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Massachusetts’ Workforce Growing Older and More Diverse, Remains Highly EducatedApril 18, 2024 - 9:26 am
Johns Hopkins’ Ashley Berner on Educational Pluralism & DemocracyApril 17, 2024 - 2:53 pm
Why the secrecy? Pioneer Calls for Open Meetings Dealing with Steward’s Impact on Patient Care.April 16, 2024 - 1:59 pm
Industrial Policy Reimaged: Can Government Improve Free MarketsApril 16, 2024 - 12:34 pm
39th U.S. Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky for National Poetry MonthApril 10, 2024 - 12:16 pm
A Practically 100% Guaranteed Free RideApril 9, 2024 - 1:21 pm
Posting Patient Prices: Transparency Cure for Hospital Blank ChecksApril 9, 2024 - 11:51 am
Pioneer Institute Statement on the Commonwealth of Massachusetts’ March Tax Revenue CollectionsApril 4, 2024 - 3:34 pm
A Solid Step to Muni Healthcare Reform
/0 Comments/in Blog, News /byPioneer has long been part of a broader chorus calling for reform to municipal healthcare costs. We’ve examined how GIC’s cost increases have been far below those of our Middle Cities, and repeatedly (here, here, and here) called for reform. We even went so far as to build an on-line decision support tool for several communities that would allow individual employees to determine how switching to the GIC would impact them personally. Last night, the House convincingly passed a reform amendment that would allow municipal managers greater control over plan design and also easier entry into the GIC (the state employees’ insurance pool) if need be. Big Labor has reacted (once again) with what is seemingly its single bargaining tactic: […]
Stealing from our ed reform blueprint
/0 Comments/in Blog, Blog: Common Core, Blog: Education, Jim Stergios, News, Related Education Blogs /byIt used to be that Massachusetts was the state that everybody talked about in education. Experts studied it from around the country. And business and political leaders came a-calling: I know you guys have high business costs, but we have to learn how you improved your educational system so quickly. We’re not a yawn yet, but other states are much more influential in state education debates across the country. Trip Gabriel in today’s New York Times highlights the work of Jeb Bush in a number of states. Mr. Bush, for example, has been closely involved in new education bills and laws in Arizona, Florida, Indiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Utah. And Gabriel further notes the energy in […]
Tax-exempt only in name
/0 Comments/in Better Government, Blog, Transparency /by“Fairness” is one of the most abused words in politics. And it is taking a beating again by the City of Boston, in its quest to find yet another way – any way – to avoid controlling its spending. Nonprofits aren’t a new target – they have been a target for decades. Legally, they are exempt from property taxes. But municipal officials throughout the state have for years been “asking” them to “contribute” a PILOT – payment in lieu of taxes – to cover the cost of whatever government services might be provided to them. You know, as a matter of fairness. These “requests” are a bit like Don Corleone making someone an offer he can’t refuse. If a standard […]
National standards dissent and pep rallies
/2 Comments/in Blog, Blog: Common Core, Blog: Education, Jim Stergios, News, Related Education Blogs /byAbout a week ago, the state of Texas responded to national standards proponents, including the federal government, which are trying to drag it screaming into the mix of states who have adopted the so-called Common Core. The Lone Star state released draft state math standards that are built on the foundation of Massachusetts’ now defunct standards and those in place in Singapore. The goal: To craft standards that are the best in the nation. We’ll see how US Secretary of Education Arne Duncan will respond now that Texas has the best standards in the land. Closer to home, Massachusetts Education Commissioner Mitchell Chester recently traveled to central Massachusetts to meet with members of the Tantasqua Regional School Committee. The committee […]
Education news from other states
/0 Comments/in Blog, News, Related Education Blogs /byLast July, while most of the Massachusetts educators were at the beach, the Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) endorsed Education Commissioner Mitchell Chester’s recommendation and voted to replace Massachusetts’ best-in-the-nation academic standards. There is lots of gab about what all that means—and major media outlets have spilled a lot of ink copying the press releases from public officials. Falling into the category of “So much effort to advance unproven ideas” are the folks at EdWeek, who continue to monitor DC chatter, the national testing vehicles being developed, a thus-far postponed debate on where proficiency will be set (cut scores), and a manifesto issued by the Shanker Institute arguing for a national curriculum. The tentacles of the Gates […]