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
In-Sourcing?
/0 Comments/in Blog, News /byMassDoT Secretary Jeff Mullan used this term yesterday in reference to a move to have more snow plowing done in-house, rather than by private contractors. I’m skeptical to say the least — the Turnpike to MassHighway analogy used in the article (where the Turnpike uses in-house staff while MHD uses a lot of contractors) is a false one — Turnpike is a discrete asset, MHD has lot more miles spread out over the state. And I hope any analysis done is all-in — you’ve got to count the capital cost of any new equipment plus factor in the maintenance of that equipment (or the reduced lifecycle if you don’t do it). Plus the overtime and/or lost productivity (for other tasks) […]
$75 Million Reasons to Move?
/0 Comments/in Blog, News /byWe picked on Curt Schilling a few months back for considering a move to Rhode Island. And we maintain our position that firm relocation, in the aggregate, is not an important creator of jobs across the entire MA economy. That said, Schilling’s firm has been offered a $75 million loan guarantee (note the difference — a guarantee on a private loan, not a direct loan) by Rhode Island, according to the Providence Business News.
James Carroll Time-Saver: America is Rotten
/2 Comments/in Blog, News /byThe Globe’s James Carroll regularly writes op-ed columns* that utilize available newspegs to hammer home one of his key themes: the utter rottenness at the core of “America” and its rapidly approaching collapse. A tour through his back catalog yields lots of examples — disparate items like Christmas, soccer, and the Somali pirates all provide important insight into this theme. So, to save the reader of today’s Globe the trouble of plowing through his whole column, just take your newspegs as the oil spill in the Gulf and General Petreus’ collapse during his testimony last week, then add the usual theme: …..The two Washington hearings captured the widespread American mood of exhaustion and dread. The nation has been drastically confronted […]
Fact-checking The Angle on education reform
/0 Comments/in Blog, News /byIn Tuesday’s The Angle video on Boston.com, Globe columnist Scot Lehigh and cartoonist Dan Wasserman slug it out over how to reform our schools. It’s great when people debate education with passion, because we need to keep business, community and neighborhood leaders focused on this issue. Is anything more worthy of debate than how to ensure that our next generation is better prepared than the past and current ones. But great debates need quiet facts. And that’s true as much for Wasserman and Lehigh as it is for Patrick, Baker, Cahill and Stein. So here is a friendly fact-check for the Lehigh-Wasserman smackdown. For example, what to make of Dan Wasserman’s suggestion that charters have pockets of excellence but for […]
Losing the Relocation Lottery: Massachusetts Struggles to Attract and Retain Good Jobs
/0 Comments/in Economic Opportunity, Press Releases, Press Releases: Economic Opportunity /byLosing the Relocation Lottery: Massachusetts Struggles to Attract and Retain Good Jobs Contact Samantha Levine at 617-723-2277 ext. 211, or slevine@pioneerinst.wpengine.com Playing the Lottery: The Impact of Interstate Relocation on Massachusetts Jobs BOSTON – Massachusetts jobs are relocating to states with lower taxes and business costs. Pioneer’s new study in its year-long series on jobs and the economy, Playing the Lottery, shows that Massachusetts has been losing companies and jobs to states that are more receptive to business. The study concludes that policy makers should focus their efforts on improving the general business climate in Massachusetts, not just targeted incentives. Otherwise, Massachusetts will get a few big wins, but lose out over the long term, just like playing the lottery. […]