I've known E.D. Hirsch for some years, having spoken on the same programs with him on a number of occasions. I have the greatest respect for Professor Hirsch's work and am happy to consider him a friend. Professor Hirsch is the author of several books including the seminal work Cultural Literacy and most recently, The Making of Americans: Democracy and Our Schools, where he makes the case that a paramount goal of American public education is to produce sentient human beings capable of participating as intelligent citizens in a democracy.

Massachusetts has seen dramatic changes in the transportation landscape over the last two years. Major reforms have been enacted to restructure how transportation assets are managed and bring efficiencies to the system. With these major changes, many observers view transportation reform as 'done' and much of the attention to transportation reform has ebbed away. To keep the conversation moving, Pioneer and the Center for Strategic Studies at the College of Business at Northeastern University sponsored a forum in May of2010 to bring together some of the innovators in transportation strategic thinking.

Ladies and gentlemen, good evening. I’m Diane Schmalensee, Chairperson of the Pioneer Institute, and I’m delighted to welcome you to the 8th Annual Lovett C. Peters Gala and Public Policy Lecture.

This event featured a keynote address by Joseph Giglio, entitled "Rethinking Mobility for the New Century." Professor Giglio is Executive Professor for General Management at Northeastern University, author of a new book entitled Mobility, a Board Member for Pioneer Institute’s Shamie Center for Better Government, and Vice Chairman of the Hudson Institute.

Angus McBeath was Superintendent of Schools in Edmonton, Alberta, until October 2005. He is currently a Visiting Scholar at the Atlantic Institute of Market Studies in Halifax. We are indebted to AIMS for making Mr. McBeath available to us.

The 2004 Lovett C. Peters Lecture in Public Policy focused on the disturbing gap in the number of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics graduates that the United States turns out compared to other nations. Robert J. (Bob) Herbold, (pictured at right), a retired Microsoft official and chair of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology’s Workforce/Education Subcommittee, argued the situation threatens our nation’s position as the world’s industrial leader and requires immediate action to strengthen science and math education in our schools— including instituting merit and differential pay for teachers in such subjects. An edited transcript of his remarks follows.

Massachusetts is home to the most restrictive state privatization law in the nation. Since the so-called Pacheco law was enacted in 1993, only six state services have been contracted out to private service providers, while similar efforts have dramatically expanded in other jurisdictions. A Pioneer Forum on competitive contracting was held to mark the release of a new White Paper “Competition and Goverment Services: Can Massachusetts Still Afford the Pacheco Law?” Speakers included two co-authors of the paper, Geoffrey Segal and Adrian Moore of the Reason Public Policy Institute, Senator Marc Pacheco, author of the law, John Parsons, general counsel and director of privatization for the state auditor’s office, and Charles Chieppo of Pioneer’s Shamie Center for Restructuring Government. The remarks of each are excerpted below.

ABC News correspondent John Stossel delivered the keynote address at Pioneer Institute’s 2001 Better Government Competition Awards Dinner. Best known for his “Give Me a Break” segment on the ABC news magazine program “20/20,” Stossel also produces prime-time specials; one of his most recent was a consumer report on government. The Dallas Morning News has called Stossel, the winner of 19 Emmy Awards, “the most consistently thought-provoking TV reporter of our time.” Excerpts of his remarks are printed below.

A recent Pioneer Forum titled “Build More or Manage Better? Subsidized Housing in Massachusetts” marked the release of a Pioneer White Paper of the same title. The paper’s co-author, Howard Husock, director of case studies at Harvard’s Kennedy School Government, summarized the study’s findings. Commentary was provided by Thomas M. Finneran, speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives; Aaron Gornstein, executive director of Citizens’ Housing and Planning Association; and Sandra B. Henriquez, administrator of the Boston Housing Authority. The remarks of each are excerpted below.