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Jeffrey Meyers on Edgar Allan Poe, Gothic Horror, & HalloweenOctober 30, 2024 - 11:44 am
Mountain State Modifications: Tiffany Uses ESA Flexibility to Pivot Quickly For Her Son’s EducationOctober 24, 2024 - 12:11 pm
Study Published by Pioneer Institute Shows Massachusetts Learning Loss Among Nation’s WorstOctober 24, 2024 - 10:31 am
U-TX at SA’s Catherine Clinton on Harriet Tubman & the Underground RailroadOctober 23, 2024 - 11:30 am
Award-Winner Tom Segev on Israel’s Founding Father, David Ben-GurionOctober 16, 2024 - 11:59 am
Pioneer Institute Study Finds MCAS, Education Reform Have Significantly Improved Academic AttainmentOctober 16, 2024 - 11:46 am
McAnneny October Monthly Musings – Ballot InitiativesOctober 11, 2024 - 2:17 pm
Homeschooling with Hope: Katie Switzer’s ESA ExperienceOctober 10, 2024 - 11:24 am
Lynch Foundation’s Katie Everett on School Finance Model for Catholic Schools & School ChoiceOctober 9, 2024 - 11:30 am
Pioneer Institute Study Finds Wide Range of Approaches to Compliance with MBTA Communities LawOctober 6, 2024 - 9:12 pm
Innovation Smithovation
/0 Comments/in Blog, Blog: Education, Blog: School Choice, Jim Stergios, News, Related Education Blogs /byWe often hear about how charter schools are so innovative. And now we increasingly hear, especially with this week’s release of a Boston Foundation report touting the number of additional hours charter school teachers put into their work, that time in school is what matters. I agree that charter teachers work their butts off, and we all should be incredibly thankful for their commitment to breaking the determinist logic so many had for so long that “those kids can’t do it.” More time does matter. And innovation does matter. But time on task only matters if what is going during the additional time brings real benefits. And I am more and more convinced that the quality of charter school teaching […]
Running the Numbers – Elevator-Style
/0 Comments/in Blog, News /byHere at the posh Pioneer HQ, we are well-aware of the vagaries of our elevators — outages, structural issues, and expired certificates of inspection. The State Auditor took a look at the state agency responsible for inspecting elevators, the Department of Public Safety, and found that 30% of the elevators in the state have expired inspections. The Auditor’s report notes that this represents a large amount of foregone revenue — $2.2 million for the current year’s overdue inspections and over $6 million for the elevators that have gone uninspected for multiple years. The Auditor’s report suggests that hiring 13 more inspectors would cure the backlog. Using the back of the envelope, the average inspector gets $62k in salary (thanks, www.massopenbooks.org), […]
Municipal Benchmarks for Massachusetts’ Middle Cities: A Look at Economic Growth
/0 Comments/in Economic Opportunity, Middle Cities/ Urban, Press Releases, Press Releases: Economic Opportunity, Press Releases: Government /byMunicipal Benchmarks for Massachusetts’ Middle Cities: A Look at Economic Growth Municipal Benchmarks for Massachusetts Middle Cities: A Look at Economic Growth BOSTON- A new policy paper from Pioneer Institute?s Middle Cities Initiative calls for citizens and city officials to shift their approach to municipal benchmarking to one that recognizes meaningful differences within cities that may be lost in a broader comparison or statewide context. Municipal Benchmarks for Massachusetts? Middle Cities: A Look at Economic Growth looks specifically at the performance of fourteen Massachusetts cities in regards to their economic growth. “Pioneer?s Middle Cities Initiative is really an effort to try and engage citizens, local businesses leaders and political officials in a meaningful way, and the best way to do […]
The Return of the Nanny State
/0 Comments/in Blog, Blog: Better Government, News /byOr maybe its no sign-maker left behind. The latest ‘nanny-state’ move by state government comes in the form of new, graphic public service advertisements that stores selling cigarettes will apparently be forced to display. State government can apparently enact this purely through administrative means, all that is needed is a DPH proposal plus approval by the “Public Health Council”. Look, I get that smoking is a bad thing and I think we tax it, label it, and counterpromote about it a great deal. This is a good thing, but some people can’t stop themselves. To get real personal about this, some of us live in places where the convenience stores sell cigarettes (and even lottery tickets, gasp) as a matter […]
Crying won't help you
/0 Comments/in Blog, Healthcare, News /byCrying won’t help you, praying won’t do you no good When the levee breaks, mama, you got to go That’s how I feel about the piece Amy Lischko and I had in the Globe today on the health care reform of 2006 and how it’s failed to do much of anything to respond to small business needs. Key paras: First, the Connector focused all its energy on providing nearly free products to the indigent. In contrast, the Connector’s board seemed almost uninterested in market-rate products for small business employees… The Connector took three years to make information about provider networks and participating primary care providers for small businesses available on its website. It took over two years to launch a […]