World-Class Schools for All Children

PioneerEducation generates practical ideas that public policymakers, individual schools, and school districts can implement by publishing research that offers constructive recommendations; sponsoring forums supporting school reform; publishing commentary in state and national news outlets; and testifying before the legislature and government agencies on pending education reform issues. Pioneer’s work is built on the premise that the Commonwealth should uphold its constitutional obligations to all our schoolchildren by increasing academic rigor and ensuring the equality of educational opportunity.

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THE LEARNING CURVE EDUCATION PODCAST

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TUNE IN: Wednesdays at 12 pm

The Learning Curve is where you’ll find straight talk about the nation’s hottest education stories—news and opinion from the schoolyard to the campaign trail. Our hosts and guests serve up provocative commentary and interview school leaders, innovators, bestselling authors, policymakers and more. Listeners can find “The Learning Curve” on iTunes (Apple Podcasts), Stitcher, Spotify, Google Play, and the Choice Media mobile app. They can also find it online at Ricochet and Pioneer Institute.

RECENT EPISODES

PIONEER EDUCATION POLICY AREAS

U.S. HISTORY

Pioneer’s U.S. History & Civics Book with Chris Sinacola

Chris Sinacola discusses Pioneer’s new book “Restoring the City on a Hill: U.S. History & Civics in America’s Schools” based on U.S. K-12 history and civics education, highlighting declining standards, leadership importance, crisis, primary sources, and state profiles, underscoring academic content’s value.

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

Pioneer Institute Files Amicus Curiae Brief in U.S. Supreme Court School Choice Case

Pioneer Institute has filed an amicus curiae brief in Carson v. Makin urging the Supreme Court of the United States to strike down a provision of Maine law. The Court will hear oral arguments in Carson this morning (December 8) at 10 am. The Maine law being challenged allows districts that don’t have their own schools to contract with a school or pay for students that choose to attend public or private schools, but explicitly excludes religious schools.

VOC-TECH SCHOOLS

Two Stars in a Glowing Voc-Tech Education System

“A Tale of Two City Schools: Worcester Tech and Putnam Academy Become Models for Recovery” is a new white paper by Pioneer Institute that analyzes how Worcester Tech and Putnam Academy — schools with high numbers of low-income and special needs students — leapt from the bottom of Massachusetts voc-tech rankings to become leaders among local schools.

ACADEMIC STANDARDS
CHARTER SCHOOLS
COMMON CORE

California’s Common Core Apologia

In a recent blog, Dr. Michael Kirst, past president of the California State Board of Education, attempts to defend his record of Common Core implementation during that period. But policy experts Ze’ev Wurman & Williamson Evers set the Golden State’s record during Common Core straight.

METCO & INTERDISTRICT CHOICE
HIGHER EDUCATION

University Presidents Salary Comparison, Pt. 2

See how Massachusetts state schools’ presidential salaries match up. Presidents with schools who have less than a 1,000 student enrollment are near the top of the list.

ONLINE LEARNING & HOMESCHOOLING

Study Urges Massachusetts to Embrace Innovative School Models

A new policy brief from Pioneer Institute urges Massachusetts policymakers to encourage the proliferation and progress of non-traditional models that offer families creative, flexible, personalized and low-cost private education options.

AFTER-SCHOOL & SUMMER ENRICHMENT

MASS ANALYSIS

Find your own facts at MassAnalysis!

Find out what your city or town spends on education, compare it to other Massachusetts cities and towns, or review spending compared to previous  years.

Read More of Our Commentary:

Remove roadblocks for charter schools

June 12, 2023/by Charles Chieppo

Poll Finds Charter Schools Widely and Broadly Popular in Massachusetts

April 28, 2023/by Editorial Staff

Teachers union wants ed reform money — but not accountability

April 26, 2023/by Jamie Gass

Civics education is crucial to engaged citizenship

February 22, 2023/by Jamie Gass

Study Urges Massachusetts to Embrace Innovative School Models

December 15, 2022/by Editorial Staff

Poll Finds Strong Majority of Massachusetts Residents Support Restoring U.S. History MCAS Graduation Requirement

December 7, 2022/by Editorial Staff

Two Stars in a Glowing Voc-Tech Education System

September 20, 2022/by Editorial Staff

Toolkit Highlights Keys to Massachusetts’s Vocational-Technical School Success

September 7, 2022/by Editorial Staff

Book Finds Massachusetts Voc-Tech Schools Are National Model, Calls for Expansion

June 8, 2022/by Editorial Staff

METCO Works Well, Small Tweaks Could Make It Even Better, Study Says

June 2, 2022/by Editorial Staff
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Watch our videos on U.S. History, voc-tech education, charter, parochial, voc-tech & other school options!

As a small non-profit, we depend on the generous support of individuals like you to fund our important research and programs.

Make a tax-deductible gift below to support our campaign to expand access to high-quality academic options.

VIEW ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Book: The Fight for the Best Charter Schools in the Nation
Film: "Big Sacrifices, Big Dreams: Ending America’s Bigoted Education Laws"

Over two decades ago, Massachusetts introduced its first charter public schools, planting seeds that would grow some of the highest performing public schools in the nation. No one could have known then how successful this experiment in education reform would be—nor how controversial. 

The Fight for the Best Charter Public Schools in the Nation draws on data and interviews with education policymakers and school leaders to trace the history of charter schools and document the stellar academic outcomes that they help students achieve. Learn more:

In Massachusetts, the Know-Nothing amendments prevent more than 100,000 urban families with children in chronically underperforming school districts from receiving scholarship vouchers that would allow them access to additional educational alternatives. These legal barriers, also known as Blaine amendments, restrict government funding from flowing to religiously affiliated organizations in nearly 40 states and are a violation of the First and Fourteenth Amendments. In 2018, Pioneer produced a 30-minute documentary on the impact of the Blaine amendments on families in Massachusetts, Georgia, and Michigan. Watch it now and learn more:

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