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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
MBTA Parking Proposal Should Go Further
/0 Comments/in Blog, News /byThe MBTA is proposing to securitize its parking revenues (roughly $30m per year) in order to fill a budget gap next year and pay down some debts, according to a Globe article. Also, the T will continue to run the lots and set prices. First, its not clear to me that this proposal creates value, except by solving a short-term fiscal problem (at potentially great expense). If this is just a pure securitization of a future stream of income (without the promise of operational improvements that would provide better service and/or generate more revenue), then its just taking money from the future to the present. Its even worse if the money goes to fund operating costs, then you’ve taken future […]
Troubling Cost Trends in Massachusetts Health Care
/0 Comments/in Blog, Blog: Healthcare, Healthcare /byTwo trends that might determine the long term success of health reform here in Massachusetts: 1) The Boston Globe ran an article about the immense upward cost pressure on the state’s Medicaid program. I blogged about the enrollment and cost increases in Medicaid about a week ago, here. In addition, under the federal law, at least 90,000 people will be moved from the current state subsidized privately run CommonCare plans into Medicaid. However, the double hit of enrollment increases are not the only issue: “The state is also being pushed by Washington, which is cutting back its support. The federal government, which had been paying 62 percent of the state’s Medicaid costs as part of the stimulus program, will pay […]
GLOBE OP-ED: Mass. cities need new deal with public employees
/2 Comments/in Better Government, Blog, Blog: Healthcare, Economic Opportunity, Middle Cities/ Urban /byThe Mayor of New Bedford– one of Pioneer’s Middle Cities– wrote an interesting op-ed that ran in the Boston Globe. He calls for a statewide task force to develop a new framework for public union contracts in the future. He outlines the fiscal mess that many local communities face, and advocates for immediate action to re-imagine how local governments are run. I wrote an op-ed giving some suggestions from the state level a few weeks ago. However, Mayor Lang’s strongest argument to support his call for action is that: “We cannot have a strong state unless we have strong municipalities. It is imperative that we find systemic and equitable solutions that will allow our cities to strengthen public safety, revitalize […]
Delivering a reality check
/1 Comment/in Blog, Related Education Blogs /byBack in October, a nasty teacher union v. school district battle came to a decision point in the Wrentham-Norfolk-Plainville area. Months had passed with the local union refusing to allow teachers to perform basic duties (writing letters of recommendation, providing parents access to updates online, etc.). As the Globe’s Brian McGrory noted, the unions were sore that the school committee didn’t want to agree to a new contract that would have given them a 28 percent raise over three years. Anyone who has been around the block in education knows the clout of the teachers unions and can easily twist his fingers in knots counting the obstacles and “actions” some local unions are willing to use to persuade school committees […]
VIDEO: Is Beacon Hill Rigged?
/0 Comments/in Better Government, Blog, Blog: Healthcare, News, Transparency /byOn a quiet Friday afternoon during the holidays, Beacon Hill gave members not returning next session a chance to give farewell speeches. The one that stood out was most was Rep. Matthew Patrick calling out the status quo for doing business in the Massachusetts State House. “If you play your cards right, vote the right way, keep your criticisms to yourself, you have a chance of becoming a chairperson of a committee,” he said, adding that eventually, “You find yourself not participating in debates, not even listening, because you and everyone else knows what the outcome will be. It’s preordained. You continue to play the game until one day you find out that some lobbyists have more influence than you, […]