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School Choice
CHARTER SCHOOLS
- An Analysis of How Massachusetts’ ‘Student Growth’ Model Limits Access to Charter Public Schools
- Charter School Funding in Massachusetts: A Primer
- Free Book Chapter
- Remarks at 25th Anniversary Event for the Massachusetts Education Reform Act
- Jane Doe v Peyser
- Best Practices in Massachusetts Charter Schools: What We Know Now
- Attrition, Dropout and Student Mobility in District and Charter Schools: A Demographic Report
- Advanced Placement Opportunities and Success in Boston Charter and District Schools: A Demographic Report
- Massachusetts Charter Public Schools Best Practices in Expansion and Replication
- Massachusetts Charter Public Schools English Language Learners: Demographic and Achievement Trends
- Massachusetts Charter Public Schools: Students with Special Educational Needs: Demographic and Achievement Trends
- Massachusetts Charter Public Schools: Best Practices from the Phoenix Charter Academies
- Massachusetts Charter Public Schools: Best Practices in Character Education
- Assessing Charter School Funding in 2016
- Massachusetts Charter Public Schools: Best Practices Using Data to Improve Student Achievement in Springfield
- Massachusetts Charter Public Schools: Best Practices Using Data to Improve Student Achievement in Holyoke
- Massachusetts Charter Public Schools Best Practices in Curricular Innovation
- Massachusetts Charter Public Schools Best Practices: Serving English Language Learners
- Proving the Viability of a School Choice Voucher
- Great Teachers Are Not Born, They Are Made: Case Study Evidence from Massachusetts Charters
- Lessons from New Orleans
- Debunking the Myths About Charter Public Schools
- Houses of Learning
- Education Tax Credits
- Charter School Caps and Strings Attached
- Putting Children First: The History of Charter Public Schools in Massachusetts
- Follow the Money: Charter School and District Funding in Massachusetts
- The Know-Nothing Amendments: Barriers to School Choice in Massachusetts
- School Choice Without Vouchers: Expanding Education Options Through Tax Credits
- Competition in Education a 1999 Update of School Choice in Massachusetts
- Charter Colleges: Balancing Freedom and Accountability
- Preserving Charter School Autonomy
- Looking Back to Move Forward: Charter School Authorizing in Massachusetts
- School Vouchers in Washington, D.C.: Lessons for Massachusetts
- Charter Schools in New Orleans: Lessons for Massachusetts
- Matching Students to Excellent Tutors: How a Massachusetts Charter School Bridges Achievement Gaps
- Matching Students to Excellent Teachers: How a Massachusetts Charter School Innovates with Teacher Preparation
- Meeting the Commonwealth’s Demand: Lifting the Cap on Charter Public Schools in Massachusetts
- Giving Kids Credit: Using Scholarship Tax Credits to Increase Educational Opportunity in Massachusetts
- Seeds of Achievement: Appletree’s Early Childhood D.C. Charter Schools
- Innovation Interrupted: How the Achievement Gap Act of 2010 Has Redefined Charter Schooling in Massachusetts
INTERDISTRICT CHOICE & METCO
- Inter-district Choice in Massachusetts
- Expanding Educational Opportunities: Three Models for Extended Summer Enrichment Programs in Massachusetts
- Expanding Educational Opportunities: Best Practices in U.S. Summer Enrichment Programs
- Proving the Viability of a School Choice Voucher
- Modeling Urban Scholarship Vouchers in Massachusetts
- Expanding METCO and Closing Achievement Gaps
- Urban and Rural Poverty and Student Achievement in Massachusetts
- METCO Merits More
PRIVATE SCHOOL CHOICE
- Bad IDEA: How States Block Federal Special Education Funding to Private and Religious School Students
- Earning Full Credit: A Toolkit for Designing Tax-Credit Scholarship Policies
- Wise and Humane: Private School Nursing in Massachusetts
- No IDEA: How Massachusetts Blocks Federal Special Education Funding for Private and Religious School Students
- Cristo Rey Schools: A Model of 21st-Century Catholic Education
- Homeschooling: The Ultimate School Choice
- The Healing Hand: Modeling Catholic Medical Vocational-Technical Schooling
- Survey of Summer Enrichment Programs at Independent and Parochial Schools in Massachusetts
- The Anti-Aid Amendments and School Choice
- Rhode Island Jewish Day Schools and Scholarship Tax Credits
- Four Models of Catholic Schooling in Massachusetts
- Be Not Afraid: A History of Catholic Schooling in Massachusetts
- "And You Shall Teach Them Diligently": The History and Status of Jewish Day Schools in Massachusetts
- Massachusetts Private School Survey: Gauging Capacity and Interest in Vouchers
VOCATIONAL-TECHNICAL EDUCATION
- Madison Park II: Capitalizing on Employment Opportunity
- Madison Park Technical Vocational High School Turnaround Update
- The Healing Hand: Modeling Catholic Medical Vocational-Technical Schooling
- Expanding Access to Vocational-Technical Education in Massachusetts
- Vocational-Technical Education in Massachusetts
- Hands-On Achievement: Why Massachusetts Vocational Technical Schools Have Low Dropout Rates
- Filling the Skills Gap: Massachusetts Vocational-Technical Schools and Business Partnerships
School District Funding/Chapter 70
SCHOOL FUNDING
High-Quality Liberal Arts
ACADEMIC STANDARDS
- Public Opinion Survey of Massachusetts Residents’ Perceptions of K-12 Education During the Covid-19 Pandemic
- Madison Park II: Capitalizing on Employment Opportunity
- Remote Learning Resources Guide
- Accountability in Massachusetts’ Remote Learning Regulations
- How Should Massachusetts Reopen Its K–12 Schools in the Fall? Lessons from Abroad and Other States
- Class Dismissed: Massachusetts’ Lack of Preparedness for K–12 Digital Learning During COVID-19
- Breaking the Code: The State of Computer Science Education in America’s Public Schools
- The Common Core Debacle: Results from 2019 NAEP and Other Sources
- Keeping Students Academically Engaged During the Coronavirus Crisis - Part One
- Social-Emotional Learning: K-12 Education as New-Age Nanny State
- Axioms of Excellence: Kumon and the Russian School of Mathematics
- Common Core, School Choice and Rethinking Standards-Based Reform
- Is Two-Tiered Education on the Rise in Massachusetts?
- Differentiating Admission Standards at UMass-Amherst to Meet Out-of-State Enrollment Targets
- Remarks at 25th Anniversary Event for the Massachusetts Education Reform Act
- 2018 Proposed Revisions to Massachusetts History and Social Studies Frameworks
- Mediocrity 2.0: Massachusetts Rebrands Common Core ELA and Math
- Expanding Educational Opportunities: Three Models for Extended Summer Enrichment Programs in Massachusetts
- What Goes Up Must Come Down: New, Lower K-12 Science Standards for Massachusetts
- After the Fall: Catholic Education Beyond the Common Core
- Expanding Educational Opportunities: Best Practices in U.S. Summer Enrichment Programs
- Survey of Summer Enrichment Programs at Independent and Parochial Schools in Massachusetts
- Fordham Institute’s Pretend Research
- Advanced Civics for U.S. History Teachers: Professional Development Models Focusing On The Founding Documents
- How PARCC’s False Rigor Stunts the Academic Growth of all Students
- A Critical Review of the Massachusetts Next Generation Science and Technology/Engineering Standards
- MCAS 2011 English Language Arts Grade 10
- Federal Overreach and Common Core
- Support & Defend: The K-12 Education of Military-Connected Children
- Pioneer Institute Statement on MBAE PARCC/MCAS Study
- Pioneer Institute Report on History in Schools
- Lincoln’s Legacy for Our Time: A Transcript of Remarks Delivered by Civil War Historian James McPherson
- The Serpent in Finland’s Garden of Equity
- Writing Instruction in Massachusetts
- Lowering the Bar to Get a Passing Grade
- Closing Springfield's Achievement Gap
- Why MTEL, Not PRAXIS, Will Maintain Teacher Quality
- A Step Backwards: An Analysis of the 21st Century Skills Task Force Report
- Strengthening Standards-Based Education
- Enrollment Trends in Massachusetts
- Differential Pay for Math and Science Teachers
- How to Strengthen K-12 Mathematics Education in Massachusetts
- Scaling Up Educational Innovation
- A Changing Bureaucracy: The History of the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
- Controlling Education from the Top
- Contracting for Performance
- Beyond Demographic Destiny
- How Common Core’s ELA Standards Place College Readiness at Risk
- Massachusetts Collaboratives: Making the Most of Education Dollars
- Education Reform in Massachusetts: Using Student Data to Improve District Performance
- Teacher Contracts in Massachusetts
- Parents, Choice, and Some Foundations for Education Reform in Massachusetts
- The Rise and Fall of the Study of American History in Massachusetts
- Education Reform in Massachusetts: Aligning District Curricula with State Frameworks
- Shortchanging the Future: The Crisis of History and Civics in American Schools
- A Republic of Republics: How Common Core Undermines State and Local Autonomy over K-12 Education
- Lowering the Bar: How Common Core Math Fails to Prepare High School Students for STEM
- Common Core’s Validation: A Weak Foundation for a Crooked House
- The Dying of the Light: How Common Core Damages Poetry Instruction
- How to Address Common Core’s Reading Standards: Licensure Tests for K-6 Teachers
- Imperiling the Republic: The Fate of U.S. History Instruction under Common Core
COMMON CORE
- The Common Core Debacle: Results from 2019 NAEP and Other Sources
- Common Core, School Choice and Rethinking Standards-Based Reform
- Remarks at 25th Anniversary Event for the Massachusetts Education Reform Act
- Mediocrity 2.0: Massachusetts Rebrands Common Core ELA and Math
- What Goes Up Must Come Down: New, Lower K-12 Science Standards for Massachusetts
- After the Fall: Catholic Education Beyond the Common Core
- Fordham Institute’s Pretend Research
- Setting Academic Performance Standards MCAS vs PARCC
- How PARCC’s False Rigor Stunts the Academic Growth of all Students
- A Critical Review of the Massachusetts Next Generation Science and Technology/Engineering Standards
- Federal Overreach and Common Core
- Why Massachusetts Should Abandon the PARCC tests and the 2011 Coleman et al English Language Arts Standards on which the MCAS Tests are Based
- Support & Defend: The K-12 Education of Military-Connected Children
- Summary: National Cost of Aligning States and Localities to the Common Core Standards
- Summary: The Road to a National Curriculum: The Legal Aspects of the Common Core Standards, Race to the Top, and Conditional Waivers
- One-Page Primer on Common Core: Cost
- One-Page Primer on Common Core: Legality
- One-Page Primer on Common Core: Quality
- Claims and Facts about Common Core
- Common Core Facts
- Testimony to the Utah 2012 Education Interim Committee
- Review of Common Core Math Standards: Testimony to the California Academic Content Standards Commission
- Testimony to the Missouri Elementary and Secondary Education Committee
- Testimony to the Kansas House Standing Committee on Education
- Transcript: Why Huck Finn Matters: Classic Literature in Schooling
- Controlling Education from the Top
- National Cost of Aligning States and Localities to the Common Core Standards
- The Road to a National Curriculum
- Common Core’s Standards Still Don’t Make the Grade
- National Standards Still Don’t Make the Grade
- The Emperor's New Clothes
- Fair to Middling: A National Standards Progress Report
- Why Race to the Middle?
- How Common Core’s ELA Standards Place College Readiness at Risk
- A Republic of Republics: How Common Core Undermines State and Local Autonomy over K-12 Education
- Lowering the Bar: How Common Core Math Fails to Prepare High School Students for STEM
- Common Core’s Validation: A Weak Foundation for a Crooked House
- The Dying of the Light: How Common Core Damages Poetry Instruction
- Cogs in the Machine: Big Data, Common Core, and National Testing
- How to Address Common Core’s Reading Standards: Licensure Tests for K-6 Teachers
- Imperiling the Republic: The Fate of U.S. History Instruction under Common Core
UNITED STATES HISTORY
- No Longer A City On A Hill: Massachusetts Degrades Its K–12 History Standards
- History Education in Massachusetts Schools: A Pioneer Institute Survey of Educators, Parents & Legislators
- 2018 Proposed Revisions to Massachusetts History and Social Studies Frameworks
- Laboratories of Democracy: How States Get Excellent K–12 U.S. History Standards
- Advanced Civics for U.S. History Teachers: Professional Development Models Focusing On The Founding Documents
- Pioneer Institute Report on History in Schools
- The Sacred Fire of Liberty
- Lincoln’s Legacy for Our Time: A Transcript of Remarks Delivered by Civil War Historian James McPherson
- The Power to Take: The Use of Eminent Domain in Massachusetts
- Civic Education: Readying Massachusetts’ Next Generation of Citizens
- The Rise and Fall of the Study of American History in Massachusetts
- Shortchanging the Future: The Crisis of History and Civics in American Schools
- Imperiling the Republic: The Fate of U.S. History Instruction under Common Core
Higher Education
HIGHER EDUCATION
- As college students and parents demand robust COVID-19 response, university finances suffer
- Fiscal Crisis at UMass Boston: The True Story and the Scapegoating
- A Risky Proposal for At-Risk Private Colleges: Ten Reasons Why the Board of Higher Education Must Rethink Its Plan
- Preparing Students for a Future in Fintech
- Where Do Teacher Union Dues Go? Public Higher Education in Massachusetts
- UMass Has a Spending Problem
- Differentiating Admission Standards at UMass-Amherst to Meet Out-of-State Enrollment Targets
- UMass At A Crossroads Part 3 UMass Growing Dependency On Tuition And Fees And Strategic Recruitment Of Out-Of-State Students
- UMass At A Crossroads Part 2 Is UMass Expansion Fiscally Sustainable?
- UMass At A Crossroads Part 1 Is The UMass Enrollment Expansion Plan Sustainable?
Better Government
CONVENTION CENTER
- Analyzing the Convention Center Authority's Inflated Claims
- The Boston Convention Center's shrinking market
- Should We Build It? Two Views on the Merits of Boston's Proposed Convention Center
- Does Boston Convention & Exhibition Center Expansion Really Pay for Itself?
- Flawed Forecasts: A Critical Look at Convention Center Feasibility Studies
- If We Build It Will They Come? And Other Questions About the Proposed Boston Convention Center
- Challenging Convention(al) Wisdom: Hard Facts About the Proposed Boston Convention Center
MUNICIPAL MANAGEMENT
- PILOT Agreements: Nonprofits’ Fair Portion or Government Extortion?
- COVID-19 will likely lead to a recession. Can Massachusetts municipal budgets handle one?
- Outdated and Obfuscated: The State of Public Financial Disclosure in Massachusetts
- A New Start for Massachusetts Middle Cities
- Ten Years Later: Trends in Urban Redevelopment
- Boston (English)
- Boston (Spanish)
- Brockton
- Fitchburg
- Lawrence
- Lowell
- New Bedford
- Quincy
- Springfield
- Taunton
- Worcester
- Municipal Guide Utility
- Municipal Guide Utility
- Guide to Sound Fiscal Management for Municipalities
- Testimony before the Joint Committee on Public Service of the General Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Regarding the Fiscal Condition of Local Retirement Systems
- Driving the New Urban Agenda
- Countdown to Fiscal Sanity
- Learning from Springfield
- GIC Consolidation
- Learning from Springfield
- New Business Creation and The Urban Economy
- A Practitioner's Guide to Outsourcing
- Where Are the Public Safety Funds Going?
- Facing the Economic Crisis: Challenges for Massachusetts Police Chiefs
- Municipal Benchmarks for Massachusetts Middle Cities: Educational Achievement
- Regionalization: Case Studies of Success and Failure in Massachusetts
- Housing and Land Use Policy in Massachusetts
- Rehabbing Urban Redevelopment
- The Cost of Inaction: Does Massachusetts Need Public Construction Reform?
- Flawed Forecasts: A Critical Look at Convention Center Feasibility Studies
- Our Legacy of Neglect: The Longfellow Bridge and the Cost of Deferred Maintenance
- Housing Programs in Weak Market Neighborhoods
- Managing Water Demand: Price vs. Non-Price Conservation Programs
- Long-Term Leasing of State Skating Rinks: A Competitive Contracting Success Story
- Leaving Money on the Table: The 106 Pension Systems of Massachusetts Public Employee Benefits Series: Part 2
- Toward a High-Performance Workplace: Fixing Civil Service in Massachusetts
- The Power to Take: The Use of Eminent Domain in Massachusetts
- Competition & Government Services: Can Massachusetts Still Afford the Pacheco Law
- Municipal Benchmarks for Massachusetts Middle Cities: A Look at Economic Growth
PUBLIC PENSIONS & UNFUNDED LIABILITIES
- Williams and Markopolos Were Proven Right: MBTARF Was Underreporting Its Unfunded Pension Liabilities Just as the Whistleblowers Said in Their 2015 Report
- Massachusetts’ Skyrocketing Unfunded Pension Liability
- The Bay State’s Public-Pension Complex: Costly and Unaccountable
- Forensic Mysteries from the MBTA Retirement Fund’s Actuarial Reports
- Fixing the MBTA Retirement Fund: Reforming a Pension Fund in Crisis
- The Reckless Cost of Investment Mismanagement at the MBTA Retirement Fund
- A $49 Million Sweetheart Deal How MBTA Employee Unused Sick Time Perk Enhances Pensions
- The Elephant in the Room: NO. 32 • July 2006 Unfunded Public Employee Health Care Benefits and GASB 45
- MRR Calculator Utility
- Testimony before the Joint Committee on Public Service of the General Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Regarding the Fiscal Condition of Local Retirement Systems
- Testimony Before the Joint Committee on Public Service Regarding the MBTA Retirement Fund
- Solvency and Insolvency of the MBTA Retirement Fund
- Do We Need Them? How Many Retirement Boards Are Necessary to Provide Pension Benefits for Massachusetts Public Employees
- GIC Consolidation
- MassPensions: How Difficult Is Institutional Transparency?
- Myths and Reality about MBTA Pensions
- The Good, the Bad and the Ugly Eight Patrick Administration Budgets Later
- Rhetoric and Reality: Pension Benefits for Retired Massachusetts State Workers
- Public Pensions
- Fiscal Implications of Massachusetts' Retirement Boards' Investment Returns
- Improving the Investment Performance of Massachusetts Pension Funds
- Leaving Money on the Table: The 106 Pension Systems of Massachusetts Public Employee Benefits Series: Part 2
- The Elephant in the Room: Unfunded Public Employee Health Care Benefits and GASB 45 Public Employee Benefits Series: Part 3
- The Cost of Cost-of-Living Adjustments in Massachusetts Public Retirement Systems
- The Logic of Pension Valuation: A Response to Robert Novy-Marx
- Have the MBTA's Retirement Plans Gone Off the Rails?
- The Costs of Delaying the Funding of Public Pensions in Massachusetts
- Hard Lessons for Institutional Investors from the MBTA Retirement Fund
- Market Rates of Return for Effective Financial Management
- MassPensions.com Update on Public Retirement Systems
- The Logic of Pension Valuation II: A Response to Andrew Biggs
REGIONALIZATION
- Ashburnham - Westminster Animal Control Agreement
- Hubbardston - Templeton Animal Control Agreement
- Amesbury, Salisbury, and Newburyport Animal Control Agreement
- Somerset - Swansea Animal Control Agreement
- Sterling-West Boylston Shared Building Inspection Contract and Agreement
- Hawlemont Regional School District GIC Consolidation Agreement
- Holbrook GIC Consolidation Agreement
- Mohawk Trail GIC Consolidation Agreement
- Saugus GIC Consolidation Agreement
- Amesbury, Salisbury, and Newburyport Public Health Agreement
- Sudbury-Wayland Septage Disposal Agreement
- Attleboro - North Attleborough Sewer Agreement
- Attleboro - North Attleborough Water Agreement
STATE BUDGET
- PILOT Agreements: Nonprofits’ Fair Portion or Government Extortion?
- Tax Flight of the Wealthy: An Academic Literature Review
- The Graduated Income Tax Amendment - A Shell Game?
- As the COVID-19 Pandemic Spurs Consumer Shift to E-Commerce, the Massachusetts Sales Tax Collection System Deserves Renewed Scrutiny
- Eight more responses to Professor Young—nine really
- Eight Reasons to Question Professor Cristobal Young's Conclusions about Millionaire's
- Housing & Who’s a ‘Millionaire’ according to Proposition 80
- Proposition 80 Will Not Raise $2 Billion and The Money Won’t Be Free
- Will The Wealthy Leave? They Already Are and Proposition 80 Will Only Make it Worse
- The Federal Tax Reform Act’s cap on deductions of state income taxes has turned Proposition 80 into an economic time bomb for Massachusetts
- Start Here Before Cutting Into the Safety Net
- The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: A 2013 Pioneer Release
- The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: Massachusetts’s 2014 Status Quo Budget
- The Good, the Bad and the Ugly Eight Patrick Administration Budgets Later
- Government Effectiveness Index: A Cross-State Survey
TRANSPORTATION & MBTA
- Public Testimony to the Joint Meeting of the MassDOT Board of Directors and Fiscal Management Control Board
- Telecommuting Survey Reveals Potential for Greater Shift Towards Remote Work After COVID-19 Pandemic
- U.S. Transit Systems and COVID-19: How does the MBTA Compare?
- A Control Board Equipped for for the Next Phase of MBTA Reform
- Public Comment on MassDOT’s I-90 Allston Multimodal Project National Environmental Policy Act Review Scoping Report
- The Merit Rating Board: Review and Recommendations
- The $8.5 Billion Marshall Plan for MBTA Needs
- The MBTAs Capital Spending Crisis
- Williams and Markopolos Were Proven Right: MBTARF Was Underreporting Its Unfunded Pension Liabilities Just as the Whistleblowers Said in Their 2015 Report
- Commuter Rail Twitter Reveals History of Delays
- What Ever Happened to Flagger Reform?
- Looking Back at Longfellow Bridge
- On the Governor’s Commission on the Future of Transportation
- Increasing MBTA Ridership and Revenue with Company Commuter Benefit Programs
- Testimony to the Senate Committee on Post Audit and Oversight on MBTA Bus Maintenance Reform
- Is it time to expand water transportation in Greater Boston?
- The Bombshell Cheiron Report: The MBTA Just Got A $1.485 Billion Pension Bill That It Can’t Possibly Pay
- Forensic Mysteries from the MBTA Retirement Fund’s Actuarial Reports
- Putting The T On A Clear Path To High Performance
- 2015 MBTA Bus Maintenance Costs Were Nation's Highest
- Recommendation to the FMCB: Retain an Independent Auditor and Actuary to Review the MBTARF
- Fixing the MBTA Retirement Fund: Reforming a Pension Fund in Crisis
- Aim High on MBTA Ridership: A big-picture take on the T’s strategic plan
- Public Comment for the Stakeholder Input Meeting
- Leveling the playing field: the need for taxi reform in the Commonwealth
- Driving Innovation: Tolling and Transponders in Massachusetts
- The Reckless Cost of Investment Mismanagement at the MBTA Retirement Fund
- Important Considerations for Regulating Ridesharing in Massachusetts
- Data Reveals Out of Control Administrative Staffing Budget Increases at MBTA
- A $49 Million Sweetheart Deal How MBTA Employee Unused Sick Time Perk Enhances Pensions
- How to Save the MBTA More Than $100 million a year
- An Uncertain Future for Ridesharing Services in Massachusetts
- The Pacheco Law has cost the MBTA more than $450 million - here’s the evidence.
- MBTA Reform - The Case of Full, Final and Binding Interest Arbitration
- Testimony Before the Joint Committee on Transportation in Support of House 3347 - Greg Sullivan
- Testimony in Support of House 3347 Transportation Reform by Charles Chieppo
- Guess Who Runs the Best Paratransit System in the MBTA’s District? Hint: It’s Not the T
- MBTA is the Fastest Expanding Transit System
- MBTA's Problem Is Not Lack of Funding
- The MBTA Commuter Rail’s Cost Structure is Off the Rails
- Massachusetts Experience with Hard and Soft Receiverships
- Letter to MassDOT Secretary Richard Davey requesting information regarding the safety of the ramps near the Zakim Bridge
- Driving Questions
- Introduction to the Massachusetts Transportation Dashboard
- Getting There: Transportation Reform in 2009
- Additional Reforms for the Governor’s Accelerated Bridge Repair Proposal
- Beyond the Gas Tax: Defining Transportation Needs, Emphasizing Economic Growth, and Maintaining Our Assets
- Driving Reform: Real Solutions to Our Transportation Challenges
- Runaway Transportation Costs
- The MBTA’s Out-of-Control Bus Maintenance Costs
- Massachusetts’ Technology Tax an Unnecessary Detour
- Myths and Reality about MBTA Pensions
- The Good, the Bad and the Ugly Eight Patrick Administration Budgets Later
- Lessons Learned: An Assessment of Select Public-Private Partnerships in Massachusetts
- Life Cycle Delivery of Public Infrastructure
- Our Legacy of Neglect: The Longfellow Bridge and the Cost of Deferred Maintenance
- If We Build It Will They Come? And Other Questions About the Proposed Boston Convention Center
- Missing the Bus: The Fight to Contract Competitively for MBTA Bus Service
Healthcare Reform
PRICE TRANSPARENCY
- Healthcare Price Transparency in Massachusetts
- Analysis of Spending on Shoppable Services in Massachusetts
- Looming Challenges for ICER in Assessing the Value of Rare Disease Therapies
- Wildly Varying MRI Prices at Massachusetts Hospitals: Why We Need Access to Healthcare Prices at All Levels
- Will New England See Lower Prices from Drug Pricing Transparency Legislation?
- Need an MRI? In Worcester, Patients Pay Less for More
- MA Health Insurers Have Improved Their Consumer Price Transparency Efforts, But Significant Work Remains
- What Massachusetts Should Do in an Uncertain Healthcare World
- Lowering the Healthcare Cost Growth Benchmark
- Massachusetts Hospitals Score Poorly on Price Transparency…Again
- Recommendations to the Transparency Subcommittee of the Special Commission on Provider Variation
- Testimony on Healthcare Price Transparency
- Over A Decade, The ACA Fee On MassHealth Will Cost Hundreds Of Millions Of Dollars
- Healthcare Prices for Common Procedures Are Hard for Consumers to Obtain Survey finds hospitals not prepared to give price information to consumers
- What Will U.S. Households Pay for Health Care in the Future
- Bay State Specialists and Dentists Get Mixed Reviews on Price Transparency
- Mass Hospitals Weak on Price Transparency
- The Elephant in the Room: NO. 32 • July 2006 Unfunded Public Employee Health Care Benefits and GASB 45
- Health Insurance Cost Control
- The Undisclosed Cost of Developing an Affordable Care Act State Exchange in Massachusetts
- Drawing Lessons: Different Results from State Health Insurance Exchanges
- Impact of the Federal Health Law’s “Cadillac Insurance Tax” in Massachusetts
- New ACA Medicare Payroll Tax Hits Massachusetts, $1.7 Billion Over 10 Years
- Mayor, Tear Down This Wall: Why Boston’s Ban on Convenient Care Clinics Is Costing Taxpayers Millions
- An Interim Report Card on Massachusetts Health Care Reform: Part 4
- An Interim Report Card on Massachusetts Health Care Reform: Part 3
- An Interim Report Card on Massachusetts Health Care Reform: Part 2
- An Interim Report Card on Massachusetts Health Care Reform: Part 1
- Consumer Driven Health Care: A New Agenda for Cost Control in Massachusetts
- An Economic History of Health Care in Massachusetts 1990-2000
PUBLIC PROGRAM REFORMS
- PILOT Agreements: Nonprofits’ Fair Portion or Government Extortion?
- The Merit Rating Board: Review and Recommendations
- MassHealth Protecting Medicaid Resources for the Most Vulnerable
- Counter Point What Massachusetts Should Do As Uncertainty Engulfs US Healthcare System
- What Massachusetts Should Do in an Uncertain Healthcare World
- Combating Opioid Addiction in Massachusetts: A Hospital-Based Solution Shows Promise in Reducing Relapses and ER Costs
- Whistleblowers Expose the Massachusetts Connector
- Wellness Health Incentive Payment Program
- A National Market for Individual Health Insurance
- A First Step Toward Retiree Healthcare Reform, But Much More is Needed
- Baker's Dozen A Common Sense Healthcare Agenda for the Next Governor
- Massachusetts Healthcare Reform: A Framework for Evaluation
- GIC Consolidation
- Innovative Medical Liability Reform
- Business Solutions to the Health Care Crunch
- Fixing the Massachusetts Health Exchange
- An Interim Report Card on Massachusetts Health Care Reform: Part 4
- An Interim Report Card on Massachusetts Health Care Reform: Part 3
- An Interim Report Card on Massachusetts Health Care Reform: Part 2
- An Interim Report Card on Massachusetts Health Care Reform: Part 1
- Consumer Driven Health Care: A New Agenda for Cost Control in Massachusetts
- The Elephant in the Room: Unfunded Public Employee Health Care Benefits and GASB 45 Public Employee Benefits Series: Part 3
- Rationalizing Health and Human Services
- Comparing the Clinical Quality and Cost of Secondary Care in Academic Health Centers and in Community Hospitals
- Nonprofit to For Profit Conversions in Health Care: A Review
- Out of the Filing Cabinet and Into the Fire: How the Shift from Paper to Electronic Health Records Has Endangered Patient Privacy and Security and How to Calm the Flame
INNOVATIONS IN MEDICAL CARE DELIVERY
- Ten Health Policy Changes That Should Outlive COVID-19
- Testimony in Support of Expanded Access to Oral Health
- Dialing up Telemedicine
- First Do No Harm: The Impact of the Affordable Care Act on Massachusetts’ Medical Device Industry
- Mayor, Tear Down This Wall: Why Boston’s Ban on Convenient Care Clinics Is Costing Taxpayers Millions
- Business Solutions to the Health Care Crunch
- Nonprofit to For Profit Conversions in Health Care: A Review
- Out of the Filing Cabinet and Into the Fire: How the Shift from Paper to Electronic Health Records Has Endangered Patient Privacy and Security and How to Calm the Flame
LIFE SCIENCES
- The QALY and Cancer Treatments: An Ill-Advised Match
- Antimicrobial Resistance: Learning from the current global health crisis to prevent another one
- Five Reasons Why Drug Rebates Are Harmful to Patients and to the Healthcare System
- The Negative Impact of COVID-19 Upon the Biopharmaceutical Sector
- Quality Adjusted Life Years (QALY): The Threat to Older Americans
- The Legality of QALY under the ADA
- Looming Challenges for ICER in Assessing the Value of Rare Disease Therapies
- Key Questions for Legislators on the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER)
- Will New England See Lower Prices from Drug Pricing Transparency Legislation?
- Transparency in Retail Drug Prices: Easy to Obtain but Accuracy May Be Doubtful
- Are Drug Prices Driving Healthcare Cost Growth?
Economic Opportunity
HOUSING
- The State of Zoning for Accessory Dwelling Units
- Housing & Who’s a ‘Millionaire’ according to Proposition 80
- Residential Land-Use Regulation in Eastern Massachusetts
- Land-Use Regulation and The Rise in Housing Prices
- Housing and Land Use Policy in Massachusetts
- Housing Programs in Weak Market Neighborhoods
- The Power to Take: The Use of Eminent Domain in Massachusetts
- Build More or Manage Better? Public Housing in Boston and Massachusetts
- Getting Home: Overcoming Barriers to Housing in Greater Boston
- Regulation and the Rise of Housing Prices in Greater Boston: A study based on new data from 187 communities in eastern Massachusetts
MASSACHUSETTS ECONOMY
- PILOT Agreements: Nonprofits’ Fair Portion or Government Extortion?
- Tax Flight of the Wealthy: An Academic Literature Review
- Are Massachusetts taxes regressive?
- A Grim Distinction: Massachusetts would have top marginal short-term capital gains tax rate in the U.S. under the proposed graduated income tax
- The Graduated Income Tax Trap: A Tax on Small Businesses
- The Great Mismatch: The graduated income tax proposal’s gravely flawed escalation factor
- The Graduated Income Tax Trap: A retirement tax on small business owners
- Missing the Mark on Wealth Migration: Past Studies Drastically Undercounted Millionaires
- Public vs. Private Employment in Massachusetts: A Tale of Two Pandemics
- The Graduated Income Tax Amendment - A Shell Game?
- How a 2012 income tax hike cost California billions of dollars in economic activity
- Do The Wealthy Migrate Away From High-Tax States? A Comparison of Adjusted Gross Income Changes in Massachusetts and Florida
- Connecticut’s Dangerous Game: How the Nation’s Wealthiest State Scared Off Businesses and Worsened Its Fiscal Crisis
- A Snapshot of Massachusetts’ Construction Industry during a Decade-long Building Boom
- A Checklist for How to Revitalize the Industries Hit Hardest by COVID-19
- Before COVID-19, the Hospitality & Food Industry was a Service Sector Economic Powerhouse
- Economic Revitalization and Reinvention in Lowell, 1998-2018
- Broad Industry Sector Trends in Massachusetts, 1998-2018: A MassEconomix Report
- As the COVID-19 Pandemic Spurs Consumer Shift to E-Commerce, the Massachusetts Sales Tax Collection System Deserves Renewed Scrutiny
- A Look at the Massachusetts Industries that are Most Vulnerable Due to COVID-19
- Greater Boston as a Global Competitor
- Eight more responses to Professor Young—nine really
- Eight Reasons to Question Professor Cristobal Young's Conclusions about Millionaire's
- Housing & Who’s a ‘Millionaire’ according to Proposition 80
- Will The Wealthy Leave? They Already Are and Proposition 80 Will Only Make it Worse
- The Federal Tax Reform Act’s cap on deductions of state income taxes has turned Proposition 80 into an economic time bomb for Massachusetts
- Back to Taxachusetts? Lessons from Connecticut
- Economic Freedom of North America 2017
- Back to Taxachusetts Series: Capital Gains
- Massachusetts’ New Economy
- Presentation to the Tax Fairness Commission: Tax Issues Affecting Economic Competitiveness
- Creating Jobs: Reforming Unemployment Insurance in Massachusetts
- Keeping Massachusetts Competitive
- New Business Creation and The Urban Economy
- Unemployment Insurance in Massachusetts
- A Challenge to Economic Freedom: Declining Labor Participation
- Rebuilding the Ladder to Self- Sufficiency: Workfare and Welfare Reform
- Recovering from a Recession
- The Big Shrink: Declining Establishment Size in Massachusetts
- Playing the Lottery: The Impact of Interstate Relocation on Massachusetts Jobs
- Heading Down: The Loss of Massachusetts Headquarters
- Failure to Thrive: Job Creation and Loss in Massachusetts: 1990 - 2007
- Economic Opportunity in Boston: An Index of the Regulatory Climate for Small Entrepeneurs
- Measuring Up? The Cost of Doing Business in Massachusetts
- A Road to Financing
- Regaining Massachusetts’ Edge in Research and Development
REGULATIONS, PERMITTING & LICENSING
- How Occupational Licensing Laws Reduce State and Local Tax Revenues: The Public Finance Case for Occupational Licensing Reform
- Driving Critical Reforms at DCF: Ideas for a Direction Forward in Massachusetts’ Child and Family Services
- Testimony Before the Joint Committee on State Administration and Regulatory Oversight Regarding Government Transparency
TRANSPORTATION & MBTA
- Public Testimony to the Joint Meeting of the MassDOT Board of Directors and Fiscal Management Control Board
- Telecommuting Survey Reveals Potential for Greater Shift Towards Remote Work After COVID-19 Pandemic
- U.S. Transit Systems and COVID-19: How does the MBTA Compare?
- A Control Board Equipped for for the Next Phase of MBTA Reform
- Public Comment on MassDOT’s I-90 Allston Multimodal Project National Environmental Policy Act Review Scoping Report
- The Merit Rating Board: Review and Recommendations
- The $8.5 Billion Marshall Plan for MBTA Needs
- The MBTAs Capital Spending Crisis
- Williams and Markopolos Were Proven Right: MBTARF Was Underreporting Its Unfunded Pension Liabilities Just as the Whistleblowers Said in Their 2015 Report
- Commuter Rail Twitter Reveals History of Delays
- What Ever Happened to Flagger Reform?
- Looking Back at Longfellow Bridge
- On the Governor’s Commission on the Future of Transportation
- Increasing MBTA Ridership and Revenue with Company Commuter Benefit Programs
- Testimony to the Senate Committee on Post Audit and Oversight on MBTA Bus Maintenance Reform
- Is it time to expand water transportation in Greater Boston?
- The Bombshell Cheiron Report: The MBTA Just Got A $1.485 Billion Pension Bill That It Can’t Possibly Pay
- Forensic Mysteries from the MBTA Retirement Fund’s Actuarial Reports
- Putting The T On A Clear Path To High Performance
- 2015 MBTA Bus Maintenance Costs Were Nation's Highest
- Recommendation to the FMCB: Retain an Independent Auditor and Actuary to Review the MBTARF
- Fixing the MBTA Retirement Fund: Reforming a Pension Fund in Crisis
- Aim High on MBTA Ridership: A big-picture take on the T’s strategic plan
- Public Comment for the Stakeholder Input Meeting
- Leveling the playing field: the need for taxi reform in the Commonwealth
- Driving Innovation: Tolling and Transponders in Massachusetts
- The Reckless Cost of Investment Mismanagement at the MBTA Retirement Fund
- Important Considerations for Regulating Ridesharing in Massachusetts
- Data Reveals Out of Control Administrative Staffing Budget Increases at MBTA
- A $49 Million Sweetheart Deal How MBTA Employee Unused Sick Time Perk Enhances Pensions
- How to Save the MBTA More Than $100 million a year
- An Uncertain Future for Ridesharing Services in Massachusetts
- The Pacheco Law has cost the MBTA more than $450 million - here’s the evidence.
- MBTA Reform - The Case of Full, Final and Binding Interest Arbitration
- Testimony Before the Joint Committee on Transportation in Support of House 3347 - Greg Sullivan
- Testimony in Support of House 3347 Transportation Reform by Charles Chieppo
- Guess Who Runs the Best Paratransit System in the MBTA’s District? Hint: It’s Not the T
- MBTA is the Fastest Expanding Transit System
- MBTA's Problem Is Not Lack of Funding
- The MBTA Commuter Rail’s Cost Structure is Off the Rails
- Massachusetts Experience with Hard and Soft Receiverships
- Letter to MassDOT Secretary Richard Davey requesting information regarding the safety of the ramps near the Zakim Bridge
- Driving Questions
- Introduction to the Massachusetts Transportation Dashboard
- Getting There: Transportation Reform in 2009
- Additional Reforms for the Governor’s Accelerated Bridge Repair Proposal
- Beyond the Gas Tax: Defining Transportation Needs, Emphasizing Economic Growth, and Maintaining Our Assets
- Driving Reform: Real Solutions to Our Transportation Challenges
- Runaway Transportation Costs
- The MBTA’s Out-of-Control Bus Maintenance Costs
- Massachusetts’ Technology Tax an Unnecessary Detour
- Myths and Reality about MBTA Pensions
- The Good, the Bad and the Ugly Eight Patrick Administration Budgets Later
- Lessons Learned: An Assessment of Select Public-Private Partnerships in Massachusetts
- Life Cycle Delivery of Public Infrastructure
- Our Legacy of Neglect: The Longfellow Bridge and the Cost of Deferred Maintenance
- If We Build It Will They Come? And Other Questions About the Proposed Boston Convention Center
- Missing the Bus: The Fight to Contract Competitively for MBTA Bus Service
Better Government Competition
- 2019 Better Government Competition Compendium of Winning Entries
- Combating Opioid Addiction in Massachusetts: A Hospital-Based Solution Shows Promise in Reducing Relapses and ER Costs
- 2011 Better Government Competition
- 2010 Better Government Competition
- 2009 Better Government Competition
- 2008 Better Government Competition
- 2007 Better Government Competition
- 2006 Better Government Competition
- 2005 Better Government Competition
- 2004 Better Government Competition
- 2001 Better Government Competition
- 2000 Better Government Competition
- 1999 Better Government Competition
- 1998 Better Government Competition
- 2012 Better Government Competition Compendium of Winning Ideas
- 2013 Better Government Competition Guidelines
- 2013 Better Government Competition Guidelines
- 20th Anniversary Better Government Retrospective
- Public Profits from Private contracts: A Case Study in Human Services
Public Testimony
- Statement before the MA Joint Committee on Revenue in Opposition to HB 86 (Pages 1-4) A legislative amendment to the Constitution to provide resources for education and transportation through an additional tax on incomes in excess of one million dollars.
- Public Testimony to the Joint Meeting of the MassDOT Board of Directors and Fiscal Management Control Board
- Public Comment on MassDOT’s I-90 Allston Multimodal Project National Environmental Policy Act Review Scoping Report
- On the Governor’s Commission on the Future of Transportation
- Special Legislative Commission On Public Records
- 2018 Proposed Revisions to Massachusetts History and Social Studies Frameworks
- Recommendations of Pioneer Institute to the Special Senate Committee on Health Care Cost Containment and Reform
- Testimony to the Senate Committee on Post Audit and Oversight on MBTA Bus Maintenance Reform
- Testimony in Support of Expanded Access to Oral Health
- Putting The T On A Clear Path To High Performance
- Recommendations to the Transparency Subcommittee of the Special Commission on Provider Variation
- Testimony on Healthcare Price Transparency
- Public Comment for the Stakeholder Input Meeting
- Why Massachusetts Should Abandon the PARCC tests and the 2011 Coleman et al English Language Arts Standards on which the MCAS Tests are Based
- Testimony Before the Joint Committee on State Administration and Regulatory Oversight Regarding Government Transparency
- Testimony Before the Joint Committee on Transportation in Support of House 3347 - Greg Sullivan
- Testimony in Support of House 3347 Transportation Reform by Charles Chieppo
- Testimony to the South Carolina Legislature’s Education Subcommittee in Support of S.604
- Testimony to the Joint Committee on Health Care Financing
- Testimony on H.B. 2492 “An Act Relative to Management Rights
- Testimony to the Joint Committee on Health Care Financing
- Testimony to the Joint Education Committee
- Testimony to the Joint Committee on State Administration and Regulatory Oversight
- Testimony to Texas House of Representatives Select Committee on State Sovereignty
- Testimony to the Election Laws Committee
- Testimony to the Executive Office of Transportation on Police Details
- Regarding the Governor’s Deficient Bridge Repair Proposal
- Testimony to the Joint Committee on Bonding, Capital Expenditures and State Assets
- Testimony to the Joint Committee on State Administration and Regulatory Oversight
- Testimony to the Joint Committee on Bonding, Capital Expenditures, and State Assets (1/31/08)
- Our Legacy of Neglect
- Go slow on expanded gambling in the Commonwealth
- State employees' health insurance contribution
- Governor Romney's FY2003 state budget proposal
- The Next MBTA Commuter Rail Contract
- The Boston Convention Center's shrinking market
- Standards-based education reform in Massachusetts
- Staying the course on MCAS
- School vouchers and expanded parental choice in education
- Privatization and the MBTA
- Teacher re-certification
- Budget policy and education reform
- Increasing the number of charter schools in the Commonwealth
- Testimony to the Utah 2012 Education Interim Committee
- Review of Common Core Math Standards: Testimony to the California Academic Content Standards Commission
- A First Step Toward Retiree Healthcare Reform, But Much More is Needed
- Testimony before the Joint Committee on Public Service of the General Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Regarding the Fiscal Condition of Local Retirement Systems
- Testimony to the Missouri Elementary and Secondary Education Committee
- Testimony to the Kansas House Standing Committee on Education
- Testimony Before the Joint Committee on Public Service Regarding the MBTA Retirement Fund
- Testimony to the Joint Committee on State Administration and Regulatory Oversight on the Secretary of Education
Transcripts
- Remarks at 25th Anniversary Event for the Massachusetts Education Reform Act
- Dumping the Know-Nothing Amendments
- Lessons for Education Policy Makers
- Keep Moving: Transportation Reforms Beyond Revenues
- The Sacred Fire of Liberty
- Core Academic Knowledge
- Driving Questions
- Presidents, Politics and Supreme Court Appointments
- Has Education Reform Stalled in Massachusetts?
- A Blueprint for the Future
- Myths About Markets and Education
- Technology and Innovative Finance
- School Choice and Education Reform in Massachusetts
- Creating Successful Schools
- Urban School Reform: A Case Study
- Rescuing Students in Chronically Underperforming Schools
- Preeminence in Peril: Bolstering Science and Math Education
- Water Management and the MWRA
- Common Sense School Reform
- Perspectives on the "No Child Left Behind" Law in Massachusetts
- A 'No Excuses' Look at Education Reform
- Massachusetts' Privatization Law: Necessary Guardrail or Roadblock to Competition?
- A Judicial Declaration of Independence
- MBTA Capital Spending: Derailed by Expansion?
- Of Markets, Government, Lawyers, and Freedom
- Civic Education in Massachusetts: Preparing Students for Citizenship
- Increasing Security Without Sacrificing Freedom
- Build More or Manage Better? Subsidized Housing in Massachusetts
- Expanding Economic Opportunity in Boston
- The Power To Take: A Primer on Eminent Domain
- Services for Urban Microentrepreneurs
- E-government: The New Frontier for Improving Public Services
- From the Brink of Bankruptcy: The Transformation of New Zealand's Economy
- Regulation of Microenterprises: How Much Is Too Much?
- Civil Service Reform in Massachusetts
- Collective Bargaining and Education
- Health Care Today: How Did We Get Here? What Now?
- School Choice in Urban Communities
- Charter Schools in Action: Renewing Public Education
- How Regulation and Taxation Stifle Entrepreneurship
- Charter Colleges: Pro and Con
- Competition in Education: An Update
- Transition From Communism: A Decade After
- Money Matters: Alternatives to Education Funding
- Transforming Children's Lives
- Cutting State Government Down to Size
- Choices for Educational Success
- Public Profits From Private Contracts: A Case Study in Human Services
- Social Service Delivery in the Commonwealth
- Welfare Reform in California
- Should We Build It? Two Views on the Merits of Boston's Proposed Convention Center
- Putting Our Kids First: Reform and Choice in Education
- Workers' Compensation Reform: Finishing the Job in Massachusetts
- Making the Case for More Charter Schools
- Charter Schools: Raiders or Reformers?
- Competition, Choice, and the Structure of Public Education
- Lessons on Public/Private Partnership from the Boston City Hospital/University Hospital Merger
- Bilingual Education Reform in Massachusetts
- Two Perspectives on the Continuing Debate Over School
- Changing the Monopoly Structure of Public Education
- Education Reform: Lessons from Michigan
- Charter Families: Hope for the Children of Illegitimacy?
- Responses to a Harvard Study on School Choice: Is It a Study at All
- Ending Generational Dependency: Welfare Reform in Massachusetts
- Megaplex: Civic Asset or Public Albatross
- School Choice: A Marketplace for Education
- Block Grants: Changing the Welfare Culture from the Ground Up
- Transcript: Why Huck Finn Matters: Classic Literature in Schooling
- Lincoln’s Legacy for Our Time: A Transcript of Remarks Delivered by Civil War Historian James McPherson