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
Lotteries, Lotteries Everywhere
/0 Comments/in Blog, Blog: Better Government, News /byToday’s Globe letters to the editor section contains a number of responses to David Segal’s op-ed on charter schools — where he states that the growth of charters (and their entrance lotteries specifically) was creating a divide between those students with active, engaged parents and those without. He calls for an opt-out (versus opt-in) lottery for each charter school. I’m a bit curious why the op-ed (as printed in the Boston, emphasis on Boston, Globe) doesn’t engage the fact that the basis for school assignment across the entire Boston Public School system is…….a lottery. (my previous thoughts on that system are here)
Grace Shepard is on the clock
/0 Comments/in Blog, Blog: Better Government, News /byThe MBTA board is meeting at 1 PM today to ponder General Manager Dan Grabauskas’ future. Right now, 4 of the 7 board members (not including Sec’y Aloisi) have come out in support of the GM, including Grace Shepard, a recent Patrick appointee. However, this morning’s Globe reports that Sec’y Aloisi has “targeted a specific board member, a Grabauskas supporter, as a potentially changeable vote“. Who do you think that might be? I’ll be interested to see who flips on the GM, given the strongly worded letter that was sent in support of Grabauskas just one week ago.
Another Pension Commission Report
/0 Comments/in Blog, Blog: Better Government, News /byThe Special Commission on Pension Reform met again on Monday. I was struck by the Commission’s eagerness to raise the COLA base and their reluctance to seriously consider much meaningful cost-savings. The approach they are taking is like going to McDonalds and ordering five Big Macs but making a special point to get a Diet Coke. The changes that are being considered will result in savings for new employees only (to be realized in 20+ years) but enhanced benefits will apply to current employees and retirees (adding costs now). I’m not opposed to an increase in the COLA base in principle but I think we need to have a sustainable means for funding in place, or we just exacerbate the […]
Why does this always seem like Boston's default attitude?
/0 Comments/in Better Government, Blog, Housing, News /by Liam DayToday’s Globe has an article on a little-known provision of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, otherwise known as the federal stimulus bill. The provision allows cities and towns to shift ownership of certain subsidized housing units to the federal government, as long as the units are in good condition. Doing so would obviously help in the short run to take the strain off of state and municipal budgets and in the long run help funnel more capital investment to the upkeep of the units themselves, something, at least according to the state’s Department of Housing and Community Development, the feds have a greater fiscal capacity to achieve. Now, I don’t know whether this is a good or bad idea. […]
Random thoughts on Globe poll
/0 Comments/in Blog, News /byI have admittedly only skimmed the 51 pages of questions and results in the poll performed for the Globe by Andrew Smith of the Survey Center at the University of New Hampshire. (See a graphic representation here of the Globe’s takeaways.) Note to Matt Viser and Frank Phillips: It is always good to give folks a clear sense of whether these were likely voters, random calls, etc. Page 19 of the summary document is full of interesting tidbits on policy issues of highest concern. Here are some I found interesting: – Taxes: (1) Taxes mattered most to $30-60,000 earners. (2) Curiously, taxes did not matter to African-Americans (could be an anomaly reflecting the number interviewed or maybe not). (3) Taxes […]