After nearly 15 years of decline, the question is whether things have finally gotten bad enough for state leaders to return to the high standards, accountability, and strategic access to high quality choices that were pillars of the most successful education reform in modern American history.
Charles Chieppo
Posted inOpinion
Without a watchdog, T operating costs spiral
But making T finances more sustainable by bringing them in line with other large urban transit agencies takes more than just capital improvements. It will require legislative leaders and Gov. Healey to reinstate and empower an entity like the Fiscal and Management Control Board to explicitly focus on operating cost control.
Posted inOpinion
We need to confront the state’s long decline in student achievement
Massachusetts NAEP scores are down to where they were 20 years ago. The deterioration in the quality of public education in the state had been underway for nearly a decade by the time the pandemic hit.
Posted inOpinion
Ending MCAS requirement would be a step backward
IN RECENT YEARS, many Massachusetts public education policy decisions have been made with an eye toward increasing equity. It’s a worthy goal, but too many of the policies have proven to […]
Posted inEducation
Teachers union wants ed reform money — but not accountability
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 […]
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. […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Posted inEducation
Tie state ed funding to school committee seats
FEW DOUBT THAT the time has come to update the mechanism by which the Commonwealth funds local school districts. After 25 years, the current formula isn’t keeping pace with rising […]
Posted inEducation
New Bedford pols fail kids with opposition to charter expansion
IF YOU WONDER where children fall in the hierarchy of priorities for some elected officials, take a look at New Bedford, where Mayor Jon Mitchell and City Councilor Hugh Dunn […]
Posted inOpinion
Ruling could have big impact in Massachusetts
THE UNITED STATES has a single constitution, but interpretations of that document handed down by federal courts often have divergent impacts across the country. Such is the case with the […]
Posted inTransportation
Bus maintenance outsourcing makes sense
IT’S ALL BUT irresistible to characterize the MBTA’s efforts to contract out part of its bus maintenance operation as a union issue: Will bus maintenance continue to be performed by unionized T […]
Posted inUncategorized
T privatization survives key union challenge
THE MBTA’S BUDGET SHORTFALL, once pegged at $335 million for the current fiscal year, is now down to $30 million. That’s good news for riders, taxpayers, employers, and legislators—really everyone […]
Posted inOpinion, Transportation
Congressional delegation should butt out
HERE’S ONE THAT COULD BE A JOKE, except it actually happened. Every member of Massachusetts’ congressional delegation recently thought it would be a good idea to sign a misguided letter […]
Posted inOpinion, Transportation
MBTA control board is on track
REMARKABLE PROGRESS HAS been made since a Fiscal and Management Control Board was installed during the summer of 2015 and given powers not previously available to MBTA management. Yet those […]
Posted inEducation, Opinion
Charter schools are not ‘draining’ district budgets
AS THIS NOVEMBER’S ballot initiative on raising the cap on the number of charter public schools in Massachusetts draws closer, opponents find ever-more financial woes to blame on the schools. […]
Posted inOpinion, The Back Story, Transportation
Five takes on the T
EVERYONE’S TALKING ABOUT the collapse of the T and wondering whether, to borrow a phrase from departing GM Beverly Scott, even God Jr. could get the trains running on time […]
Posted inOpinion, Transportation
Walsh’s legislative skills needed on transportation
A new mayor provides an opportunity for new thinking about Boston-area transportation. And since state participation is a must when it comes to the transportation policies that would create the […]