IN THE STATE of Massachusetts, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education assigns all public schools a rating. Level 1 schools can boast they’ve received the state’s highest rating. […]
What makes a Level 1 school?
Posted inThe Download
What the pundits had to say
We’re assuming everyone saw Monday night’s presidential debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump (and if you didn’t, here’s where you can.) Let’s spend our time bringing you up to […]
Posted inHealth Care
Cerberus begins recouping Steward investment
CERBERUS CAPITAL MANAGEMENT started recouping its investment in Steward Health Care on Monday as the Massachusetts-based hospital system announced it was raising $1.25 billion through a deal with an Alabama […]
Posted inTransportation
T janitors say private vendors cut health benefits
JANITORS FOR THE private vendors contracting with the MBTA, who could go on strike on Friday if no agreement is reached, told alarmed members of the Fiscal and Management Control […]
Posted inTransportation
Advocates push T to restore late-night service
MBTA OFFICIALS CONTINUED to take a slow approach to rebooting late-night bus service over concerns about cost despite a detailed plan from advocates and pleas from state and local officials […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service
DeLeo to consult economists on taxes
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE With tax revenue growth falling short of levels needed to meet spending demands, House Speaker Robert DeLeo said over the weekend that he wants to hear […]
Posted inHealth Care, Opinion
Good old times never existed
AS A YOUNG BOY with cerebral palsy, I lived in a state institution. As a young Boston College graduate, I worked in a state institution. As a member of the […]
Posted inEnvironment, Opinion
Baker’s energy policy only part right
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER’S FLURRY of announcements on climate change and clean energy has elicited cautiously optimistic praise from some sustainable energy advocates. While many details of the administration’s new initiatives are yet […]
Posted inEnvironment, Opinion
From too cheap to meter to too risky to run
NUCLEAR OPERATORS in California, Connecticut, Illinois, and New York are asking state lawmakers for additional monies—above and beyond the market prices of electricity and electric capacity—to keep their plants open […]
Posted inState House News Service, The Download
Are you ready for some debate?
Get your popcorn ready. It should be a brawl, probably one of the highest rated and most anticipated Monday night matchups in decades, kickoff at 9. Of course you know […]
Posted inThe Codcast
Episode 19: State economy hot, but not tax revenues
The Massachusetts economy is humming along. The unemployment rate fell to 3.9 percent in August, its lowest level since 2001. But state tax revenues are not keeping pace. They fell […]
Posted inThe Download
The Codcast: State economy hot, but not tax revenues
The Massachusetts economy is humming along. The unemployment rate fell to 3.9 percent in August, its lowest level since 2001. But state tax revenues are not keeping pace. They fell […]
Posted inEnvironment
Baker rolling out new solar incentives
THE BAKER ADMINISTRATION is preparing to roll out the draft of a new solar incentive program on Friday that sets a ceiling on subsidies and is expected to reduce their […]
Posted inThe Download
No easy cure for health care costs
A big goal in health care reform is to figure out ways to deliver care as well or better than it’s now provided at lower cost. It’s something everyone can […]
Posted inThe Download
Here’s what an apparent overdose looks like
Everyone has read countless stories about the horrors of addiction, but a video taken in one of the aisles of a Family Dollar store in Lawrence on Sunday morning makes […]
Posted inEducation, Opinion
Boston’s ‘A team’ of charter school leaders
ANYONE LISTENING TO the pricey TV ad duels over whether to lift the cap on charter schools in Massachusetts knows there’s plenty to disagree about. But only the careful listeners […]
Posted inThe Download
Who’s going to bet against Baker?
It was bound to happen. After 20 months in office, the honeymoon is over for Gov. Charlie Baker as he has dropped from the position as the nation’s most popular […]
Posted inTransportation
MBTA signs lucrative ad contract
THE MBTA’S OVERSIGHT BOARD approved a new advertising contract on Monday that is expected to generate at least $136 million over the next five years with no cash outlay required […]
Posted inTransportation
T offers plan to boost Red Line service
MBTA OFFICIALS on Monday outlined a plan to dramatically improve service on the Red Line, but to execute the plan they said the existing procurement for new rail cars would […]
Posted inThe Download
Tackling retirement insecurity
“Can you have a good life if you don’t have a good job?” That was the provocative headline on a Sunday Review piece in Sunday’s New York Times by author […]
Posted inEnvironment, Opinion
State on verge of clean energy transformation
SOMETIMES INCREMENTAL CHANGES result in a patchwork of policies whose larger significance may be missed – and along with it major opportunities. That is the case with Massachusetts energy policy […]
Posted inOpinion, Transportation
Aloisi responds to Gonneville
MBTA CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER JEFF GONNEVILLE rightly takes pride in the work he and his fellow MBTA employees perform every day, keeping our aging public transportation moving as best they […]
Posted inTransportation
T official disputes shutdown cost estimate
The September 15 opinion piece by James Aloisi, the former Massachusetts secretary of transportation, exploring the end-of-day shutdown process of the MBTA, contains several factual errors and misrepresents much of […]
Posted inEnvironment
Baker signs climate change order
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER, who six years ago expressed skepticism about the science of climate change, signed an executive order on Friday setting the state on a course to develop a […]