MORE MASSACHUSETTS voters will participate in the Democratic primaries for constitutional office than any year since 2006. There’s just one big problem: most of them have no opinion of the candidates. As shown in a recent MassINC poll sponsored by Priorities For Progress, fewer than half of primary voters believe they have sufficient information to choose […]
John Griffin
Posted inEducation
SJC charter school ruling a wake-up call
LAST MONTH, the Supreme Judicial Court dismissed a challenge to the Commonwealth’s charter school cap, ruling that the education clause of the Massachusetts Constitution does not provide students a right to attend public charter schools. Arguing that Massachusetts’s cap on charter schools violated their right to a quality education, plaintiffs who had unsuccessfully entered charter […]
Posted inOpinion
Preserve ‘Grand Bargain’ in education
IN 1993, THE Democratic-led Legislature, together with a Republican governor, entered into a “Grand Bargain” in education policy: The state would substantially increase education funding in exchange for schools using high standards and implementing a strong accountability system to measure progress against those standards. The Patrick administration and the overwhelmingly Democratic Legislature renewed and strengthened that bargain in […]