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Education
May 23, 2019

Nationally Syndicated Columnist George Will Covers Pioneer's SCOTUS Amicus Brief Topic on School Choice

For many years, Pioneer Institute has been a leader in the effort to repeal the Blaine Amendments, legal barriers in Massachusetts and nearly 40 other states that prevent more underprivileged schoolchildren from being able to attend religiously affiliated schools. Now, nationally syndicated...
Education
January 22, 2018

New Documentary Highlights Impact of Bigoted "Blaine Amendments"

Read op-eds about the film, by Raymond Flynn, former Ambassador to the Holy See, and Pioneer’s Jamie Gass in The Daily Caller, The Lowell Sun, and the Fitchburg Sentinel & Enterprise. Constitutional amendments in 38 states born of anti-Catholic bigotry now harm...
Education
January 16, 2018

Film Screenings at Area Catholic Schools to Educate Public about Barriers to School Choice

Constitutional amendments in 38 states born of anti-Catholic bigotry now harm families practicing wide range of faiths  BOSTON – Four area Catholic schools will hold public screenings of a new documentary film, “Big Sacrifices, Big Dreams: Ending America’s Bigoted Education Laws,” to...
Education
January 27, 2017

Celebrating School Choice Week: Removing Know-Nothing/Blaine Barriers to School Choice

On Day 5, the final day of National School Choice Week, we’re focusing on the need to overcome the Know-Nothing/Blaine legal obstacles that prevent largely poor and minority students from accessing equal educational opportunities. In nearly 40 states (see yellow states on...
Education
August 16, 2016

Mass. Public Officials Must Brush Aside The Know-Nothings' Legacy Of Bigotry

Last week, Pioneer Institute Executive Director Jim Stergios sent a letter to Governor Baker and the leaders of the Massachusetts House of Representatives and the Senate asking them to support our call to move the portrait of Know-Nothing Governor Henry J. Gardner...
Education
August 1, 2016

Event To Call For Moving “Know-Nothing” Governor’s Portrait From State House Wall

Bigoted Know-Nothing Amendments still part of state constitution Read coverage in The Boston Globe: “School-choice advocates target portrait of 19th-century governor” BOSTON – Former Ambassador to the Vatican and three-term mayor of Boston Raymond Flynn will headline an event calling for moving...
Education
July 25, 2016

Join us 8/1: "Move This Portrait: The Know-Nothings’ Governor & Barriers to School Choice"

Henry Gardner was the Know-Nothing Governor of Massachusetts who led the effort to persuade lawmakers to adopt a state constitutional amendment that blocks greater access to school choice. Today, his State House portrait hangs next to the Main Entrance to the House of...
Education
March 22, 2016

Guest Opinion: Time to end Know-Nothing legacy once and for all

We should expel the Know-Nothings’ anti-Irish-Catholic amendment from the Massachusetts constitution, and remove bigoted Governor Gardner’s portrait from a position of prominence in our Statehouse.
Education
March 16, 2011

Dumping Massachusetts’ Know-Nothing Amendments: Church, State, and School Reform

Pioneer released a research paper on Massachusetts Catholic schools, giving them high marks for providing a high-quality education and a safe learning environment for poor and working-class families at a substantially lower cost than the average public school’s per-pupil expenditure.
Education
April 4, 2009

The Know-Nothing Amendments: Barriers to School Choice in Massachusetts

Barriers to School Choice in Massachusetts Author(s): Cornelius Chapman — Publication date: 2009-04-04 Category: Education Abstract: This paper will consider a sad phenomenon in American history—19th-century nativism and in particular, anti-Catholic prejudice—and its lingering and deleterious effects on American primary and secondary...