gap with close to 80% fare increases and 20% service cuts. Scenario 2 roughly splits the difference between service cuts and fare increases. A quick review of the impact study tells me that Scenario 1 is the one that the MBTA wants. And that the ire of the public will quickly be focused on Scenario 2. Scenario 2 proposes a radically trimming of bus operations, eliminating 23.6% of bus trips and reducing ridership by about the same amount. The T’s bus system could use some consolidation and a greater focus on increasing throughput, but that’s a pretty big pill to […]

Joshua Archambault

Will 2012 be the year of the e-patient?

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Dave deBronkart gave an interesting talk at a TED conference site last year that highlights the potential of patients having access to their own health data.

Jim Stergios

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

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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 future […]

Jim Stergios

What is blended learning?

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A number of readers of recent posts on virtual (or digital) learning have asked for some definitions around jargon used by proponents and experts. I wanted to share a brief video on “blended learning,” a term that you hear increasingly, especially in states where charter public schools and district schools are attempting to integrate online tools into the classroom. Blended learning is, if you will, that broad area between the traditional classroom, where you have a teacher lecturing and teaching a class of kids, and exclusive use by a student of online resources to drive their learning. The video embedded below was written by Anthony Kim and Michael Thompson of Education Elements. It is a bit dry and a tad […]

Jim Stergios

Tough Times on virtual learning

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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 […]

Steve Poftak

Filling the Red Kettle

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The Salvation Army is struggling to raise money this year through its traditional red kettle/bell-ringing campaign, with donations down 22%. 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 presence of […]

Joshua Archambault

Mass and Feds Cut a Deal on Medicaid Waiver

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This afternoon the Patrick Administration announced a new deal with Federal HHS on the Medicaid waiver that serves as the backbone of our reform law. The last waiver expired in June of 2011. It is a 3-yr $26.75 billion deal. I need some more details before I can figured out how exactly this waiver will mesh with the Governor’s payment reform bill. But until then, some early thoughts: The Patrick administration looks like they withdrew a number of requests to get this deal done. The Massachusetts waiver deal raises some interesting questions for the future of the national health reform law. [Even if I think the lessons to be learned from Massachusetts are somewhat limited to the national plan.] A […]

Joshua Archambault

What will 2012 Look Like for Health Care?

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I was recently asked by a reporter for some trends that I expect to see in 2012. I thought I would share my bullet points on the Pioneer blog: In no particular order. Continued provider consolidation, both locally and nationally. Greater cost-shifting from Medicare and Medicaid, as both federal and state government continue to cut reimbursement levels. On a related side note, I think over the next few years you will see cash-based pre-paid practices opening in Boston. Gains in the use of high-deductible and health savings account plans nationally. The question for 2012 is whether Massachusetts will break out of its status quo and catch up. The story I will be watching for in 2012: The interaction between cost saving […]

Jim Stergios

The wrong strategy to fix Lawrence public schools

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With a wondrous display of British understatement, the state’s education commissioner recently announced his “concern” about Lawrence schools. Commissioner Mitch Chester noticed that the Lawrence Public Schools might have “a potential leadership gap” and that “[o]verall, the district is not yet where we expect it to be and want it to be.” Noted “for his work in accountability and assessment,” one could complain (and I have) that the Commissioner should not have waited 3 ½ years to come to that conclusion. Especially with the financial and political missteps made by the previous superintendent. So applause for the Commissioner’s decision to put into receivership city schools where, as I noted in the Lawrence Eagle Tribune, 10 percent of [the students] drop […]

Michael Morisy

Massachusetts raced other states to win over doomed Evergreen Solar

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In my last post, I took a look at how surprisingly credulous state executives were of Evergreen Solar’s business. Rarely, if ever, were concerns raised about whether Evergreen Solar was a good investment for the state to make, nor whether the solar industry in general was fundamentally sound. That green jobs had a bright future was, documents indicate, an article of faith. It’s easy now, as much of the predicted “Green Boom” has gone bust, to second guess the decisions made. A question that should be answered, however, is why those decisions were made. The Patrick administration hasn’t been eager to answer that question. When quizzed about the bankruptcy, the governor insisted the company’s CEO was “out of the loop” while […]

Steve Poftak

Tim Tebow, the Read Option and Our Patriots

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(What? I have to do policy wonk stuff all the time?) Tim Tebow is all the rage right now, both for his spectacular late game comebacks and his very public professions of his faith. We’ll leave the latter alone and focus on his actions on the field. His team, the Denver Broncos, turned to Tebow after a 1-4 start running a conventional offense under Kyle Orton. Over time, the Broncos have implemented a modified read-option offense that is built around the running and decision-making skills of Tebow. For the uninitiated, the read-option is based around the counter-intuitive notion of not blocking at least one defender. That unblocked defender is then ‘read’ by the quarterback/ballcarrier, if the unblocked defender commits to […]

Steve Poftak

Boston’s Struggle With 3rd Grade Reading

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Achieving reading proficiency by 3rd Grade is a vital skill, closely correlated with important measures of academic achievement later. As one major study found: – One in six children who are not reading proficiently in third grade do notgraduate from high school on time, a rate four times greater than that for proficient readers… – For children who were poor for at least a year and were not reading proficiently in third grade, the proportion that don’t finish school rose to 26 percent. That’s more than six times the rate for all proficient readers… – Graduation rates for Black and Hispanic students who were not proficient readers in third grade lagged far behind those for White students with the same […]