Jim Stergios

We Must Work Together to End Racial Injustice

/0 Comments/in , , , /by Jim Stergios
Share on Facebook
Share on Twitter
Share on
LinkedIn
+

Pioneer’s mission is to advance a nation where every American has freedom and can prosper. The institute has focused deeply on expanding economic opportunity for all, and as a critical component of that, access to high-quality educational options. We also work to promote greater participation in our American democracy, beginning with what and how students learn about our nation. We have long advocated for the rigorous study of U.S. history, including America’s original sin of slavery and the ongoing journey to end racism.

Today’s Context

Three officers witnessed Officer Chauvin’s suffocation of George Floyd. For months, police and state officials did not prosecute the men who killed Ahmaud Arbery.  These events underscore that our country must do more to stare down the sometimes deadly racial inequities in policing.  The Institute recognizes that the vast majority of officers sworn to protect all Americans abhor such actions.  But these transgressions demonstrate the need for a re-evaluation of practices and, in some instances, the culture within some of our law enforcement agencies.

Our Past Response

Pioneer has been purposeful in advancing changes to address, in part, the scourge of racism and the lack of access to economic opportunity, especially in disadvantaged communities. We have shown unmatched determination to expand educational options that promote social mobility; these include charter public and vocational schools, the Metco and interdistrict choice programs, and access to private schools, all of which have demonstrated success at bridging achievement gaps for urban students.  We have convened policymakers, school and business leaders, and the general public through forums with high-profile Civil Rights activists and historians that raise awareness of the role of slavery and racism in American history — and the need for all students to study and understand the damage that has resulted.

In transportation, we have fought for meaningful changes to public transit to ensure all communities have access to reliable service, especially in our urban areas, and promoted the establishment of a magnet high school focused on training inner city youth for jobs in transportation.

We have long supported key reforms of the state’s criminal justice system where a disproportionate share of the state’s incarcerated population are people of color. Those reforms include: ending solitary confinement, showcasing solutions to reduce recidivism, programs to reintegrate offenders into the mainstream workforce, and ending the shameful practice of using prisons as de facto mental health facilities; and emulating a successful magnet school to ready inner city youth for a career in law enforcement.

And knowing that government frequently cloaks mistakes both small and systemic, we work to make government transparent and increasingly accountable through online tools to provide ready access to public data and numerous public information requests.

Our Coming Response

Recognizing that we can do more on the protection of civil liberties and criminal justice, Pioneer released yesterday, “Respect My Rights,” a new web-based hotline to which citizens can submit complaints and descriptions of civil liberties violations they have experienced.  The Institute will share the Respect My Rights platform with states across the nation and serve as a research hub for scholars and news organizations interested in the protection of our civil liberties.  The Institute will also promote changes to the legal doctrine of “qualified immunity,” which makes government officials unaccountable for illegal or unconstitutional acts.

In other policy areas related to discussions of equity, in the coming weeks look for a Pioneer campaign calling for the City of Boston to allow convenience clinics to open, which would expand the availability of COVID-19 testing for inner city residents, and for research and advocacy focused on enhancing the success of our hardest hit industries — restaurants, retail, leisure and hospitality — which employ so many urban residents.

We will never have true equality unless all communities are provided the opportunity for social and economic upward mobility.

We all must do more.  Now.

Jim Stergios

Receive Important Updates (ISSUES)

Related Content

PUBLIC FORUMS

OP-EDS & COMMENTARY

RESEARCH

PODCASTS:

WEB PORTAL:

Making a Difference Through METCO

Recent Posts

The Republic of Gadgets – America’s Great Inventors – 25 Resources for K-12 Education

Understanding the enduring public and private benefit that great inventors and their contraptions have made to our civilization is to better appreciate the connections between human necessity, creativity, and ingenuity. Yet, in American K-12 education very little focus is placed on studying who America’s great inventors were and the central role they’ve played in shaping our republic of gadgets. We’re offering a variety of links on the topic for parents, teachers, and schoolchildren to enjoy and better realize authentic innovators.

Cheryl Brown Henderson, Daughter of Lead Plaintiff in Brown v. Board of Ed., on Race & Schooling

0 Comments
/
This week on “The Learning Curve,” Cara and Gerard are joined by Cheryl Brown Henderson, president of the Brown Foundation for Educational Equity, Excellence, and Research. She shares her experience as the daughter of the lead plaintiff in the landmark U.S. Supreme Court case, Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, and thoughts on how the historic decision contributed to advancing civil rights in our country.

Ballot Question 1: Risks & Regulations Regarding Right to Repair

0 Comments
/
Join host Joe Selvaggi and security technologist Prof. Bruce Schneier as they discuss risks associated with car telematics as well as how best to ensure public safety in the future of the internet of everything.

During construction, the Allston Mass. Pike project must address commuters’ needs

0 Comments
/
As part of the state’s $1 billion reconfiguration of the Massachusetts Turnpike in Allston, Transportation Secretary Stephanie Pollack recently announced that a narrow strip of land known as “the throat,” will be considered for an at-grade option in addition to a proposal to rebuild the highway viaduct by Boston University.

The Houses of Great American Writers – 25 Resources for K-12 Education

According to the Brookings Institution research, teaching great fiction is declining across America’s K-12 education system, so we’re offering resources to help parents, teachers, and schoolchildren to better appreciate great American writers and the places where they wrote.

How do other countries avoid COVID infections as they loosen international travel restrictions?

0 Comments
/
For most of America, reopening the economy after COVID-19 means…

Getting Nursing Home Care Right

Pioneer Institute has long recognized that seniors deserve the best of care and that innovative policy solutions are necessary to ensure that this population enjoys a high quality of life in their later years. In the 1990s, early 2000s and most recently in 2017, the Institute dedicated Better Government Competition topics to policy issues related to aging in America. Our goal each time was to find solutions and to take advantage of new innovations that would improve the quality of life and care for the elderly.

Harvard PEPG’s Prof. Paul Peterson on Charter Schools, Digital Learning, & Ed Next Polling

This week on “The Learning Curve,” Cara and Gerard are joined by Paul Peterson, the Henry Lee Shattuck Professor of Government and Director of the Program on Education Policy and Governance at Harvard University.

With Sincere Thanks

A Message from Pioneer Institute Executive Director Jim Stergios: With the close of Pioneer Institute’s 2020 fiscal year on September 30th, I want to thank you. This has been an unprecedented year for the Institute in terms of our ability to improve the lives of citizens in Massachusetts and beyond. 

Small Business Life Support: Policy Relief for Firms Sickened by COVID?

0 Comments
/
Host Joe Selvaggi talks with Pioneer Institute’s Andrew Mikula and Retailers Association of Massachusetts' Jon Hurst about the state of small business in Massachusetts six months into the pandemic.

A Commonwealth of Art – 20 Resources for K-12 Art Education

In Pioneer’s ongoing series of blogs here, here, here, and here on curricular resources for parents, families, and teachers during COVID-19, this one focuses on: Introducing K-12 schoolchildren to great works of art about, from, or in Massachusetts. Great Massachusetts paintings, folk, and fine arts are often not fully explored in the Bay State’s K-12 education system, so we’re offering a variety of resources to help parents, teachers, and schoolchildren.

Award-Winning Writer Brenda Wineapple on the 170th Anniv. of The Scarlet Letter & Pres. Andrew Johnson’s Impeachment

0 Comments
/
This week on “The Learning Curve,” Cara and Gerard are joined by Brenda Wineapple, author of the award-winning Hawthorne: A Life and The Impeachers: The Trial of Andrew Johnson and the Dream of a Just Nation. They discuss her definitive biography of Nathaniel Hawthorne and the 170th anniversary of the publication of his classic novel, The Scarlet Letter.

Supreme Court Vacancy: The History, the Stakes & the Options for Replacing a Justice

0 Comments
/
Hubwonk Host Joe Selvaggi talks with Cato Institute's Ilya Shapiro about his new book, Supreme Disorder: Judicial Nominations and the Politics of America's Highest Court.  The episode equips listeners with historical context to better understand the makeup of the Court, the nomination process, and the impact of a new justice on the Court.

Pioneer Report Underscores Wide Disparities in Economic Performance between Industry Sectors in Massachusetts

Service-based industries have significantly outperformed manufacturing and other traditional blue-collar economic sectors in Massachusetts since 2008, according to a new report from Pioneer Institute that draws on data from the MassEconomix web tool. In “Broad Industry Sector Trends in Massachusetts, 1998-2018,” two decades of data show fluctuating employment changes across the state, as well as changes in firm size and the types of firms disproportionately headquartered in the Commonwealth.

Study: Economic Recovery from COVID Will Require Short-Term Relief, Long-Term Reforms

As the initial economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic has slowed, a new study from Pioneer Institute finds that governments must continue to provide short-term relief to stabilize small businesses as they simultaneously consider longer-term reforms to hasten and bolster recovery – all while facing a need to shore up public sector revenues.

International Best-Seller Dr. Jung Chang On Wild Swans, Mao’s Tyranny, & Modern China

0 Comments
/
This week on “The Learning Curve,” Cara and Gerard are joined by Dr. Jung Chang, author of the best-selling books Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China; Mao: The Unknown Story; and Big Sister, Little Sister, Red Sister: Three Women at the Heart of Twentieth-Century China.

Ranked Choice: Ballot Question 2 Redefines What a Vote and Majority Mean

0 Comments
/
Join host Joe Selvaggi as he discusses Ranked Choice Voting with former Federal Election Commissioner Lee Goodman. As a recognized national expert in election administration, Commissioner Goodman offers a deep dive on the contours of ranked choice voting, including the benefits and challenges moving to the new system would offer Massachusetts voters.

“Architecture is Frozen Music” Great Massachusetts Buildings – 25 Resources for K-12 Education

Understanding enduring public and private architecture is a key way to learn about art, ideas, and how they harmonize with our democracy. Yet, Massachusetts buildings are often never discussed in K-12 education. We’re offering a variety of links about outstanding houses and architecture across the Bay State for parents, teachers, and schoolchildren to enjoy, visit, and better appreciate, including: