Piling multiple layers of new requirements on our students will create new obstacles rather than providing opportunities for them to increase their life skills and pursue their individual goals.
Opinion
Posted inOpinion
Instead of a war on poverty, we wage war on the poor
EVERY SAFETY NET in this country has been stitched with holes just wide enough for many of us to slip through. We’ve recently had a front row seat to this […]
Posted inOpinion
Beacon Hill’s new rules are good. They should follow them.
Everyday people–and not just advocates deep in the trenches–are seeing that things need to change.
Posted inOpinion
Why are we looking to deport ambition?
These students are tomorrow’s nurses, engineers, teachers, artists, and entrepreneurs. Driving them from classrooms is a moral failure, but also an economic one: It makes the next generation smaller, less educated, and less able to compete in a global economy that depends on talent and drive. We are shooting ourselves in the foot.
Posted inOpinion
New graduation requirement must include rigorous statewide standards
Ensuring a reliable, objective measure of student competency must remain a top priority. Our students deserve rigorous statewide standards, not subjective benchmarks at a district’s discretion.
Posted inOpinion
We can’t sit idle as Washington pulls the plug on the Massachusetts innovation economy
The Commonwealth needs to act boldly and creatively to respond to the threats to its innovation economy. Fighting to reverse these moves in Washington should be a top priority, but we surely can’t count on that happening.
Posted inOpinion
State antisemitism commission report is a strong call to action
The recommendations of the antisemitism commission focus on Jewish students, because that is they who have an unprecedented need for timely, effective intervention.
Posted inOpinion
The state commission on antisemitism doubles down on its mistakes
The report’s concern is not with universal rights but with how anti-Israel speech makes some Jews feel, an approach that can only make antisemitism worse. It distracts from the interests that Jews share with all minorities in vigorous civil rights guarantees.
Posted inOpinion
I’ve seen hate up close. The antisemitism commission’s recommendations can help stop it.
We know from our own lives that antisemitism, if left unchecked, doesn’t stay contained. We must confront it with interventions that work, and the state commission offers reasonable, practical, common-sense safeguards against allowing yesterday’s hate to masquerade as today’s education.
Posted inOpinion
Massachusetts lawmakers must reject the antisemitism commission’s flawed recommendations
The question isn’t whether to fight antisemitism. It’s how to fight it without sacrificing the democratic rights that actually keep Jewish people—and everyone else—safe.
Posted inOpinion
Massachusetts lagging on implementation of data equity law
Over two years since the law’s passage, we have seen little progress and movement on implementation, and our residents are continuing to suffer the consequences.
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Efficient electric equipment, powered by clean sources, is the answer to the energy affordability crunch
Better equipment and cheaper energy sources are critical to achieving an affordable energy future.
Posted inOpinion
Both the left and right are failing our children
It’s tempting to blame one side of partisan politics. But the truth is that both liberals and conservatives are failing our children. The village has eroded—and parents are being left to figure it out alone.
Posted inOpinion
Meta should not get a pass on accountability for potential harm of products to minors
A SWATH OF potentially consequential cases for kids’ online safety are making their way through US courts. On Friday, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court will hear arguments in a pivotal […]
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Nuclear energy should be part of our carbon-free future
Nuclear technology has evolved dramatically since the Pilgrim-era reactors started operation in the 1970s.
Posted inOpinion
How a 1940 electoral system reform in Cambridge made its 2025 housing breakthrough possible
This is more than just a housing “win.” It’s a triumph for Cambridge’s unique brand of representative democracy—one that balances citywide priorities with fair representation for diverse communities.
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The Gettysburg Address (revised)
President Abraham Lincoln delivered his 272-word Gettysburg Address during the Civil War on November 19, 1863, at the dedication of the Gettysburg National Cemetery near where 50,000 soldiers died four […]
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E-bikes are supercharging the Bluebikes system — and that’s a good thing
BLUEBIKE RIDERSHIP has soared in Greater Boston. While there is no single solution to our many transportation challenges, the growing popularity of Bluebikes is showing that the region’s public bikeshare […]
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On bail policy, Massachusetts must catch up
Massachusetts has positioned itself as a leader on a range of policy domains under attack by the Trump administration. But as a national conversation has arisen about cash bail and public safety, fueled by misinformation from the White House, Massachusetts is on the sidelines.
Posted inOpinion
Understanding the Massachusetts health care crisis, with help from Muhammad Ali
While there was general consensus at the hearing that it can’t be business as usual, the ideas offered up for what to do about it were piecemeal. There was no coherent roadmap, no shared strategy, and certainly nothing resembling a statewide plan.
Posted inOpinion
State leaders must bring pragmatism to climate debate
CLIMATE RESILIENCY IS a challenge, not a crisis. And when we treat it as a crisis—when urgency is used to silence debate or justify extreme measures—the quality of our decisions […]
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It’s time to ban cellphones in schools
A new generation of parents are demanding a constant lifeline to their children, unaware of the detrimental social impacts of cellphone addiction that teachers are witnessing firsthand.
Posted inOpinion
Solidarity among groups more crucial than ever amid changed landscape on race
Since post-Civil War Reconstruction, history is replete with moments of racial progress followed by backlash and retrenchment led by those benefiting from the status quo.
Posted inOpinion
House climate bill is a big step backward
At a moment when President Trump is dismantling federal climate policy, this bill would do the work for him. It would abandon our 2030 emissions targets, gut our most effective programs, and lock Massachusetts into the very fossil fuel dependence that has driven today’s affordability crisis.