After 10 years as the artist director of the Boston Children’s Chorus, you’re now taking on the role of president as well. You’ve said you plan to up the organization’s […]
All together now
Posted inEducation
Public schools extend their reach
SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS AROUND the state, faced with rising costs and stagnant budgets, are turning outside their districts —even outside the country—to attract tuition money from foreign students and students from […]
Posted inOpinion
Getting used to the political brushoff
AFTER THE SPEECHES were over at a recent event, I walked over to say hello to one of state’s most prominent elected officials. He’s someone I have known for many […]
Posted inEconomy, Politics
Waiting his turn
PAUL RYAN’S ASCENSION to the House speaker’s chair in October meant some reshuffling at the Ways and Means committee he was leaving behind, a panel with jurisdiction over taxes, trade, […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Another approach on drunken driving
A TOUGH BUT fairly low-tech approach to drunken driving prevention is showing some promise in a handful of states and starting to pick up converts across the country. Called 24/7 […]
Posted inState House News Service, Transportation
Bridj revs up
AS THE MBTA Fiscal and Management Control Board mulls axing late-night buses and trains to save money, the chances of some sort of wee-hours bus service surviving may rest with a […]
Posted inEducation
Bump sees physical education inequality
STATE AUDITOR SUZANNE BUMP says a 2014 audit her office conducted of the state’s child obesity programs turned up income correlations that are strikingly similar to what CommonWealth uncovered in […]
Posted inHealth Care
Falls are a concern at assisted living facilities
NEW STATE DATA suggest falls are a major problem at assisted living facilities across Massachusetts, with roughly two of every five residents ending up down on the floor over the […]
Posted inEnvironment, Politics
An exit sweetener
CAROL SANCHEZ, the former commissioner of the Department of Conservation and Recreation, pocketed $8,200 for doing nothing after she was apparently pushed out the door in early November. Sanchez served […]
Posted inOpinion, Politics, State House News Service
Big Three dynamics
JUST BEFORE THE HOLIDAYS kicked into high gear, the Big Three—Gov. Charlie Baker, House Speaker Robert DeLeo, and Senate President Stanley Rosenberg—sat down for a joint interview with the State […]
Posted inOpinion
Letters, Winter 2016
MASSPORT HIGHLIGHTS MISPERCEPTION I am writing in response to Jack Sullivan’s informative article (“Contracting system isn’t saving money,” Fall ’15) to correct a misperception some readers may take from the […]
Posted inGambling, State House News Service
Lawmakers urged to weigh in on fantasy sports
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THERE IS “SOME URGENCY” for the Legislature to weigh in on the legality and regulation of daily fantasy sports and online gaming, the Massachusetts Gaming Commission […]
Posted inTransportation
T hires interim Green Line ext. team
THE MBTA ON MONDAY named an interim leadership team that will be charged with bringing the cost of the proposed Green Line extension to Somerville and Medford in line with […]
Posted inTransportation
T cites progress on structural deficit
MBTA OFFICIALS ON MONDAY said they are making progress in eliminating the T’s structural deficit and told the agency’s oversight board that major decisions must be made in the next […]
Posted inHealth Care, Politics
House unveils its own opioid bill
THE HOUSE UNVEILED its version of a bill to address the opioid epidemic in the state but the measure drops two key provisions of legislation filed by Gov. Charlie Baker, […]
Posted inEducation, Opinion
Lawsuit settlements should pay student loan debt
THE ONCE BOOMING for-profit college industry has experienced a year of reckoning. The recent announcement of a $95.5 million multistate settlement with Education Management Corp. (EDMC) followed numerous state and […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Drug Addiction, Opinion
Ending driver’s license suspension for drug offenders
I APPLAUD THE members of the 189th General Court of the Massachusetts House of Representatives for finishing what their colleagues in the Senate started in September by unanimously supporting legislation […]
Posted inThe Download
Globe highlights its own hypocrisy
A little over a year ago, the Boston Globe ran a Pulitzer Prize-winning series of editorials documenting the challenges facing food service workers– wages too low to live on, minimal […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service
Baker slashes $50M in spending
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE GOV. CHARLIE BAKER on Friday slashed nearly $50 million from the state budget to partially close what his administration identified as a $320 million gap between […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service
DeLeo rips Globe for ‘painful’ analogy
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE HOUSE SPEAKER ROBERT DELEO lashed out at the Boston Globe Friday afternoon, asking for an apology after the broadsheet likened the House to a plantation. The […]
Posted inEducation
Universal, broader screenings of students needed
THE OPIOID LEGISLATION taken up by the House this week excludes a controversial provision from the Senate bill requiring public schools to screen all students in grades 7 through 10 […]
Posted inUncategorized
State courts revamp their website
THE STATE’S TRIAL COURT has upgraded its outmoded computer system to allow lawyers to electronically file case records and to allow judicial decisions to be shared automatically with other government […]
Posted inHealth Care, Opinion
Obamacare repeal would mean 22 million people lose coverage
TWENTY-TWO MILLION – that’s how many Americans would lose their health insurance, according to the US Congressional Budget Office, if the reconciliation legislation approved by the House of Representative on […]
Posted inEducation, Opinion
Replacing No Child Left Behind an inadequate step in right direction
It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge […]