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Education
August 3, 2015

Kids and Families Deserve More: Catholic Education and School Choice

Pioneer held an education forum on Friday, July 31, 2015, “Know-Nothings’ Nativism, Catholic Education and School Choice,” with a keynote address by Salem State University Professor Nancy Lusignan Schultz, author of Fire & Roses: The Burning of the Charlestown Convent, 1834. Dr. Cara Candal...
Education
July 21, 2015

Join us 7/31: "Know-Nothings' Nativism, Catholic Education, and School Choice"

In the wake of the Colorado Supreme Court ruling against the constitutionality of Douglas County’s school voucher program, Pioneer Institute is co-sponsoring a breakfast forum on “Know-Nothings’ Nativism, Catholic Education, and School Choice.” Event co-sponsors include Parents Alliance for Catholic Education, Harvard’s...
Education
July 2, 2015

RIP PARCC

Economies of scale are when a large operation can provide advantages by spreading fixed and overhead costs over a greater number of units sold, thereby reducing the per unit price. A simple concept, and one that proponents of national K-12 testing consortia...
Education
June 16, 2015

Why Massachusetts Should Abandon the PARCC Tests & Common Core

It is difficult to find any public analysis and comments by teachers, parents, researchers, or literary scholars on PARCC’s “practice” and “sample” test items for English language arts for grades 3-11.   Taking the bull by the horns, that is what I...
Education
April 7, 2015

A highly temporary solution on higher education

With my older daughter heading off to college next year, the question of how much debt is too much debt for her take on is something I’m mulling over quite a bit these days. How much can you pay, how much will...
Education
March 18, 2015

Suing to Lift the Charter School Cap

  Lawsuit – who is part of it – Michael Keating (Foley-Hoag), William F. Lee (WilmerHale), Paul F. Ware Jr. (Goodwin Procter).  Good on them for doing it.  Is it a civil rights issue?  You bet it is.  The long history of...
Education
March 17, 2015

A few thoughts on the new Boston school superintendent

Recently on Greater Boston, when asked his appraisal of the final candidates for Boston superintendent, former state education secretary Paul Reville sniffed that it was a weak lot.  I don’t often agree with Paul, given that under his leadership Massachusetts went from...
Education, Opportunity
March 16, 2015

Tocqueville on the threat of a mild despotism

Pioneer focuses on four policy issues that we believe are critical to making Massachusetts freer and more prosperous — a world-class education for all, accessible and affordable health care, government that can do big things but is not overweening, and a dynamic...
Education
March 2, 2015

The Civil Rights Issue of Our Era

Black History Month may have come and gone but Pioneer believes we must fight year round to ensure that all children have access to a high-quality education without regard to zip code or race. Massachusetts has in the past and must continue...
Education
January 23, 2015

Is it Time to Rethink State Boards of Education?

Some political officials (Governor Sandoval of Nevada) and self-described policy wonks (Fordham Institute staff) are calling into question the usefulness of locally elected local school boards.  Governor Sandoval suggested replacing them with governor-appointed boards, while Fordham has argued for years against locally...