MORE ARTICLES
Vitamin Parents Part 2: Twin Moms Converting a Decent Traditional School Experience Into a “Wow” Homeschool OneSeptember 26, 2024 - 11:50 am
Edward Achorn on Abraham Lincoln, the Civil War, & SlaverySeptember 25, 2024 - 11:45 am
Vitamin Parents Part 1: Twin Moms Converting a Decent Traditional School Experience Into a “Wow” Homeschool OneSeptember 19, 2024 - 12:21 pm
PRI’s Lance Izumi on The Great Classroom CollapseSeptember 18, 2024 - 7:20 am
Learning From California: Policy Lessons From Golden State ExodusSeptember 17, 2024 - 10:35 am
Is Massachusetts at a Turning Point – 10 Data Points That Give Me PauseSeptember 12, 2024 - 3:57 pm
From Stress to Success: How Daniella Transformed Her Son’s Learning with ESA FundsSeptember 12, 2024 - 11:46 am
AFC’s Denisha Allen on School Choice & Black Minds MatterSeptember 12, 2024 - 9:54 am
New England Short Circuit: Distorted Incentives Drive Energy Prices Up and Reliability DownSeptember 10, 2024 - 10:30 am
From Garden to Table: How Alicia Garcia Reshapes Home Ec with ESAsSeptember 5, 2024 - 11:59 am
Parent Power
/0 Comments/in Blog, Blog: Education, Blog: School Choice, Jim Stergios, News, Related Education Blogs /by(image from DropOutNation.net) Used to be that Massachusetts was the epicenter of most of the innovations occurring in education. We had the best standards in the nation. The best student tests, best teacher tests, a standout accountability office, the most advanced charter approval process and one of the most knowledgeable charter office staffs. We had a progressive funding formula that ensures a level of equity in what gets spent on children. As of 2014, we’ll have whittled that list down to the best teacher test in the nation (if it survives) and a progressive funding formula. Massachusetts is no longer mentioned, whispered or even thought of as a national leader for its recent laws and policies. Compare Massachusetts’ agenda of […]
In Praise of the Indigo Line
/0 Comments/in Blog, News /by Steve PoftakThis space generally takes a dim view of several MBTA expansion projects, but there is one we can get behind — the Indigo Line. What’s that? Its the MBTA’s expansion of the low volume (~1600 passengers per day) Fairmount Line to create more stations and improve the existing ones. The Fairmount Line is unique in the MBTA’s commuter rail network — its starts and terminates in Boston (South Station – Readville) and only has five stations. Officially known as the Fairmount Line Improvement Plan, the project will add four stations to the line. So what’s good about that? First, it will provide rail access to a dense urban population center that is currently dependent on slower buses. Take a look […]
Mr. Secretary, Open this Road!
/0 Comments/in Blog, News /by Steve PoftakSummer travels have taken me up and down the East Coast, and I continue to marvel at other states’ ability to implement open-road tolling, while Massachusetts continues to hem, haw, and plan pilot programs. I’ve seen the results of open road tolling in New Hampshire, New Jersey, and Delaware, and they are impressive. Drivers used to congestion and bottlenecks now proceed at regular speed. If congestion was an important measure of performance for MassDOT (and I respectfully suggest its not, as they don’t measure it in their performance reports), open road tolling would be a priority project. As transponders drop in price, they will become more pervasive (despite some objections) and the utility of open-road tolling will only increase. Also, […]
Will Massachusetts’ Evergreen Solar secrets die with it?
/0 Comments/in Blog, Transparency /by Michael MorisyNow that Evergreen Solar is filing for bankruptcy, the question of why Massachusetts ever thought the failing solar upstart was a good investment – and why the state should be in risky green energy investing at all – seems a pretty pertinent one. Unfortunately, some state agencies seem determined to make sure whatever lessons could be learned from the disaster won’t see the light of day. In particular, the Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development has dragged its feet an inexcusably long time for getting even basic information on the background of the $58 million in investments, incentives and aid. On March 10, 2011, I filed a series of three public records requests with that agency requesting: Documents that analyze potential […]
Lurking Over the Horizon
/0 Comments/in Blog, News /by Steve PoftakAs the summer slumber descends on Beacon Hill, where sub-10 minute legislative sessions with just a handful of attendees is currently the norm, a September wake-up call awaits. Former Speaker Sal DiMasi, who was reelected to that post with 135 votes out of a possible 160 despite ongoing ethics violations, is due to be sentenced on September 8th. The prosecution is currently seeking 12.5 to 15.5 years for DiMasi’s sentence, a pretty serious number when you consider that he’s 65 years old. In the background of this case lurk the sentences given to Diane Wilkerson and Chuck Turner, who got 3.5 years and 3 years respectively for lesser offenses than DiMasi. Many observers will be watching to see if DiMasi’s […]