I’VE BEEN AN EDUCATOR IN BOSTON public schools for more than 30 years. I am a high school biology teacher, who holds a graduate degree from Harvard. I spent three […]
Pool teachers not unwanted, just underutilized
Posted inOpinion
Francis Appleton, a man on autopilot
Author’s Note: This story will disappoint you if you approach it expecting a Christmas ghost story. No eerie images appear on doorknockers, no apparitions escort our protagonist to ancient graveyards. […]
Posted inOpinion
Notes from the ACA front lines
THE AFFORDABLE CARE ACT is still the law of the land after a series of failed attacks in Congress. Still, in many states, the time frame for enrolling in the […]
Posted inThe Download
The name game
The Boston Globe finally published the name of the political reporter who was forced to resign after inappropriate advances to a colleague and two women outside the company. But that’s not […]
Posted inUncategorized
O’Sullivan apologizes, McGrory says mistake not to name him
On Thursday evening, CommonWealth received the statement below from former Boston Globe reporter Jim O’Sullivan shortly after the Globe posted online a note to readers from editor Brian McGrory in […]
Posted inThe Back Story
West Station vs. Boston Landing
SOMETHING SEEMS AMISS with the state’s ridership numbers for the proposed West Station in Allston. The draft environmental impact report for the Allston Interchange forecasts 250 daily commuter riders and […]
Posted inThe Download
Did GOP strengthen Affordable Care Act?
Along with celebrating a major revamp of tax rates — which will generate a windfall for lots of companies and wealthy individuals like himself — President Trump is crowing about […]
Posted inEnvironment
Offshore wind: Start big or small?
THE THREE COMPANIES VYING to build the first major offshore wind farm in the United States filed their proposals on Wednesday with Massachusetts officials. Each of the firms kept their […]
Posted inOpinion
Tax cut’s silver linings playbook
A CORE TENET of behavioral economics is that most of us are biased toward optimism. I plead guilty. Today’s Exhibit A of my optimism bias is the Republican federal tax […]
Posted inThe Download
Cardinal sins
Celebrations of someone’s death are saved for the most heinous and reviled among the human population, but it is safe to say those who are sad about the passing of […]
Posted inThe Download
Are PawSox gearing up for a move?
If the Pawtucket Red Sox move to Worcester, would they be called the WorSox? Questions like that are beginning to surface as headlines suggest the Red Sox farm team may […]
Posted inPolitics
Lawyers hired to investigate Rosenberg
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE A TEAM OF LAWYERS, including a former federal prosecutor who helped put one-time House Speaker Sal DiMasi in prison for public corruption, has been retained by […]
Posted inTransportation
T notes: Bus lanes do save time
MBTA OFFICIALS ON MONDAY said initial results from two experiments in Boston and Somerville showed dedicated bus lanes could dramatically cut route times. Jeffrey Gonneville, the T’s deputy general manager, […]
Posted inTransportation
More hurdles for bus maintenance outsourcing
THE MBTA’S POLITICALLY CONTROVERSIAL PLAN to outsource three bus maintenance garages encountered more obstacles on Monday as the agency grappled with negative fallout from two past privatization efforts and learned […]
Posted inTransportation
Worcester Line performance improves dramatically
T OFFICIALS SAY A NEW APPROACH to dealing with commuter rail delays improved performance dramatically on the Worcester Line, which in November had its best month in terms of on-time […]
Posted inUncategorized
Sources: Beacon Hill encounters cost Globe reporter his job
A PROMINENT BOSTON GLOBE State House reporter, who was the subject of an internal sexual harassment complaint, was forced out last month after reporters and editors at the paper learned […]
Posted inThe Codcast
Episode 78: The case for West Station now
In this week’s Codcast, the folks from TransitMatters (Josh Fairchild and James Aloisi) sit down with Jessica Robertson and Ari Ofsevit, two members of the Allston Interchange Task Force (Ofsevit […]
Posted inThe Download
The Codcast: The case for West Station now
The fight over the proposed West Station in Allston is shaping up as an epic transportation struggle. Harvard University is planning to build a new neighborhood in Allston and the […]
Posted inOpinion
Testing isn’t punishment, it’s a matter of social justice
LAST YEAR WHILE CASUALLY asking my son about taking his first MCAS exam as a third grader, he responded with an adverse physical reaction at the mere mention of the […]
Posted inThe Download
School start times zero sum game
One day after the Boston School Committee voted unanimously to change school start times next fall so teenaged students could get a little extra sleep, Boston Magazine published a story […]
Posted inOpinion
Electric vehicle charging gets a jump
MASSACHUSETTS TOOK A MAJOR STEP toward its goal of 300,000 electric vehicles on the road by 2025 when the Department of Public Utilities last week approved the nation’s largest electric […]
Posted inOpinion
S. Coast lawmakers push offshore wind project
The following is a letter sent to Matthew Beaton, the secretary of energy and environmental affairs, on December 12 by Rep. Patricia Haddad of Somerset and cosigned by Sen. Michael […]
Posted inEducation
Mitchell Chester set bar high for next ed commissioner
AS THE Board of Elementary and Secondary Education embarks on its search for a new commissioner following the death in June of Mitchell Chester, I’ve been reflecting on how Commissioner […]
Posted inThe Back Story
Checking in on T control board at halfway point
THE MBTA’s FISCAL AND MANAGEMENT CONTROL BOARD is halfway through its five-year term, which seems like a good time to review its progress so far. The law creating the control board said […]