sponsored by The Boston Foundation
CommonWealth Voices aims to be a beacon of robust discourse, offering a platform for analysis and advocacy on the challenges and aspirations of political life in Massachusetts.
The Boston Foundation is deeply committed to civic leadership, and essential to our work is the exchange of informed opinions. We are proud to partner on a platform that engages such a broad range of demographic and ideological viewpoints.
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Massachusetts schools face a desperate shortage of STEM teachers. Here’s how we can fill that gap.
We are asking more of our students than ever before. Now we need to build the pipeline of teachers who can get them there.
Boston is arguing about crime statistics. The real test is the walk home.
The test is simple: Are people safe, and do they feel safe, walking through downtown’s streets, stations, and parks? Judge our progress by that standard.
Addressing our housing crisis means tackling transportation woes, too
MASSACHUSETTS RANKS NEAR the top in education, health, and economic output. It also ranks near the top for cost of living. Housing and transportation drive much of that cost. Those costs show up in daily life. A nurse in Worcester spends 45 minutes commuting because they can’t afford anything closer. A teacher in Fitchburg drives two hours daily for the same reason. A two-earner household in many communities still spends more than half its income on housing and transportation combined, because both adults need cars to reach work. Seniors who want to downsize often can’t find smaller homes near services,…
If we want better local government, especially in Gateway Cities, let’s change the election calendar so more people vote when we elect municipal leaders
“No other institutional reform we know of—short of making voting compulsory—comes anywhere close to having this kind of impact on turnout,” says the University of Chicago’s Center for Effective Government of aligning local and national elections. Â
Your teenager is still figuring out who they are. Big Tech’s algorithms act like they already know.
At precisely the age when young people are still figuring out who they are, an algorithm optimized for engagement should not be shaping the possibilities.
How can voters know if Suffolk DA Hayden deserves a second term?
If the evidence that he deserves a second term exists, Hayden should produce it. The jurors — Suffolk County voters — deserve to see it before they deliberate.Â
Uncertainty is the new competitiveness challenge for Massachusetts
Uncertainty driven by macroeconomic, geopolitical, and instability in federal policy has now surpassed affordability as the top concern facing Roundtable members – leaders of some of the largest employers across Massachusetts.
Now that we’ve adopted Right to Read legislation for our schools, we must revamp teacher preparation to match it
In order to be sure our state’s new literacy legislation has the most impact on our students, we need to ensure that we have the same laser focus on teacher training that this bill has brought to our students.
Why are political insiders so afraid of giving voters more choices?
This November, Massachusetts voters can decide whether our elections are working for them, or whether they are mostly working for the people already in power.
Fall River waterfront makeover shouldn’t leave out affordable housing
Unfortunately, under Fall River’s current plans for the almost 1,500 homes slated for the site, bidders must defer to the city’s “strong preference for market-rate housing as the development option for the Property.”
Massachusetts needs a data-center strategy, not a series of permits
Massachusetts should decide what role data centers will play in its energy, climate, economic-development, and environmental-justice future—and what these extraordinarily energy-intensive facilities must contribute in return for public support.Â
Why polling is so prone to prediction problems in primary races
As races from other places and times have shown us, when it comes to primaries, anything can happen.Â
A Cambridge turf battle offers broader lessons on citizen involvement
The Ahern Field saga is a reminder that when all stakeholders—parents, neighbors, young people, and taxpayers— show up together, they can move government.
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