LATEST ARTICLES

This is a long one. But if you like following the money, it is pretty interesting. A friend passed on an analysis of the National Education Association’s financial disclosure report for 2006-7. And you wonder why certain special interests support higher taxes and government largesse to the non-profit sector. As you read this list of advocacy groups who received funding from the NEA, remember that Pioneer takes no money from government sources and therefore can be objective about how to improve government. We don’t take your money via government and that’s why we ask for your support. The [NEA] nearly tripled its contributions [to advocacy groups] from the previous fiscal year. The expenditures include a host of payments connected with […]

We are sometimes so focused on what doesn’t work, that we sometimes miss the small successes. Here’s to the Dracut police force, which, as reported in this morning’s Lowell Sun, reduced sick-time use in 2007 by 54%. In fact, the total of 155.25 sick days used in 2007 is down from 497 used in 2005, a 69% reduction. Chief Richardson and his officers are to be commended for recognizing the strain that high absenteeism places on a force’s fiscal and human resources and for making it a departmental priority.