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Charter Watch, August 11

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Thus 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

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Observers 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

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This 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 […]

Lotteries, Lotteries Everywhere

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Today’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

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The 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.