Catholic schools are closing their doors all across America, leaving future generations with nowhere to turn for the high-quality academics and values-based education so many families are seeking. The number of students attending Catholic schools in the US fell from about 5.2 million in 1965 to around two million in 2008.
Pioneer Institute believes these schools are worth preserving. For over a decade, we have raised our voice in support of these excellent academic options, and tools such as tax credit scholarships that would enable more families to attend.
Pioneer has held public forums, published research on the benefits of Catholic education, on successful models such as Cristo Rey, and on policy changes that would stop the Massachusetts education department from depriving religious school students of special needs services and school nurses. The Institute has also convened key stakeholders, appeared in local and national press, filed amicus briefs, produced a feature a documentary film, and much more.
Almost exactly a year ago, one sage wondered if Governor Patrick would fulfill the promise of candidate Patrick. Since then, Pioneer has welcomed the Governor to our annual Better Government Competition and been heartened by many of his initiatives.
So what’s in store for year two? Glad you asked – here’s Pioneer’s take on this year’s proposed budget.
Just as historians judge Presidents by their performance during wartime, we’re about to learn how our Governor responds to economic uncertainty. As Pioneer’s release makes clear, we’re pulling for him, but we wonder if he’s reading the same bad news as the rest of us.
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 ballot initiatives in both November 2006 and the first eight months of 2007. They range from $2.3 million to Citizens for Education, who campaigned in favor of a school funding initiative in Michigan, down to several smaller grants to groups such as Rainbow/PUSH, FairTest, Amnesty International, Sierra Club and Human Rights Campaign. Here is an alphabetic list of the recipients of NEA’s largesse, with relevant web links:
In today’s Metro, Mayor Menino is asked why the Hynes Center can’t be put to more productive use. In his reply, the Mayor says:
…friends at the Hynes tell me in 2007, the center generated $10.1 million in revenue — the highest in the history of the building….
Ten Point One Million Dollars! 175,000 square feet of state-owned prime real estate that, in its best year ever (no inflation adjustment, please) barely makes $10 million! I bet there are a bunch of stores in the Pru mall that make that kind of money, and they pay taxes too.
Imagine what another 175,000 square feet worth of clothing stores – or donut shops, or sports bars – could earn on Boylston Street!
Actually, I’m going to stop right here. Follow this line of reasoning too far and where will we end up? The Hynes Memorial Casino, of course.
In Massachusetts, the Know-Nothing amendments prevent more than 100,000 urban families with children in chronically underperforming school districts from receiving scholarship vouchers that would allow them access to additional educational alternatives. These legal barriers, also known as Blaine amendments, restrict government funding from flowing to religiously affiliated organizations in nearly 40 states and are a violation of the first and fourteenth amendments.
The U.S. Supreme Court will hear a case this year, Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue, that could end these amendments. In 2018, Pioneer produced a 30-minute documentary on the impact of the Blaine amendments on families in Massachusetts, Georgia, and Michigan.
“She’s a good girl. She helps me a lot. She has big, big dreams. I don’t have the money, but she has big dreams. I hope she’s going to get everything, but she works so hard. She works so hard in school.”
“Our family is needing to make some really big sacrifices because we believe this is important, and so, we’re basically going to do whatever it takes… Sometimes we look at each other and go ‘I don’t know if I can do it again another month…’”
“A lot of the families have to sacrifice and work multiple jobs… And just scraping together enough money to just make tuition, just the basics.”
“It is discriminatory, that parents who want to choose an alternative to public school for their children, would not in any way receive any compensation for that, whether it be tax credit, whether it be a voucher…”
In the 1840s, nativist movement leaders formed official political parties and local chapters of the national Native American Party (later the American Party), although they continued to be commonly known as the Know-Nothing Party. Politicians sought to insert provisions into state constitutions against Catholics who refused to renounce the pope. The Know-Nothing movement brought bigotry and hatred to a new level of violence and organization.
The party’s legacy endured in the post-Civil War era, with laws and constitutional amendments it supported, still today severely limiting parents’ educational choices. A federal constitutional amendment was proposed by Speaker of the House James Blaine prohibiting money raised by taxation in any State to be under the control of any religious sect; nor shall any money so raised or lands so devoted be divided between religious sects or denominations. These were then named the Blaine Amendments of 1875.
in recent decades, often in response to challenges to school choice programs, the U.S. Supreme Court has demonstrated great interest in examining the issues of educational alternatives and attempts limit parental options. Massachusetts plays a key role in this debate. The Bay State was a key center of the Know-Nothing movement and has the oldest version of Anti-Aid Amendments in the nation, as well as a second such amendment approved in 1917. Two-fifths of Massachusetts residents are Catholic, and its Catholic schools outperform the state’s public schools, which are the best in the nation.
Help families like the Costons in Michigan to end the bigoted Blaine amendments in their state that are blocking tuition scholarships and other types of financial support that would make it possible for families to send their children to high-quality schools that are best suited for their children.
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Almost exactly a year ago, one sage wondered if Governor Patrick would fulfill the promise of candidate Patrick. Since then, Pioneer has welcomed the Governor to our annual Better Government Competition and been heartened by many of his initiatives.
So what’s in store for year two? Glad you asked – here’s Pioneer’s take on this year’s proposed budget.
Just as historians judge Presidents by their performance during wartime, we’re about to learn how our Governor responds to economic uncertainty. As Pioneer’s release makes clear, we’re pulling for him, but we wonder if he’s reading the same bad news as the rest of us.
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 ballot initiatives in both November 2006 and the first eight months of 2007. They range from $2.3 million to Citizens for Education, who campaigned in favor of a school funding initiative in Michigan, down to several smaller grants to groups such as Rainbow/PUSH, FairTest, Amnesty International, Sierra Club and Human Rights Campaign. Here is an alphabetic list of the recipients of NEA’s largesse, with relevant web links:
In today’s Metro, Mayor Menino is asked why the Hynes Center can’t be put to more productive use. In his reply, the Mayor says:
…friends at the Hynes tell me in 2007, the center generated $10.1 million in revenue — the highest in the history of the building….
Ten Point One Million Dollars! 175,000 square feet of state-owned prime real estate that, in its best year ever (no inflation adjustment, please) barely makes $10 million! I bet there are a bunch of stores in the Pru mall that make that kind of money, and they pay taxes too.
Imagine what another 175,000 square feet worth of clothing stores – or donut shops, or sports bars – could earn on Boylston Street!
Actually, I’m going to stop right here. Follow this line of reasoning too far and where will we end up? The Hynes Memorial Casino, of course.
State of the State? Skip the speech and check out the budget.
/0 Comments/in Blog, News /byAlmost exactly a year ago, one sage wondered if Governor Patrick would fulfill the promise of candidate Patrick. Since then, Pioneer has welcomed the Governor to our annual Better Government Competition and been heartened by many of his initiatives.
So what’s in store for year two? Glad you asked – here’s Pioneer’s take on this year’s proposed budget.
Just as historians judge Presidents by their performance during wartime, we’re about to learn how our Governor responds to economic uncertainty. As Pioneer’s release makes clear, we’re pulling for him, but we wonder if he’s reading the same bad news as the rest of us.
NEA dollars at work for whom?
/0 Comments/in Better Government, Blog, News /byThis 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.
You can still make money in Boston real estate
/0 Comments/in Better Government, Blog, Economic Opportunity, News /byIn today’s Metro, Mayor Menino is asked why the Hynes Center can’t be put to more productive use. In his reply, the Mayor says:
Ten Point One Million Dollars! 175,000 square feet of state-owned prime real estate that, in its best year ever (no inflation adjustment, please) barely makes $10 million! I bet there are a bunch of stores in the Pru mall that make that kind of money, and they pay taxes too.
Imagine what another 175,000 square feet worth of clothing stores – or donut shops, or sports bars – could earn on Boylston Street!
Actually, I’m going to stop right here. Follow this line of reasoning too far and where will we end up? The Hynes Memorial Casino, of course.