What do Bill de Blasio’s rise, Larry Summers’ exit, and Elizabeth Warren’s rosy future have to do with each other? Everything, according to Peter Beinart, whose 5,700-word essay last week […]
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 inHealth Care, Politics
Healthy attitude
In the crowded race for mayor in Boston, where candidates have struggled to distinguish themselves from the pack, Bill Walczak finds himself in an unusual position. He has stood alone […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Breakfast reflux
For something teed up in Friday’s Globe as a “no-holds-barred political slugfest,” the showdown over South Boston’s annual St. Patrick’s Day breakfast quickly got downgraded into more of a playground […]
Posted inEconomy, Politics
Motor City breakdown
“I’d blow up the place and start all over.” That was the quip from Boston Mayor Tom Menino about Detroit that has caused such a stir. Menino’s comment, which appeared […]
Posted inEducation
Teacher prep gets failing grade
If our public schools are struggling, maybe it’s no wonder. According to a recent study, the colleges and universities that train American teachers do an abysmal job, churning out graduates […]
Posted inPolitics
The new nativism
It should probably come as no surprise that the influence of “outside money” has become a flashpoint in the race for mayor of Boston. For along with our capital city’s […]
Posted inThe Download, Uncategorized
The new nativism
It should probably come as no surprise that the influence of “outside money” has become a flashpoint in the race for mayor of Boston. For along with our capital city’s […]
Posted inPolitics
A gay-friendly field
If the goal was to draw out differences among candidates for mayor on issues of concern to the gay community, last week’s forum sponsored by the Dorchester gay political group […]
Posted inEducation, The Download
Good school hunting
Elysium, the dystopian thriller starring Matt Damon that topped the weekend box office ratings, is just the sort of tale the Cambridge homeboy is drawn to. A futuristic sci-fi commentary […]
Posted inPolitics
Barrier-breaking candidate of status quo
There was excitement in the air last Wednesday night as Charlotte Golar Richie addressed several hundred supporters gathered at Hibernian Hall in Roxbury. But the charge in the room certainly […]
Posted inThe Download, Uncategorized
As the Globe turns
The timing did not suggest the best news sense in the world, but high-stakes deal-making evidently doesn’t take its cues from lowly ink-stained newsies. In the wee hours Saturday morning, […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Many mayoral mini-mes
Rob Consalvo, in this profile by WBUR’s David Scharfenberg, doesn’t try to hide his message that a Consalvo administration would look a lot like the Menino administration. “In Consalvo world,” […]
Posted inPolitics
Many mayoral mini-mes
Rob Consalvo, in this profile by WBUR’s David Scharfenberg, doesn’t try to hide his message that a Consalvo administration would look a lot like the Menino administration. “In Consalvo world,” […]
Posted inThe Download, Uncategorized
The (destructive) power of social media
The Boston Marathon bombings, along with all their horror, became the latest event to showcase the incredible power of social media. Sometimes that was clearly for the better. A tweet […]
Posted inThe Download, Uncategorized
Steve Wynn, poor rich guy
Egomaniacal casino billionaires do not generally make for the most sympathetic figures. But Boston officials are doing their best to make you root for Steve Wynn in the casino showdown […]
Posted inPolitics, The Back Story
Mondays with Marty
The winning path in Boston’s 12-way scramble for mayor travels first through a candidate’s core base of supporters, but has to branch out from there to less familiar terrain. Which […]
Posted inEconomy
Poverty sprawl
INNER CITY SLUMS along with isolated rural outposts, have long defined our concept of poverty in America. Whether it is endless blocks of urban deprivation or a dilapidated house with […]
Posted inEducation, The Download
The push and pull of school reform
The driving force behind the education reform movement in the US has been a recognition that poor and minority children were being left far behind by a public education system […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Voting rights ruling leaves protections in doubt
Did the sky fall with last week’s Supreme Court ruling invalidating a key section of the 1965 Voting Rights Act? You would certainly have thought so judging by some of […]
Posted inEducation, Politics
Group pushes school autonomy
Twenty years ago this month, as Tom Menino was about to take office as Boston’s acting mayor, the state adopted the landmark 1993 education reform law. It was, in many […]
Posted inEconomy, The Download
Boston Fed chief Rosengren: Austerity hurts
Eric Rosengren, president of the Boston Federal Reserve Bank, has rarely shied away from controversial issues, and he’s showing no sign of stopping now. In a speech today at a […]
Posted inEducation, The Download
The never ending charter school battle
A new chapter in the battle over charter schools opened last week on Beacon Hill, but the storyline of this long-running saga never really seems to change much. After a […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Opinion
Bombs and guns
THE IMAGES AND SOUNDS from the gruesome scene that unfolded along Boylston Street in Boston are now seared in many people’s minds: The explosions, the smoke clouds that suddenly enveloped […]