This week on the Codcast, CommonWealth Beacon’s Jennifer Smith catches up with Jessica Tang, president of the American Federation of Teachers Massachusetts and recently a DNC delegate, after her return from the convention. They discuss the place of education unions in national and state politics, the MCAS ballot measure here in Massachusetts, and what’s ahead for education and health care priorities.
Teachers unions and the Democratic Party
Posted inPolitics
Teachers unions lean in on national ticket shift and a state ballot push
Just as their biennial convention kicked off, the executive committee jumped from endorsing Joe Biden on a Saturday to flipping to Kamala Harris on Sunday after Biden dropped out.
Posted inMarijuana
Goldberg in difficult spot on O’Brien decision
It’s an unprecedented situation. Goldberg has spent close to $750,000 in taxpayer dollars on legal fees during the fight with O’Brien and O’Brien has probably spent a similar amount or more on private attorneys. O’Brien has also continued to collect her $196,551 annual salary during her suspension.
Posted inOpinion
Schoolhouse doors increasingly close to children of color
What is remarkable is our individual and collective failure to confront these wrongdoings around our kitchen tables, within our classrooms, and in our halls of power. This is not just a policy failure; it’s a moral failure that makes us complicit in perpetuating racial injustice.
Posted inOpinion
Baseball’s Hall of Fame should rewrite Tom Yawkey’s plaque
Longtime Boston Red Sox owner Tom Yawkey was inducted more than 40 years ago into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. The plaque honoring Yawkey, whose team was the last in baseball to sign a Black player, should be revised to take account of his role in maintaining the sport’s segregation.
Posted inOpinion
Free College only pays off if students know about it
As any good politician will tell you, you have to get in face of your prospects everyday. Lack of information is a big reason low-income students fail to sign up for financial aid. A unified webpage can tell the full story. It is where advertising must bring people.
Posted inEnergy
GE Vernova reports another blade failure in England
Cambridge-based GE Vernova told the Nantucket Select Board that a turbine at the Dogger Bank wind farm “experienced an isolated blade event that occurred during commissioning.” The company said it is investigating what happened.
Posted inPolitics
Political Notebook: What type of progressive does Somerville want? | Marty Walsh rumblings | Eng on move
As she seeks election to a third term, Uyterhoeven is facing a challenge in the September 3 Democratic primary from Kathleen Hornby, who knows Beacon Hill well from her work as a legislative aide, most recently for Rep. Marjorie Decker of Cambridge. Hornby says she is just as progressive as Uyterhoeven but would approach the job differently to deliver more for the district.
Posted inOpinion
Look around, barriers to clean energy development not hard to find
A healthy regulatory environment — one in which the state and utilities are open to honest discussion about balancing long-term projects and consumer costs — attracts capital investment that fuels infrastructure development. Thus far, Massachusetts is sending a positive signal to the market that stands in contrast to its neighbors.
Posted inMarijuana
Cannabis commissioner pushing for forensic audit of agency
Forensic audits typically examine an organization’s financial records and look for fraud, misconduct, or irregularities
Posted inTransportation
MBTA board, but not Tibbits-Nutt, talks new revenue
Monica Tibbits-Nutt, the secretary of transportation, a member of the MBTA board, and the co-chair of the transportation revenue task force, said nothing during the T board’s discussion about new revenues.
Posted inHealth Care
St. Elizabeth’s landlords reject Healey low-ball eminent domain offer
“Steward and Apollo need to stop playing games with people’s health care. We are moving forward with plans to take St. Elizabeth’s by eminent domain,” a Healey spokesperson said Wednesday afternoon in response to the offer rejection.
Posted inOpinion
Not all screen time is created equal
Doom scrolling is vastly different from creating Pinterest boards, watching history videos on YouTube, or solving the daily Wordle.
Posted inCourts
SJC to decide who gets $70,000 ring after engagement called off
The question before the high court, according to a request for amicus briefs, is whether Massachusetts courts should continue applying a “fault-based approach” in determining whether an engagement ring must be returned to the giver after a broken engagement. If not, the court asks, what’s the better rule?
Posted inBy The Numbers
Sports betting is soaking ‘financially constrained’ households
The study linked sports betting to “a large decrease” in deposits to brokerage accounts, accompanied by “decreased credit availability, increased credit card debt, and a higher incidence rate of overdrawing bank accounts.”
Posted inOpinion
Should we require voters to produce an ID before casting a ballot?
Massachusetts residents do not have to show an ID to vote, but some think we should join the 36 states that have that requirement.
Posted inState Government
With chance she could be acting governor, DiZoglio drafted order on non-disclosure agreements
“I do not feel that that would have been a way to make meaningful and positive change, positioning the administration to come home to a signed executive order,” she said. “It’s my intention to partner with this administration.”
Posted inHousing
Milton makes interesting case on MBTA Communities Act
“This is a case about the separation of powers and the rule of law—about who sets the rules that govern the Commonwealth and how they do so,” says the Milton brief.
Posted inOpinion
Leave none of the Steward hospitals behind
We have been told that the state lacks the means to intervene in the closure of Nashoba Valley Medical Center. If true, the state must do everything else it can invest in the health of the community and not just to put a temporary Band-Aid on the situation.