Massachusetts is firmly in a parochial phase, reflected in policy choices over the past decade that have led to job losses, rising living costs, and outmigration of talent and investment.
Jim Stergios
Posted inOpinion
Massachusetts has one of the slowest job growth rates in the country. That’s a big problem.
Since early 2020, the Bay State has had the third slowest private sector job growth in the nation.
Posted inOpinion
Wu’s tax shift is no compromise
Boston’s double-digit office vacancy rates—driven in part by remote work—are among the highest in the nation and unlikely to decrease in the near future, curbing demand for office space and straining city revenues as companies opt for less space when leases expire. Rising construction materials costs and interest rates further cloud the outlook.
Posted inOpinion
The compelling case for Massachusetts legislative reform
What’s the one thing businesses, climate advocates, and lobbyists can agree on? The need to overhaul the state’s broken legislative process. Here are six ideas to get the conversation started.
Posted inEducation
Agreement on Boston schools must be call to action
THE RECENT AGREEMENT between Boston Mayor Michelle Wu and the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) is a welcome development. It’s not cause for celebration, but a good […]
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 inEducation
Time to fix the charter school cap
THE STATUTORY RED TAPE restricting the number (and percentage) of students who can attend charter public schools has the Swiftian feel of Lilliputians tying down one of the best solutions […]
Posted inOpinion
Executive branch overreach, blanket orders having harmful effects
WHEN CONFRONTED WITH disasters, human beings need time to process how reality has changed and the best ways to move forward. To protect the public during the COVID-19 pandemic, elected […]
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 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 inHealth Care
Past time to get serious about health care costs
LAST SEPTEMBER, Pioneer observed that Massachusetts had dodged a federal bullet when the US Senate failed by one vote to repeal the Affordable Care Act. Had they succeeded, the Commonwealth […]
Posted inPolitics
Yawkey Way renaming only sanitizes history
OFFENDING SIGNS of the past have now been removed. Baseball fans are safe from reminders about the troubling history of our hometown team and the mixed legacy of one of the […]
Posted inEducation
Charter ruling a step backwards
THESE WOULD BE the best of times for Boston public charter schools were education policy decisions driven by evidence. Boston’s charters are nationwide models and uniquely successful at closing pernicious achievement […]
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 inHealth Care, Opinion
Getting to yes on MassHealth
MASSACHUSETTS HAS A unique culture when it comes to health care. Over the last quarter century, we have seen the business, provider, payer, consumer, and academic sectors come together to […]
Posted inEconomy, Opinion
Baker doubling down on failed biotech strategy
This opinion piece has been corrected in several spots (headline and story) to reflect the fact that $1 billion has not been spent by the Massachusetts Life Science Center. Only […]
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
Extend the T’s Pacheco Law exemption
“Competition is a good thing,” said MBTA Acting General Manager Brian Shortsleeve. “It drives innovation; it drives productivity.” That sums up the importance of extending the MBTA’s exemption from the Pacheco […]
Posted inEducation, Opinion
Charter question defeat presents new challenge
IT’S A NEW YEAR and the people of Massachusetts have spoken. On Question 2, a ballot initiative which would have given urban students more charter public school options, the electorate said no. […]
Posted inEducation, Opinion
Has the Lawrence school receivership run out of steam?
TEN YEARS AGO, engulfed by Katrina, New Orleans was the site of almost unimaginable loss of life, with entire neighborhoods, including the city’s entire network of neighborhood schools, laid […]
Posted inOpinion, Transportation
South Coast Rail not the way to go
Residents of Massachusetts’ South Coast believe their region hasn’t received the state investment it deserves. They’re right. The Big Dig vacuumed money away from transportation projects across Massachusetts. More recently, […]
Posted inEducation
Moving backwards
I AGREE WITH Commissioner Chester that some around K-12 education are enthusiastic about Common Core. Washington, DC-based trade groups like the Council of Chief State School Officers, the National Governor’s […]