Somewhere between the classic Republican world view summed up by his new budget chief (in 140 characters or less), who said the state’s problem is that we’re “overregulated and not […]
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, Politics, The Back Story
Patrick’s education-policy split personality
When the Boston Globe reported on its front page earlier this month on a brewing backlash against what critics say is an overemphasis on standardized testing in Massachusetts schools, the […]
Posted inPolitics
Will the Warren wing take flight?
Whether it was an effort to tame some of the restive rebellious energy she has helped unleash, to tap into it at a time when the party’s fortunes have hit […]
Posted inPolitics
President-in-waiting
IF LIFE HAD taken a different turn, Stan Rosenberg might be an Orthodox Jewish rabbi today. That was his ambition while studying for his bar mitzvah in the early 1960s […]
Posted inEducation
Evaluations score most teachers highly
The second year of a new state educator evaluation system has produced results that largely mirror those of the first year, with nearly all teachers and school administrators in Massachusetts […]
Posted inEducation
With a six-hour-long court hearing on the settlement agreement between Partners HealthCare System and the Attorney General’s office coming to a close, Martha Coakley rose from her seat in the […]
Posted inPolitics
Evan Falchuk discusses his election ‘win’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Xk3XviDmAs4
Posted inPolitics
Mike Dukakis was right
Charlie Baker greets a voter on Election Day outside the polling place at Holy Name Parish Hall in West Roxbury. In 1988, Michael Dukakis got walloped in his bid for […]
Posted inEconomy, Environment, Politics
Baker and the gas tax
CHARLIE BAKER HAS vowed to oppose any tax increases if elected governor, and that includes any attempt to raise the gas tax. Baker opposes a move made by the Legislature […]
Posted inEducation
Boston failing thousands of students, says reform group
A new education group is sounding the alarm on dismal outcomes in Boston schools, saying thousands of students remain mired in failing schools, a situation that demands urgent action and […]
Posted inOpinion, Politics
Mush in the middle
In lamenting the sleepy state of the Massachusetts governor’s race, much has been made of the less-than-electrifying personas of the two front-runners. It’s true that neither Republican Charlie Baker nor […]
Posted inOpinion, Politics
Machine breakdown
Campaigns are living, breathing things. They take on a life of their own, with their own rhythm and momentum, a momentum that can’t be easily thrown off by outside forces. […]
Posted inPolitics
Final sprint
Leaving it all on the field “Hello, Marty? It’s Steve Grossman. Listen, Marty, I need you to look at something…” Steve Grossman is four days away from what could be […]
Posted inOpinion, Politics
Endorsements don’t always translate to votes
If endorsements reflected a candidate’s standing among voters, Steve Grossman would be sitting pretty just days from the September 9 primary for governor. Instead, he finds himself trailing Democratic front-runner […]
Posted inGambling, The Download
Should New York’s casino worries be ours, too?
A Northeast Democratic governor determined to boost state revenue and job growth goes all-in on a push for four new gambling facilities. Nearby states are eating his state’s lunch when […]
Posted inPolitics
Super PAC supporting Grossman is bankrolled by… his mother
Steve Grossman, call your mother. Wait, no, better not. It could be legally risky if the conversation veers toward a certain random topic, like, say, the fact that you are […]
Posted inEducation, Opinion, State House News Service
A choice debate
Boston emerged as ground zero in the recent charter school debate on Beacon Hill. Not only was state Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz of Jamaica Plain, co-chair of the Legislature’s education committee, […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Dark money unlikely to brighten Grossman’s odds
Cue the dark-money attack ad sliming the candidate in the lead. Cue the counter ad from the attack target calling out the candidate the attack ad is fronting for as […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service
CommonWealth’s coverage of the Probation trial verdict
3 Probation defendants found guilty by jury Fraudulent hires linked to DeLeo, Murray, other lawmakers A federal jury found former state Probation Department commissioner John O’Brien guilty of mail fraud, […]
Posted inPolitics
A stain on the dome
The guilty finding was made at the federal courthouse on Boston’s waterfront, but its reverberations were loudest a mile away at the State House. No legislators were formally charged in […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Politics
Police chiefs, activists rip Senate on gun bill
Standing in front of phalanx of more than a dozen Massachusetts police chiefs, gun-control activist John Rosenthal called out the state Senate this morning for giving in to pressure from […]
Posted inEconomy, The Download
Casinos’ slipping fortunes
It seems like eons ago that Bob DeLeo was extolling his casino bill (insisting on calling it a “jobs bill”), Deval Patrick was waxing rhapsodic about something called a “destination […]
Posted inPolitics
Probation closing statements: The prosecution, the defense & the judge
The prosecution: Former Probation commissioner John O’Brien wrote a January 2007 letter to his nemesis, Trial Court chief Robert Mulligan, in which he defended the way people were hired at […]