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Change or Die

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Vermont Technical College President Ty J. Handy, in the Winter 2008 New England Journal of Higher Education, writes an interesting article (Differentiate or Die”) about the future of New England higher education. His argument is that, given the significant decrease in the number of students coming out of the K-12 “pipeline” in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont, the smaller decline in Rhode Island, and the static population in Massachusetts, New England colleges and universities will have to differentiate their brands to appeal to people farther and wider. The numbers are pretty depressing for ME, NH and VT. They are not great for the other New England states (see below). But what leapt off the page was what the demographic trends […]

Tough fight but they are right

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Lenore and Skip Schloming of the Small Property Owners Association play in rough waters, where landlords are seen as the Grand Exploiters. SPOA represents folks who own 5, 10, maybe 50 units and don’t get the big state support enjoyed by big developers. They’re essentially small business owners, many of whom buy in urban areas because they can build up equity and grow. In addition to fighting back on ever-more ingenious attempts to reinstate rent control, SPOA is pushing some ideas that make eminent sense–and could actually do something for the low-income market and the homeless. First, from a recent newsletter: Officials and nonprofit leaders keep pursuing the same old housing strategy for the poor–try to get more tax money […]

3 trillion and counting

/0 Comments/in , , /by Liam Day

Of note today, a milestone somewhat akin to watching your car’s odometer hit 100,000 miles: President Bush will submit to Congress his 2009 budget proposal for the federal government, the first ever to exceed $3 trillion. I don’t think you need to be fiscally conservative to blanch at that figure.

The 100,000 student mark

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A number of states have now reached or are approaching the 100,000 student mark in terms of enrollment at charter schools. Arizona with its 500 charter schools Texas with its almost 300 charter schools California has over 200,000 students with its 600-plus charter schools Florida with its 350 charter schools Michigan with its 250 charter schools Ohio is approaching 100,000 students with its 300-plus charters With the number of charter schools in places like LA, DC, Detroit, and New Orleans growing fast, they are increasingly a key part of the urban education landscape. Consider that almost two-thirds of New Orleans’ students are now in charters, and that they constitute the following percentage of students in other cities: Dayton, OH: 28% […]

To lead or follow

/0 Comments/in , /by Liam Day

I apologize, but I need to digress from Pioneer’s usual topics of research and commentary. Though politicians are ultimately responsible for public policy, politics is not something Pioneer usually delves into. That being said, David Runciman’s piece on political hypocrisy in the Ideas section of today’s Globe bothered me. To begin with, Mr. Runciman never exactly defines what he means by political hypocrisy. In fact, the definition, at least as he conceives it, seems inordinately broad, including, for example, a politician who might change his or her stance on an issue in the face of evidence supporting a contrary position. What is hypocritical about that, I don’t know. I would have thought the hypocrite is the politician who, having considered […]