THE MASSACHUSETTS TEACHERS ASSOCIATION is calling on its members to be “conscientious objectors” by refusing to administer MCAS and not let their own children take the dreaded tests. Such farcical extremes ensue when a special interest group has had too much power for too long. Massachusetts’ landmark 1993 Education Reform Act transformed K-12 public education […]
Charles Chieppo
Posted inEconomy
Secret ballot vital in union elections
THE LATEST real-life parable that reminds us why the Founding Fathers made secret-ballot elections a centerpiece of American democracy comes from a distinctly 21st-century source – the video game industry. In recent months, the Communication Workers of America (CWA) has been working to unionize Proletariat, a Boston-based studio owned by gaming company Activision Blizzard, which […]
Posted inEconomy
Retaining international students should be a top priority for Massachusetts
THE RECENT MIDTERM elections are just the latest in a long string of events that have put immigration in the national spotlight. Unfortunately, the politics distract the public from understanding the critical role of legal immigrants in making our nation and our state more economically competitive. Foreign talent is critical for staffing science and technology […]
Posted inEconomy
At least that confusing rideshare question isn’t on the ballot
IN NOVEMBER, voters will have to sift through complicated issues in the form of ballot questions like a tax surcharge on high earners and more arcane matters such as one about dental insurance. But they can thank the state Supreme Judicial Court for having one less complex issue to deal with. The SJC declared a […]
Posted inDrug Addiction
Removal of Mass. and Cass encampment long overdue
BOSTON MAYOR Michelle Wu’s plan to clear tents from the Mass. and Cass homeless camping site by January 12 is long overdue. If only it had been done earlier, the move could have averted a humanitarian crisis. Many believe the encampment has grown merely because the people there lack shelter. The city had claimed it […]
Posted inEducation
Time for state action on troubled Boston Public Schools
FORMER STATE SENATE President Tom Birmingham often describes the centerpiece of the landmark 1993 Education Reform Act he co-authored as a massive infusion of state dollars into public schools in return for high standards and accountability for all. There is perhaps no better example of just how far back into the rear-view mirror accountability has […]
Posted inOpinion
Contracting with private providers could avert MBTA cuts
IN RESPONSE TO a collapse in MBTA service in the winter of 2015, the newly formed Fiscal and Management Control Board (FMCB) set the authority on a course of bold reforms. The COVID-19 pandemic is once again presenting new and significant challenges to T leadership that require a rethinking of how service is delivered to […]
Posted inHealth Care, Opinion
Transparency on health care costs is something we should all agree on
SOME BELIEVE Medicare for All is the answer to America’s health care woes. For others, a functioning free market is the only way to cut costs without sacrificing quality. As far apart as the two sides may be on the ultimate solution, achieving either goal requires knowing the real prices of health care procedures before care […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Police brutality highlights clout of public-sector unions
OUTRAGE OVER THE brutal killing of George Floyd has rightly heightened public scrutiny of police union resistance to desperately needed reforms. Less understandable is the assumption that the police are an anomaly among the most powerful public employee unions when it comes to opposing reform. Of course the actions of other public sector unions don’t lead […]
Posted inEducation
How Mass. abandoned its recipe for educational success
EINSTEIN DEFINED INSANITY as “doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results.” Education policy makers in Massachusetts have taken the concept to a new level by doubling down on policies that have brought a decade of decline. The Commonwealth’s K-12 education funding formula was no longer providing adequate resources to less affluent school districts, and […]