How has COVID-19 impacted the MA opioid crisis?

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In recent years, Massachusetts has seen a much larger uptick…

A Conversation about Massachusetts Charter Schools: Retention Rate and Age Trends Among Public Educators

Massachusetts was home to 400 school districts in the 2020-2021…

A Closer Look at Public Higher Education Employees in Massachusetts

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Massachusetts is home to many colleges and universities, both…

Jeeves & Wooster’s World The Comic Genius of P.G. Wodehouse – 30 Resources for Parents & Students

Life and writing can and should be playful, witty, light, fun, and make us smile. This is particularly important during the hard realities and sometimes loneliness of COVID, lockdowns, masks, and the increasingly stilted use of language today. To provide some much-needed comic relief and to help people of all age groups glory in the English language, take ourselves less seriously, and laugh more – please enjoy the world of P.G. Wodehouse!

Why is housing so expensive in Boston?

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According to a New York University  study, Boston had the third…

The COVID-19 Impact on Massachusetts Community College Enrollment & Success Trends

Enrollment at Massachusetts community colleges has dropped 32.61…

A Closer Look at the Healthcare and Social Assistance Industry in Massachusetts

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From 2001 to 2019, far more employees worked in healthcare and…

Massachusetts Is Losing Adjusted Gross Income to No-Income Tax State Migration

In light of a proposed tax increase on million-dollar annual…

A truly progressive student loan policy

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This op-ed originally appeared in the Boston Globe. It was written…

Ely Kaplansky Goes from Immigrant to Inc. 5000 Insurance Entrepreneur

This week on JobMakers, host Denzil Mohammed talks with Ely Kaplansky, President & CEO of Kaplansky Insurance. Since 1974, Ely has created hundreds of jobs in Massachusetts and beyond, with 85 employees in 15 offices across the state today, and he has grown his business during the pandemic, such that Kaplansky Insurance was named to Inc. magazine’s "5000 Fastest-Growing Private Companies in America" list. His success fulfilled the dreams of his parents when they moved from Israel to America in 1955, with just the clothes on their backs and an aunt to take them in. Their journey began in the concentration camps of Germany, and Ely’s story is all about the opportunity and freedom America offers.

School Expenditures in the 2019 and 2020 School Years

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The Massachusetts K-12 school system has been regarded as the…

Charitable Contributions in New England: Trends by Income and State

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American culture embraces and encourages charity. As such, the…

Renters’ Unsung Heroes: Small Landlords Endure Without Income or Relief

Hubwonk host Joe Selvaggi talks with MassLandlords’ Doug Quattrochi about ways landlords faced the challenges of being caught between tenants unable to pay rent during COVID-19 shutdown and having little or no programmatic relief from state and federal agencies.

Are higher K-12 teacher wages enough?

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According to the MassEconomix database at Pioneer Institute,…

The Effects of the COVID 19 Pandemic on MBTA Light Rail Ridership

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In 2020, the COVID 19 pandemic had an unprecedented impact on…

Umesh Bhuju Seeks a Fair Deal for Immigrants, Farmers & the Environment

This week on JobMakers, Host Denzil Mohammed talks with Umesh Bhuju, owner of Zumi’s Espresso in Ipswich, Massachusetts, about how a business model based on selling nothing but fair-trade products can thrive in a world driven by profit. He describes his early experiences in his homeland of Nepal, where he witnessed child labor, and how that has shaped his pursuit of the American dream.

Comparing Covid-19 Vaccination and New Infection Rates in Suffolk County: Is Vaccination Working?

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Massachusetts ranks fourth nationally for the highest percent…

The People’s House The U.S. House Representatives – 40 Resources for High School Students

American schoolchildren need to know more about the basic civics and history of our key democratic institutions. To remedy this, we’re offering a variety of resources to help parents, teachers, and high schoolers:

COVID-19 and Unemployment Rates in the Cape and Islands 

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  The COVID-19 pandemic has had a large impact on unemployment…

The Spirit Enlightened Celebrating Classical Music – 50 Resources for High School Students

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In Pioneer’s ongoing series of blogs on curricular resources for parents, families, and teachers during COVID-19, this one focuses on: Celebrating Classical Music.

BU’s Dr. Farouk El-Baz on NASA’s Moon Landing, Remote Sensing, & STEM

This week on “The Learning Curve," Gerard and Cara talk with Dr. Farouk El-Baz, retired research professor and director of the Center for Remote Sensing at Boston University. They discuss his remarkable, varied, and pioneering career in the sciences, surveying both the heavens and the Earth, and key teachers and scientists who have influenced him. Dr. El-Baz shares what it was like serving as supervisor of Lunar Science Planning for NASA's Apollo program, and working on the world-changing project of putting a human on the Moon.

Open Letter: Extend the Term of the MBTA’s Fiscal and Management Control Board

Read Pioneer Institute's Open Letter urging policymakers to extend the term of the MBTA’s Fiscal and Management Control Board (FMCB), which is currently scheduled to sunset at the end of June.  The Letter also calls for the Control Board to continue to be made up of transit experts rather than political appointees, and recommends that an independent audit office be created that reports directly to the FMCB.

Additional Resources – Neptune’s Domain – Oceans, Seas, & Their Creatures – 25 Resources for K-12 Students

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Ocean: A Visual Encyclopedia, by DK Publishing The Cod's…

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Amar Sawhney on Sikhs, STEM & COVID

On this week's episode of JobMakers, host Denzil Mohammed talks to Dr. Amar Sawhney about his journey from India to Boston, and how he is using his chemical engineering background to save lives through remarkable local therapy innovations. To date, he has founded eight companies accounting for 4,000 jobs and more than $2 billion in revenue.

“Be Strong, Saith My Heart” – National Poetry Month – 40 Resources for K-12 Students

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In Pioneer’s ongoing series of blogs on curricular resources for parents, families, and teachers during COVID-19, this one focuses on: Celebrating National Poetry Month.

American Rescue Plan Gives States Money, Ties Their Hands

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For state governments, the good news is that the American Rescue Plan recently signed by President Biden will inject $350 billion into their budgets. The bad news is that it places unwise and possibly unconstitutional limitations on how states can use the money.

Hong Tran Goes from Refugee to Realtor

This week on JobMakers, host Denzil Mohammed talks with Hong Tran, a Worcester, Massachusetts-based realtor and small business owner who emigrated to America as an orphaned refugee from Vietnam.

Pioneer Institute’s 2021 Government Transparency Resolutions: Sunshine Week Edition

As it does each year, Pioneer shares the resolutions it hopes state leaders will adopt to bring government actions into better focus and invigorate our democracy with heightened public engagement. As the late Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis noted, “sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants; electric light the most efficient policeman.”

Best-Selling, Netflix Author Loung Ung On Surviving Pol Pot’s Killing Fields

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This week on “The Learning Curve," Gerard and Cara talk with Loung Ung, a human-rights activist; the author of the bestselling books First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers, Lucky Child, and Lulu in the Sky; and a co-screenwriter of the 2017 Netflix Original Movie, First They Killed My Father. Ms. Ung shares her experiences living through genocide under Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge from 1975 to 1979, which resulted in the deaths of nearly a quarter of Cambodia's population.