Tag Archive for: Massachusetts

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Healthcare Employs More on Cape Cod Than Any Other Sector

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Despite being a major tourist destination, the largest employment sector on Cape Cod is not related to tourism: it is healthcare!

With Declining Enrollment, Public Colleges in Massachusetts Cut Back Adjunct Faculty Positions

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The number of adjunct faculty positions is declining at public colleges and universities in Massachusetts.

Massachusetts Tax Revenues Surpass Pre-Pandemic Levels

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Pandemic recovery and then some! Massachusetts revenues are higher than anyone was expecting, but where is all the money coming from? And what does this mean for the Massachusetts economy?

Time for Receivership in Boston

The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) recently launched its second review of the Boston Public Schools (BPS) in three years. The move has some up in arms because state law requires that officials conduct a review no more than a year before approving state receivership. For BPS, receivership is long overdue. After more than 15 years of consistent and rapid decline, the district has shown no ability—and limited will—to stem the tide

Pioneer Institute Statement on the Commonwealth’s Discontinuance of the COVID-19 Weekly Public Health Report

Useful information about COVID cases or deaths at individual homes has become less available at a time when cases are increasing again, even among vaccinated residents. Pioneer urges Massachusetts to immediately reinstate the so-called Weekly Report, which contains cases and deaths inside individual nursing homes.

Green energy job growth in Massachusetts following New Climate Change report published by the United Nations

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On August 9, 2021, the United Nations Climate Change Panel published…

Where are Barnstable residents migrating to?

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Using Pioneer Institute’s newest database, Massachusetts IRS…

Interstate Legal Skirmish: New Hampshire Takes Massachusetts Telecommuter Tax to the Supreme Court

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Host Joe Selvaggi talks with legal scholar and George Mason University Law Professor Ilya Somin about the details, the merits, and the likely implications of the Supreme Court case, New Hampshire v. Massachusetts, on state taxation power, federalism, and the power to vote with one’s feet.

Before COVID-19, the Hospitality & Food Industry was a Service Sector Economic Powerhouse

A new report from Pioneer Institute, “Before COVID-19, the Hospitality & Food Industry was a Service Sector Economic Powerhouse,” draws data from the MassEconomix web tool to analyze Hospitality and Food Industry employment across the state. Data spanning two decades from 1998 through 2018 show fluctuations in employment, firm size, and the share of businesses within the Hospitality and Food Industry throughout Massachusetts. The report shows a map of employment concentration in the Hospitality and Food Industry by town.

“Architecture is Frozen Music” Great Massachusetts Buildings – 25 Resources for K-12 Education

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Understanding enduring public and private architecture is a key way to learn about art, ideas, and how they harmonize with our democracy. Yet, Massachusetts buildings are often never discussed in K-12 education. We’re offering a variety of links about outstanding houses and architecture across the Bay State for parents, teachers, and schoolchildren to enjoy, visit, and better appreciate, including:

Mapping K-12 School Reopening in Massachusetts

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As the 2020-21 school year begins for the approximately 950,000 schoolchildren in Massachusetts, our state and country are working to adapt to the unprecedented moment presented by COVID-19. To aid in these efforts, Pioneer Institute is posting a database and map of districts’ reopening plans.

Report Finds “Reopening Day” in the Commonwealth Will Likely Include Phasing in Businesses and Contact Tracing

New study compares the reopening of three European countries – Austria, Denmark, and Germany – to highlight approaches that could inform the Commonwealth’s reopening strategy.

How Much Does Your Local Government Raise from Fines and Forfeitures?

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One of the ways local governments raise revenue to fund public…

A Wealth of Data: A Map of the Massachusetts Opioid Epidemic

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In 2016, the rate of opioid overdose deaths in Massachusetts…

How Do Alternative Investments Stack up in State Pensions?

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There are numerous expert opinion on the proper investment strategy…

The Downgrade: Perhaps A Yawn But We’re Not Alone

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Since the end of the Great Recession in 2009, economic indicators…

Op-ed: Justification For 40% Legislative Leadership Raises Is Political Voodoo

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When doing the people's will is secondary to legislators'…

Time to End Mass. Legislature’s Self-Exemption from Open Meeting Law

PRESS RELEASE: Pioneer Contends the Legislature’s Self-Exemption…

Study: Continuing Decline Over Last Decade In Massachusetts’ “Middle Cities”

Read news coverage of this report in The Springfield Republican, The…

Testing the Tests: Why MCAS Is Better Than PARCC

Study:  MCAS Less Expensive, More Rigorous and Provides Better…

Massachusetts Gubernatorial Candidates on K-12 Education Policy

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K-12 education policy too often is the province of powerful special…

Study: 5% Increase in Spending Could End Urban Charter School Waitlists in Failing Districts

Study: Urban Charter School Waitlists Could Be Nearly Eliminated…

Will ACA Cause Rate Shock in Massachusetts? It Appears So, Small Biz To See Premiums Rise Up to 97%

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Conventional wisdom has held that the ACA impact on Massachusetts…

Pioneer’s Public Statement on the Conference Committee Budget

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LEGISLATURE’S FY 2014 BUDGET IS THE STATUS QUO, JUST MORE OF…

Sandra Stotsky Discusses Common Core

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Dr. Sandra Stotsky, Professor Emerita, University of Arkansas,…

Fall River Herald News: Mass. students miss out on Native American history

Understanding the complexity our country’s Native American past requires knowing U.S. history. Preferring softer 21st century skills like “media awareness” and “systems thinking” to academics, the Patrick administration in 2009 postponed a requirement, starting with the class of 2012, that Massachusetts public school students pass a U.S. history MCAS test to graduate from high school.

Health Care Payment Reform’s New Bureaucracies

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In Part 3 of Pioneer Institute’s series on Massachusetts’…