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Ed Commish "blatantly violated the law"
/0 Comments/in Blog, Blog: Common Core, Blog: Education, Blog: School Choice, Jim Stergios, Related Education Blogs /byPatrick Anderson at the Gloucester Times reports today that Superior Court Judge Richard Welch III found that the case presents “considerable evidence” that the state education commissioner and Board of Education “blatantly ignored and violated state law when granting the GCA charter for political reasons.” And more: While he dismissed the parents’ argument that the commissioner is legally bound to follow the recommendation of his Charter School Office, Welch — echoing state Sen. Bruce Tarr and state Inspector General Gregory Sullivan — said there is no evidence Chester made any attempt to independently judge the application against the established criteria. “… There is a strong factual showing that the Commissioner, despite his affidavit to the contrary, did not perform his […]
Gov's Council Race Goes Negative
/0 Comments/in Blog, News /byQuick, who is your Governor’s Councillor? Chances are that you have no idea. I’ve said in the past that its time for this vestige of our colonial past to go, but still it remains. In the 2nd race, the current councillor, Kelly Timilty, faced a challenge the last time around but prevailed 66% to 34% over Robert Jubinville. In that race, Timilty faked an endorsement from Governor Patrick and ended up paying a fine after the fact for her actions. Well, Jubinville is back and he’s not pleased. Check out the mailer I received over the weekend. Pretty rough stuff – cheating and stealing, etc. Curious where they got that shot of Timilty.
Municipal Benchmarks for Massachusetts Middle Cities: A Look at Financial Management
/0 Comments/in Better Government, Economic Opportunity, Press Releases, Press Releases: Economic Opportunity, Press Releases: Government /by Editorial StaffThis paper advocates for an approach to benchmarking that recognizes meaningful differences within groups (like the Middle Cities) that may be lost in a broader comparison or statewide context. Below we discuss three different examples of this method, first looking at different rates of vacant housing from town to town, followed by similar explorations of home values and commercial and industrial development. More broadly, whether the topic is housing, property tax, or something else (school performance, public safety, whatever), wise use of municipal benchmarks holds the promise to recognize ways that communities may be distinguishing themselves—or drifting further into problem territory—without getting drawn into sweeping generalities, broad despair, or defensive apologies. Municipal Benchmarks for Massachusetts Middle Cities: A Look at […]
Curb your enthusiasm
/0 Comments/in Blog, News /byJobs is a tough issue for the Governor these days, given the news of job losses coming out of Wonderland. But then there’s the announcement today, which Robert Gavin reports about in the Globe: The state gained more than 13,000 jobs in July, while data revisions showed that employment growth in June, nearly 3,000 jobs, was far stronger than initially estimated, the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development reported today. The state unemployment rate held steady at 9 percent. David Guarino is tweeting about a pep rally the Governor is going to hold at 4:30 to celebrate the jobs numbers. And Doug Rubin is tweeting Globe: “MA added jobs for 6th consecutive month as MA economy continued a broad […]
No flies on them Freedom Fries
/0 Comments/in Blog, News /byHuh? You’d think that I have that backwards, with the freedom-loving, federalist heritage that Americans love so much. Try this chart published in the August 12th Economist showing central (for us federal) government spending as a percentage of overall public spending. Statists and dirigistes is what we are. Makes you want to head across the pond, raise a glass of champagne and celebrate France’s undying commitment to liberte’!