MORE ARTICLES
Becket Fund’s Eric Rassbach on Loffman v. CA DOE, Religious Liberty, & SchoolingNovember 27, 2024 - 10:30 am
Pioneer Institute Statement on Vocational-Technical School AdmissionsNovember 26, 2024 - 8:00 am
FY2026 Consensus Revenue Hearing – Forecasting of Revenues is Tricky BusinessNovember 25, 2024 - 8:00 am
CUNY’s Carl Rollyson on William Faulkner & Southern LiteratureNovember 20, 2024 - 10:36 am
Pioneer Institute Study Finds Massachusetts Saw Four-Fold Loss of Income to Net OutmigrationNovember 19, 2024 - 11:25 am
Massachusetts Job Market Bears WatchingNovember 18, 2024 - 2:10 pm
NH Gov. Chris Sununu on School ChoiceNovember 13, 2024 - 2:02 pm
Five Reasons Why Project Labor Agreements Are Bad Public PolicyNovember 12, 2024 - 9:27 am
Statement of Pioneer Institute on MCAS Ballot Failure and State of Education in MassachusettsNovember 6, 2024 - 2:01 pm
Dr. Helen Baxendale on Great Hearts Classical Liberal Arts Charter SchoolsNovember 6, 2024 - 12:08 pm
A Healthcare Cliche That Might Not Be True
/0 Comments/in Blog, Blog: Better Government, News /byToday’s FT reports that “study after study shows that overall the highest level of health spending in the world does not deliver anything like the best results”. And I’ve seen similar variations elsewhere. I’d point you in the direction of a recent paper from the Population Studies Center at UPenn. In it, mortality rates for prostate cancer are considered, as prostate cancer responds well to early detection and treatment. The study shows that mortality rates for the disease have declined significantly in comparison to a number of European countries. Does it disapprove the initial assertion? Not close to completely, but it does provide some evidence that factors beyond ineffective healthcare spending are causing some of the poor results in other […]
Redistricting Wish List
/0 Comments/in Blog, Blog: Better Government, News /byThis morning’s Globe reports that Massachusetts will lose a Congressional seat based on the expected results of the 2010 census, which would require redistricting before the 2012 elections. My preference would be for an independent commission to handle redistricting, but I know that is not likely. (Look here for our current districts.) But how about some guidelines for the Legislature as it thinks about redistricting: – Eliminate the Fourth District — This is currently Barney Frank’s district (N.B. — I’m not saying get rid of the Congressman, I’m saying change his district.) and it stretches from Newton (his hometown) down to Fall River and New Bedford. In a few spots, it appears to be about a mile wide. The district […]
Charter Watch, August 11
/0 Comments/in Blog, Blog: Education, Blog: School Choice, Jim Stergios, News, Related Education Blogs /byThus begins our series of posts on how people are moving the goal posts on charters. We noticed this a while ago, but with Jamie Vaznis’ piece in the Globe today, I’ll start keeping tabs more publicly. Jamie V asks a fair question: Are many charter schools achieving dazzling MCAS scores because of innovative teaching or because they enroll fewer disadvantaged students? But while there is a single line in the piece on other disadvantaged categories of students, Vaznis did not go beyond special needs and limited English proficient students. A bit of digging would show that charters serve higher numbers of Hispanics, African-American, and poor (Free and Reduced Lunch) students. Aren’t they disadvantaged? My Jamie (Jamie Gass, head of […]
Rationing Health Care
/1 Comment/in Blog, Healthcare, News /by Liam DayObservers both here and across the country are trying to extrapolate lessons from our health care reform ahead of whatever legislation finally emerges from Congress. Some look at Massachusetts as a model, others as a bogeyman. If so, the lesson being offered is unfortunately a stark one, and possibly unconstitutional. Opponents of the various Democratic health care plans currently winding their way through Congress argue that a government takeover of health care will lead to rationing, that as more and more people receive subsidized health insurance, utilization will increase, costs will spiral and, ultimately, government will be forced to ration care to contain them. They may be right. For that is exactly what the Massachusetts legislature just did. The State […]
In Praise of Alicia Munnell
/0 Comments/in Blog, Blog: Better Government, News /byThis post is week late, but I think it’s still worth getting on the record. At last Monday’s Pension Reform Commission meeting, Alicia Munnell staged a robust defense of the Commission’s original intention to be cost-neutral. While a number of the committee members demurred, giving the now shop-worn ‘maybe we need to invest in the system’ defense, she was insistent. I’ve shared this story with a number of folks. And, to a person, they are dumbfounded. “Cost-neutral?! I thought there would be savings” is a typical response. But trust me, if you were in that room, you would understand that Professor Munnell is saving this Commission from themselves. A handful of other observations: 1) Wow, PERAC Executive Director Joe Connarton […]