Happy New Year from Pioneer Institute
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We hope you are taking time to celebrate and find peace during this season. Thank you for your support for Pioneer, which has helped us stay focused on steering the state’s debate on the pandemic response, and making progress on our key policy objectives. Here’s to a great 2021 for Massachusetts and the country.
Recent Posts
Public Statement: We Must Address Serious Transportation Needs In Massachusetts, But the Governor’s Proposal Is Not Serious
Pioneer Institute Public Statement from Executive Director Jim Stergios on transportation needs in Massachusetts, and the Governor's recently released proposal.
Fall River Herald News: Time to reform Massachusetts unemployment insurance system
With its high cost and perverse incentives, Massachusetts’ unemployment insurance system is a job-killing machine. The reforms proposed by Governor Patrick are important steps in the right direction, but far more must be done to tame this beast.
MetroWest Daily News: ‘Trickle-down mandate’ hurts ed standards
Massachusetts should have conducted a cost analysis before adopting Common Core national education standards, as states like Alabama and California have done.
Beware of Mitt, say Bay State conservatives
http://www.salon.com/2011/12/31/beware_of_mitt_say_bay_state_conservatives/singleton/
Mitt…
MetroWest Daily News: “Gass: State flunking the history test”
To ensure that knowledge of events like the War of 1812 would be passed on to successive generations, we must make passage of a basic U.S. history MCAS test a high school graduation requirement.
Westwood residents get around $2K if House GOP OKs payroll tax cut
http://www.wickedlocal.com/westwood/features/x1157706591/Westwood-residents-get-around-2K-if-House-GOP-OKs-payroll-tax-cut?zc_p=2#axzz2OHGE6ymJ
Bay…
Medfield residents get around $2K if House GOP OKs payroll tax cut
http://www.wickedlocal.com/medfield/news/x1157706593/Medfield-residents-get-around-2K-if-House-GOP-OKs-payroll-tax-cut?zc_p=2#axzz2OHGE6ymJ
Medfield…
Worcester Telegram & Gazette: Pension speed limits needed
Public retirement funds’ managers should embrace new reforms designed to minimize risk during this period of continued market volatility.
Worcester Telegram & Gazette: Classics? The dickens you say
According to Pioneer Institute research, Shakespeare is one of the very few British writers named in the nationalized English standards adopted by the commonwealth and 45 other states. So, watching “A Christmas Carol” on television may be kids’ only exposure to the magic of Dickens’ characters.
Consumer Driven Health Care a Proven Cost-Saving Strategy
As part of a push to contain health care cost growth, business leaders, state administrators, and policymakers should focus on Consumer Driven Health Care (CDHC) plans that involve consumers in making health care decisions.
Improving the Bay State’s Public Pension Fund Investment Policies
While current policies provide a solid basis for preserving assets in Massachusetts’ 105 public pension funds, improvements and updates would boost flexibility and investment returns, while promoting accountability and limiting unnecessary risks, according to a new study published by Pioneer Institute.
Exploring Jewish Day Schools in Massachusetts
A new Pioneer Institute study of Jewish day schools in Massachusetts calls for the creation of an education tax credit program to ensure that children have the widest possible access to the schools their parents choose for them.
Boston Herald: Mass. must turn up lights
If Massachusetts is serious about transparency, state leaders should provide one-stop campaign contribution shopping.
Rejection of Anti-Common Core Model Legislation a Sad End to a Bizarre Process
Pioneer Institute's statement on the decision of the American Legislative Exchange Council Board to reject anti-Common Core model legislation that had been approved twice by ALEC’s education task force.
Fall River Herald News: Mass. students miss out on Native American history
Understanding the complexity our country’s Native American past requires knowing U.S. history. Preferring softer 21st century skills like “media awareness” and “systems thinking” to academics, the Patrick administration in 2009 postponed a requirement, starting with the class of 2012, that Massachusetts public school students pass a U.S. history MCAS test to graduate from high school.
Boston Herald: Realistic returns only a start
Realistic investment assumptions and paying down unfunded liabilities more aggressively are indispensable if we are to achieve public pensions that are solvent, fair to employees and attract qualified and capable individuals to public service.
Taunton Gazette: The history behind what Brown, Warren were fighting for
BOSTON — The campaign between U.S. Sen. Scott Brown and challenger…
Continuing State Public School Enrollment Decline Will Increase Fiscal Pressure on Districts
Enrollment in Massachusetts public schools is continuing to fall, and the decreases could result in under-utilized facilities, higher per-pupil costs and more political pressure to limit the growth of charter schools according to a new Pioneer Institute white paper, Enrollment Trends in Massachusetts: An Update.