THE PIONEER BLOG

Steve Poftak

Another Department of Public Safety Issue

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This space has raised questions in the past about the staffing levels and performance at the Department of Public Safety. Several years ago, then Auditor DeNucci found that 30% of elevators in the state had expired inspection stickers. Following the death of a child at a mall due to an accident on an escalator, there has been increased scrutiny of the department. Now, after a review of escalators across the state, there comes news that the two inspectors who certified that mall escalator are to be fired, six will be suspended for five days, and 26 will be reprimanded. Depending on whose numbers you believe, there are either 51 or 57 inspectors in the department. That means that between 60% […]

Joshua Archambault

Massachusetts Medicaid “Savings” in Trouble?

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The New York Times reports In a new effort to increase access to health care for poor people, the Obama administration is proposing a rule that would make it much more difficult for states to cut Medicaid payments to doctors and hospitals. I wonder if this will impact Governor Patrick and the Legislature’s reduction in reimbursement levels included in the FY 12 budget? If yes, there goes another chunk of the $1 billion in projected “savings”–making the near-impossible prediction of reducing per enrollee spending by 3.5% this year all that more improbable. See Poftak’s Do You Believe in Medicaid Miracles? This is also an interesting move from the Obama Administration as the Secretary of HHS recently advised states to use […]

Jim Stergios

Dear Abigail on History

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In what is a textbook example of bad policy on the teaching of history, the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) is signaling that it has no intention of instituting the MCAS requirement for US History. Currently, the state tests students on three subjects–English Language Arts, Mathematics and Science. In 2009, the US History MCAS requirement was to go into place and three years later, in 2012, graduates were supposed to have passed it. Cue the primary source material–the relevant provision in the regulations (603 CMR 30.03 (4)): (4) Students starting with the graduating class of 2012, in addition to meeting the requirements contained in 603 CMR 30.02(2) and (3), shall meet or exceed the Needs Improvement scaled […]

Jim Stergios

Fight of the Century

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Education does not only take place in our schools, though we often get caught up debating the merit of governance schemes for our bricks-and-mortar institutions. That is important. While I think digital learning is going to transform our concepts of school and learning, I also think the role of the teacher (the “master” in a way), the adult who hands off a tradition, will always be preserved. The relationship between a kid (and of course even an adult) and a teacher is a special one, which is why we spend so much time, ink and treasure trying to make sure we have effective ones. It’s also why we often have debates (and residual distrust) about things like distance learning, blended […]

Michael Morisy

Transparency, To a Point

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Just 99 days after filing the first in a series of requests, I finally received some records from the Massachusetts’ Human Resources Division yesterday. I had planned to blog again on the issue after the counter hit 100 days, so the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is saved by the bell. And what a bargain: For 6 pages, Pioneer Institute paid just $61.33 per sheet. The Division of Human Resources graciously waived the 64 cents postage fee, but a number of questions still linger. When Governor Deval Patrick took office, for example, he promised a “more modern and accessible and accountable” government. While there have been some progress (MassDot has rightly won praise for some of its transparency initiatives), transparency is often […]

Elizabeth Prasse

No Free Lunch

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What do the recent kerfuffle involving Boloco and Boston’s new plan to collect a “voluntary” payment from tax-exempt organizations with properties valued at $15 million or more have in common? As it has already been put well on this blog, the city’s request that tax-exempt organizations pay money that they do not actually owe is essentially an example of extortion—of the city’s requesting a “voluntary” payment from certain tax-exempt organizations with the implicit threat that if the organization does not comply with the city’s demands, the city could wreak havoc on it in any number of ways. The request at the heart of the Boloco incident is no different. According to the Boston Globe’s account, the Boloco incident “all started […]

Taylor Armerding

Labor leader admits it – unions have bought the Legislature

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Robert Haynes supposedly represents organized labor, as head of the Massachusetts AFL-CIO. But lately he is becoming a walking, talking advertisement for why public-employee union power needs to be restrained. Haynes admitted publicly this week what everybody knows – that those unions have bought the overwhelmingly Democratic Legislature. Now that there is a possibility (and only a possibility) that they won’t get what they paid for in one instance, they are mad as hell and not going to take it any more. His rant came at midweek, after the House voted overwhelmingly, 111-42, to strip municipal employees of their right to bargain over health care benefits – a move launched by, of all people, House Speaker Robert DeLeo. “It’s pretty […]

Steve Poftak

Do You Believe in Medicaid Miracles?

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The 1980 Miracle on Ice actually happened. For all our sake, the Medicaid Miracle that is embedded in both the Governor’s Budget and the House Budget better come true as well. For years, Medicaid costs have advanced robustly, at roughly 7% per year which is a big number given that it’s building on a base of billions. So, what do the budget forecasters in the Governor’s office and the House project for next year? Growth of only $100m in Medicaid — growth of 1% or less. That will require the state to drive down its per Medicaid enrollee costs by 3.5% next year. How have we done at that recently? On average, per enroll costs have gone up by 5% […]

Taylor Armerding

R.I.P. to a stellar public servant

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There have been, and will be, hundreds of good things said about Sam Zoll, who died this week of cancer at 76 – all of them true and all of them deserved. But I’m going to pile on anyway. Zoll, for 28 years the chief justice of the Massachusetts District Courts and also a former Salem city councilor, state rep and mayor, did not just talk about good government. He lived it – personified it. The high-profile story about him helping U.S. Senator Scott Brown turn his life around when he was a 12-year-old shoplifter is inspiring, but to those who knew Judge Zoll, it is not the least surprising. It was typical. He did things like that thousands of […]

Steve Poftak

A Solid Step to Muni Healthcare Reform

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Pioneer has long been part of a broader chorus calling for reform to municipal healthcare costs. We’ve examined how GIC’s cost increases have been far below those of our Middle Cities, and repeatedly (here, here, and here) called for reform. We even went so far as to build an on-line decision support tool for several communities that would allow individual employees to determine how switching to the GIC would impact them personally. Last night, the House convincingly passed a reform amendment that would allow municipal managers greater control over plan design and also easier entry into the GIC (the state employees’ insurance pool) if need be. Big Labor has reacted (once again) with what is seemingly its single bargaining tactic: […]

Jim Stergios

Stealing from our ed reform blueprint

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It used to be that Massachusetts was the state that everybody talked about in education. Experts studied it from around the country. And business and political leaders came a-calling: I know you guys have high business costs, but we have to learn how you improved your educational system so quickly. We’re not a yawn yet, but other states are much more influential in state education debates across the country. Trip Gabriel in today’s New York Times highlights the work of Jeb Bush in a number of states. Mr. Bush, for example, has been closely involved in new education bills and laws in Arizona, Florida, Indiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Utah. And Gabriel further notes the energy in […]

Taylor Armerding

Tax-exempt only in name

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“Fairness” is one of the most abused words in politics. And it is taking a beating again by the City of Boston, in its quest to find yet another way – any way – to avoid controlling its spending. Nonprofits aren’t a new target – they have been a target for decades. Legally, they are exempt from property taxes. But municipal officials throughout the state have for years been “asking” them to “contribute” a PILOT – payment in lieu of taxes – to cover the cost of whatever government services might be provided to them. You know, as a matter of fairness. These “requests” are a bit like Don Corleone making someone an offer he can’t refuse. If a standard […]

Jim Stergios

National standards dissent and pep rallies

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About a week ago, the state of Texas responded to national standards proponents, including the federal government, which are trying to drag it screaming into the mix of states who have adopted the so-called Common Core. The Lone Star state released draft state math standards that are built on the foundation of Massachusetts’ now defunct standards and those in place in Singapore. The goal: To craft standards that are the best in the nation. We’ll see how US Secretary of Education Arne Duncan will respond now that Texas has the best standards in the land. Closer to home, Massachusetts Education Commissioner Mitchell Chester recently traveled to central Massachusetts to meet with members of the Tantasqua Regional School Committee. The committee […]

Jim Stergios

Education news from other states

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Last July, while most of the Massachusetts educators were at the beach, the Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) endorsed Education Commissioner Mitchell Chester’s recommendation and voted to replace Massachusetts’ best-in-the-nation academic standards. There is lots of gab about what all that means—and major media outlets have spilled a lot of ink copying the press releases from public officials. Falling into the category of “So much effort to advance unproven ideas” are the folks at EdWeek, who continue to monitor DC chatter, the national testing vehicles being developed, a thus-far postponed debate on where proficiency will be set (cut scores), and a manifesto issued by the Shanker Institute arguing for a national curriculum. The tentacles of the Gates […]