Education

Teacher re-certification testimony was provided in June 1999.

Budget policy and education reform testimony was provided in April 1999.

Increasing the number of charter schools in the Commonwealth was provided in April 1999.

In September 1998, Pioneer co-sponsored with the Taubman Center for State and Local Government at the Kennedy School of Government a forum featuring Arizona state superintendent of public instruction Lisa Graham Keegan.

In March, 1998, Pioneer Institute sponsored a forum featuring internationally-recognized educator Dr. Lorraine Monroe. Dr. Monroe's career reflects a lifetime commitment to excellence, even in the most difficult and inhospitable conditions.

On March 13, 1997, Dr. Howard Fuller, Director of Marquette University's Institute for the Transformation of Learning and former Superintendent of the Milwaukee Public Schools, addressed a Pioneer Institute Forum about the need for urban school reform.

On November 20, 1996, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Department of Education, The Center for Innovation in Urban Education at Northeastern University, and Pioneer Institute's Charter School Resource Center sponsored a day-long conference on charter school accountability. The keynote address was delivered by former U.S. Secretary of Education and Tennessee Governor Lamar Alexander.

On October 23, 1996, a forum co-sponsored by the Harvard Graduate School of Education and Pioneer Institute focused on the continuing controversy surrounding Massachusetts' charter schools.

On July 25, 1996, Pioneer Institute held a forum that focused on the state and direction of the Boston Public School System. The forum was co-sponsored by the Boston Private Industry Council. Our panelists represented viewpoints that ranged from a positive appraisal of the city's current school reforms, to the opinion that only a fundamental restructuring of the system can bring real progress. Though the panelists have obvious policy differences, they share one characteristic: each is a Boston parent.

On April 19, 1996, Pioneer Institute held a forum to preview our new book, Bilingual Education in Massachusetts: The Emperor Has No Clothes. For 25 years, the Commonwealth has mandated a single approach to teaching students with limited English proficiency (LEP) in Massachusetts public schools, called transitional bilingual education (TBE), despite the fact that there is virtually no reliable evidence to support its effectiveness.