MORE ARTICLES
Jeffrey Meyers on Edgar Allan Poe, Gothic Horror, & HalloweenOctober 30, 2024 - 11:44 am
Mountain State Modifications: Tiffany Uses ESA Flexibility to Pivot Quickly For Her Son’s EducationOctober 24, 2024 - 12:11 pm
Study Published by Pioneer Institute Shows Massachusetts Learning Loss Among Nation’s WorstOctober 24, 2024 - 10:31 am
U-TX at SA’s Catherine Clinton on Harriet Tubman & the Underground RailroadOctober 23, 2024 - 11:30 am
Award-Winner Tom Segev on Israel’s Founding Father, David Ben-GurionOctober 16, 2024 - 11:59 am
Pioneer Institute Study Finds MCAS, Education Reform Have Significantly Improved Academic AttainmentOctober 16, 2024 - 11:46 am
McAnneny October Monthly Musings – Ballot InitiativesOctober 11, 2024 - 2:17 pm
Homeschooling with Hope: Katie Switzer’s ESA ExperienceOctober 10, 2024 - 11:24 am
Lynch Foundation’s Katie Everett on School Finance Model for Catholic Schools & School ChoiceOctober 9, 2024 - 11:30 am
Pioneer Institute Study Finds Wide Range of Approaches to Compliance with MBTA Communities LawOctober 6, 2024 - 9:12 pm
Outside of Boston, there is grumbling
/0 Comments/in Better Government, Blog, Economic Opportunity, News /by Scott W. Graves and Micaela DawsonOutside of Boston the Governor’s plans are not playing well. The Lawrence Eagle-Tribune opined yesterday that Governor Patrick’s promises run afoul of fiscal reality. The following are the money quotes (unconnected excerpts): Gov. Deval Patrick has Republicans and members of his own party scratching their heads over his grand plans for spending money the state and its taxpayers simply don’t have. The rhetoric is soaring… But the reality is neither the state, nor the cities and towns on which the burden of paying for many of these mandates will inevitably fall, are in a position to afford such grand schemes. Such talk is certainly not appropriate at a time the Massachusetts Transportation Finance Commission says it will cost between $15 […]
3 chairs to craft the education plan
/0 Comments/in Blog, News, Related Education Blogs /by Scott W. Graves and Micaela DawsonA change of the guard seems underway for the “Readiness Project,” as the Governor calls his recently announced education plan. Rumor has it that Dana Mohler-Faria is on his way back to Bridgewater State College at the start of July. Also, there is the Governor’s announcement of the core leaders of the new new Task Force he is calling on to deliver a fleshed out plan, a budget, and an implementation plan. Up to the front come Tom Payzant, EMC Chairman/President/CEO Joe Tucci, and Wheelock’s Jackie Jenkins-Scott. Congratulations to the Governor for three solid picks, listed below with the strength they will bring to the TF. Strong on urban education reform: Payzant has the know-how and a strong record of achievement […]
MCAS and dropout rates
/0 Comments/in Blog, News, Related Education Blogs /by Scott W. Graves and Micaela DawsonIn a previous posting on the appointment of Ruth Kaplan to the Board of Education, I noted a significant problem with promoting the view that there is a connection between MCAS and increasing dropout rates: More than half of all dropouts have already passed the MCAS. Then, passed on from one of our wonderful Center for School Reform Advisors, is the editor’s commentary from last summer’s American Educator, a publication of the American Federation of Teachers (an affiliated international union of the AFL-CIO). Using two very different studies, the commentary, entitled “Conventional Wisdom on Dropout Rate is Questioned–Impact of Higher Standards is Not,” points out that high standards and exit exams have NOT driven up drop-out rates. So let’s set […]
Good luck to the new commissioner of DCR!
/0 Comments/in Better Government, Blog, News /by Scott W. Graves and Micaela DawsonGreat column by Taylor Armerding in the Eagle Tribune today (We ‘interfere with natural processes’ in everything we do) on the attitude many within DCR have toward human management of the environment. The hands-off, let it lie naturally philosophy is, as Armerding underscores, a moral position–and one that makes it hard for the Department to do its job. Even when they make the right choices, they can run up against the local talent (ConComs). Armerding: I am living in fear that somebody from the state Department of Conservation and Recreation, or perhaps from the Rockport Conservation Commission, will visit me and declare my very existence to be interfering with a natural process. And these people are pretty authoritative on the […]
Not so obvious: who is driving the market for 55+ housing?
/0 Comments/in Blog, Housing /bySunday Globe’s real estate section didn’t get it right about age-restricted housing: “Right now, there’s no question 55-plus housing is driven by demographics.” No question — baby-boomers are driving demand for modest housing in traditionally scaled neighborhoods. The question is — Are baby-boomers really demanding houses that they can only re-sell to people 55 years and older, or is something else driving the market for such deed-restricted houses? According to Pioneer’s survey of local zoning regulations, just over half of the communities in eastern MA have zoning for age-restricted housing (96 of 187 municipalities). Often, the only way to build neighborhoods of traditional density is through the 55+ zoning. While some seniors are looking for neighborhoods where there are no […]