The mission of the Museum Institute for Teaching Science (MITS) is to raise science literacy by improving the quality of elementary and middle school (K-8) teaching in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). Science literacy is a critical skill that, if learned at an early age, helps develop critical thinking, reading abilities and computation skills needed to make informed decisions in daily life. America’s science literacy, however, has suffered in recent years, posing a serious risk to the nation as the world leader in innovation and its economic future.
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Policymakers have long grappled with the challenge of revitalizing cities whose economies have declined as manufacturing jobs moved elsewhere. Older industrial cities’ economic woes have compounded other problems, including municipal budget crises, struggling schools, high crime rates, and persistent poverty.
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High unemployment insurance taxes deter job creation and burden Massachusetts businesses. The current system also subsidizes certain workers and business sectors, at the expense of most Massachusetts workers and companies.
Download Report: Unemployment Insurance in Massachusetts
“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.
The mission of the Museum Institute for Teaching Science (MITS) is to raise science literacy by improving the quality of elementary and middle school (K-8) teaching in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). Science literacy is a critical skill that, if learned at an early age, helps develop critical thinking, reading abilities and computation skills needed to make informed decisions in daily life. America’s science literacy, however, has suffered in recent years, posing a serious risk to the nation as the world leader in innovation and its economic future.
Download Report: MITS Summer Institute
Policymakers have long grappled with the challenge of revitalizing cities whose economies have declined as manufacturing jobs moved elsewhere. Older industrial cities’ economic woes have compounded other problems, including municipal budget crises, struggling schools, high crime rates, and persistent poverty.
Download Report: New Business Creation and The Urban Economy
High unemployment insurance taxes deter job creation and burden Massachusetts businesses. The current system also subsidizes certain workers and business sectors, at the expense of most Massachusetts workers and companies.
Download Report: Unemployment Insurance in Massachusetts
MITS Summer Institute
/0 Comments/in Education, Roe Better Government Network Research /by Pioneer InstituteThe mission of the Museum Institute for Teaching Science (MITS) is to raise science literacy by improving the quality of elementary and middle school (K-8) teaching in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). Science literacy is a critical skill that, if learned at an early age, helps develop critical thinking, reading abilities and computation skills needed to make informed decisions in daily life. America’s science literacy, however, has suffered in recent years, posing a serious risk to the nation as the world leader in innovation and its economic future.
Download Report: MITS Summer Institute
New Business Creation and The Urban Economy
/0 Comments/in Economic Opportunity, Massachusetts Economy, Municipal Management /by John FriarPolicymakers have long grappled with the challenge of revitalizing cities whose economies have declined as manufacturing jobs moved elsewhere. Older industrial cities’ economic woes have compounded other problems, including municipal budget crises, struggling schools, high crime rates, and persistent poverty.
Download Report: New Business Creation and The Urban Economy
Unemployment Insurance in Massachusetts
/0 Comments/in Better Government, Economic Opportunity, Massachusetts Economy /by Steve Poftak and John O'LearyHigh unemployment insurance taxes deter job creation and burden Massachusetts businesses. The current system also subsidizes certain workers and business sectors, at the expense of most Massachusetts workers and companies.
Download Report: Unemployment Insurance in Massachusetts