Without the MCAS graduation standard, we risk returning to the pre-1993 era, when a high school diploma in Massachusetts was little more than a participation medal rather than a genuine indicator of readiness.
MCAS helps us stay the course on education standards and gains
Posted inThe Codcast
Balancing profit and care in Massachusetts health reform
This week on The Codcast, John McDonough of the T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Paul Hattis of the Lown Institute sit down with Sen. Cindy Friedman to discuss how the state Legislature is tackling health care reform. They unpack the fragility of Massachusetts’ health care following Steward hospital closures, holding insurers, pharmaceutical companies, and private equity accountable, and maintaining transparency in the legislative process.
Posted inHealth Care
Senate leader says Mass. health care ‘incredibly fragile right now’
“If you look at all of our hospitals, even our historically financially secure ones, all of them are struggling,” said Sen. Cindy Friedman, the Senate chair of the Joint Committee on Health Care Financing. “All of our community health centers are struggling. And I don’t mean just that we’re trying to clean up little pockets here and there. They are really struggling. The cost of health care is just beyond what anyone I think had envisioned it would be, especially since Covid. So nobody’s on great footing.”
Posted inOpinion
A consumer’s guide to newspaper endorsements
The problem with the moves by Bezos and Soon-Shiong is that they acted at the last minute, overturning their editorial boards and convincing absolutely no one that there was any principle behind their decision beyond not provoking the wrath of former President Donald Trump.
Posted inOpinion
Fostering dialogue on Israel, Palestine, and antisemitism on campus
Universities are learning environments where uncomfortable ideas should be raised and examined, requiring a delicate balance between creating space for legitimate discourse and not being soft on antisemitism.
Posted inOpinion
Why are we so fixated on offshore wind?
Eco-Nuclear Solutions respectfully asks Massachusetts to take a break and carefully consider our path forward. The decisions we make today will have an enormous impact on our future and our children’s future.
Posted inState Government
Political Notebook: Diverse tax talk at Gillette
“That’s not really a thing that comes up,” said defensiver linemn Keion White after the forum. “Personally, yeah, we pay an extra 4 percent. But Massachusetts does a good job of funding social programs, and we feel our money is going to a good cause.”
Posted inOpinion
Massachusetts has become a border state
Fact: Warren supports the lax border policies costing us billions of dollars in state aid and federal resources as we struggle with the migrant crisis.
Posted inTransportation
MBTA estimates 25% of south-side commuter rail fares not being collected
“That’s a lot – 25 percent,” Transportation Secretary Monica Tibbits-Nutt said. “That’s a really big loss of revenue.”
Posted inState Government
Senate goes different law-making route to pass climate bill
Tarr, a Republican, said he saw the Senate’s new standing order for this session as a one-time event. “We should never let this practice be part of the everyday operations of this body,” he told his colleagues during a speech.
Posted inCourts
Tracking cookies doesn’t violate wiretap law, SJC rules
The 1960s-era Wiretap Act prohibits covertly intercepting communications, but the majority of Supreme Judicial Court justices concluded Thursday that use of popular AdTech tools that monitored a Revere resident’s browsing on the New England Baptist Hospital and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center websites doesn’t fall under that definition.
Posted inState Government
Beacon Hill mourns death of Rep. Gifford, Republican from Wareham
“Susan was also kind, and a person of integrity, traits that allowed her to bring an invaluable perspective to her work here in the Legislature,” said Spreaker Ron Mariano.
Posted inState Government
Business community needs attitude adjustment, Michlewitz says
“The negativity I hear on a daily basis is enough to make you think we’re bordering on the Great Depression, or that we’re almost wishing it into existence.”
Posted inOpinion
As minority enrollment slips at most colleges, Mass. offers way forward
And, at a time when the state faces real challenges to retain its talented workforce, the roughly 19,000 who graduate from UMass every year are overwhelmingly more likely to stay in Massachusetts than the graduates of private schools and contribute to our workforce.
Posted inGovernment
Wu, business leaders reach compromise on property tax shift
Business leaders and analysts say the compromise is a short-term solution to a problem that isn’t going away.
Posted inHealth
Tobacco-free movement takes aim at access to nicotine pouches
Some municipal boards of health, like those in Greenfield and Groton, are floating an “out of sight, out of mind” tactic, restricting certain nicotine product sales to adult-only retail tobacco stores and sparking the ire of retail associations.
Posted inEnergy
Vineyard Wind to remove already installed blades, strengthen others
The wind farm and its wind turbine supplier, GE Vernova, said the decision to remove some blades and strengthen others followed a review of 8,300 ultrasound images of each installed blade and physical blade inspections using “crawler drones.”
Posted inOpinion
Legislature pulled up short in July, but it’s getting job done now
My reduced anxiety about the Legislature’s productivity this session doesn’t mean that there isn’t still room for improvement. There is no question that the lawmaking process can be smoother, and I’ve been glad to see leadership acknowledge that the Legislature can do better.
Posted inBallot Questions
Mariano, Spilka don’t rule out revisiting ballot questions after election
Two ballot questions in particular have drawn Beacon Hill’s scorn: Question 1 would explicitly authorize the state auditor to audit the state Legislature, while Question 2 would remove passing the MCAS test as a high school graduation requirement.