SENATE PRESIDENT STAN ROSENBERG, who has not joined the group of powerhouse politicos that has come together to oppose legalization of recreational marijuana, says he has yet to be convinced […]
Michael Jonas
Michael Jonas works with Laura in overseeing CommonWealth Beacon coverage and editing the work of reporters. His own reporting has a particular focus on politics, education, and criminal justice reform.
Posted inEducation
Reach higher
IF YOU DON’T believe in the power of education to change lives, Michelle Obama wants to have a word with you. For the First Lady, the transformative power of education […]
Posted inPolitics
Scott Brown says Rizzo never endorsed him
FORMER US SENATOR Scott Brown, who was portrayed as a favorite of a Democratic pol in an attack ad designed to harm the candidate’s chances in a close Democratic primary, […]
Posted inPolitics
Boncore wins it on the ground
THE RACE FOR an open state Senate seat in Boston and three adjacent communities was sure to shake up the status quo, with no Italian-American son of East Boston in […]
Posted inPolitics
Rizzo denies claim in mailer, files complaint
AS VOTERS WENT to the polls on Tuesday in the hotly-contested election for an open state Senate seat in Boston and surrounding communities, one of the seven Democratic candidates, Dan […]
Posted inPolitics
The paradox of Robert DeLeo
Photographs by Michael Manning ROBERT DELEO CLIMBED to the rostrum of the House of Representatives one afternoon in late January for what has become a routine annual ritual, but is […]
Posted inPolitics
Last-minute mailer hits Rizzo in Senate race
MUCH HAS BEEN made of how the seven-way field in Tuesday’s special election Democratic primary for the East Boston-based state Senate seat breaks with tradition in several ways. It features […]
Posted inEducation, State House News Service
Senate charter school effort runs off course
AS THE HOURS passed on Thursday night in the Massachusetts Senate, so may have any hope for charter school legislation that would avert a divisive November ballot question showdown. Senators […]
Posted inEducation
Is charter debate headed for resolution or over the cliff?
WILL THURSDAY MARK the end of the beginning or the beginning of the end of the charter school debate on Beacon Hill? That’s the question as the Senate prepares to […]
Posted inPolitics
Not the usual faces in state Senate race
FOR DECADES, AN East Boston resident has held the state Senate seat representing the First Suffolk and Middlesex District, which extends north from the neighborhood to Revere and reaches west […]
Posted inEducation
Warren hails civil rights legacy of education law
WHILE IT’S EASY to get caught up in the details and debates over mandated testing regimens and teacher evaluation policies, the federal education law that stirred such backlash for more […]
Posted inEducation
Charter schools’ early days in Massachusetts
JUST HOURS BEFORE Gov. Charlie Baker joined with Hispanic leaders in East Boston on Tuesday afternoon to rally on behalf of his proposal to raise the cap on charter schools, […]
Posted inEducation
Suffolk dumps McKenna and Meyer
THE SUFFOLK UNIVERSITY BOARD OF TRUSTEES agreed to a plan Friday that wipes the slate clean and removes both Chairman Andrew Meyer and President Margaret McKenna. Meyer will step down in […]
Posted inEducation
Two Suffolk groups slam board chairman
SUFFOLK UNIVERSITY STUDENT and alumni organizations turned up the heat on the school’s board of trustees on Thursday and sided with the school’s embattled president in the leadership controversy that […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
House moves on driver’s license sanctions
THE HOUSE MOVED on Wednesday to form a conference committee with senators to resolve differences between the two branches on a criminal justice reform bill that earlier this month seemed […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Criminal justice reform bill stalls
A BILL TO end the mandatory suspension of the driver’s license of any drug offender, which looked like it was sailing through the State House as a consensus-winning, early step […]
Posted inPolitics
Urbane mechanic
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER, who took a decidedly workaday approach to his first year in office, favoring a head-down focus on the basics of government over a sweeping vision for Massachusetts, […]
Posted inEducation, Politics
Senate will take up charter school issue
SENATE PRESIDENT STAN ROSENBERG said on Wednesday that the state Senate will work to fashion a compromise bill on charter schools in an effort to stave off a costly and […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
State kicks-off criminal justice review
THE STATE BEGAN on Tuesday a comprehensive review of criminal justice policies that aims to take a data-driven approach to issues often heavily influenced by passions and perceptions. In that […]
Posted inPolitics
The yin and yang of Baker
Photographs by Mark Ostow CHARLIE BAKER IS getting worked up about “queueing theory.” He’s sitting at a conference table in his smaller “working office” in the governor’s suite at the Massachusetts […]
Posted inArts and Culture, Education
All together now
After 10 years as the artist director of the Boston Children’s Chorus, you’re now taking on the role of president as well. You’ve said you plan to up the organization’s […]
Posted inEducation
No Child Left Behind is gone
(This story, which originally reported on Congressional passage of the bill, was updated after President Obama signed the legislation on December 10.) THE NO CHILD Left Behind law has been […]
Posted inEducation
Courting big change in schools
EDUCATION POLICY DEBATES these days are heated and issues are often cast in black and white. That makes David Welch either a behind-the-scenes hero or the villain behind the curtain. […]
Posted inEducation
Chester recommends “MCAS 2.0”
STATE EDUCATION COMMISSIONER Mitchell Chester proposed that the state develop a “next generation” testing system that combines elements of the Common Core-aligned PARCC test and the MCAS exam that Massachusetts […]