The Pioneer Institute's Steve Poftak looks at how the state's public pension systems fared in last year's horrible, horrible market (see full report here), and the news is unsurprisingly awful:…almost […]
Expectedly bad year for public pensions in Massachusetts
Posted inThe Download, Uncategorized
Menino’s changing school stories
In 2006, Boston won the prestigious Broad Prize, which each year recognizes the top urban school district in the country. It may have been the worst thing to happen to […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Patrick snubs Plymouth Rock Studios in Murray’s district
The Patrick administration late today turned down a request for $50 million in infrastructure improvements for a proposed new movie studio in Plymouth, the hometown of Senate President Therese Murray. A spokeswoman […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Lessons from the New York Senate
With a third consecutive House speaker under indictment and a membership that seems more committed to preserving "hack holidays" than enacting reform, the Massachusetts Legislature isn't held in very high […]
Posted inEducation, Politics, The Download
Will Menino campaign against the teachers’ union?
For many, the phrase "charter school" conjures up images of parental choice and innovation, of passionate young educators taking the place of frowsy, lazy clock-watchers in sensible shoes. So it […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Are Sal’s pals in trouble?
And by that I don't mean the ex-speaker's three co-defendants (who certainly are) or former aides or other business associates (none of whom have been charged in the case), but […]
Posted inEconomy, State House News Service, The Download
Senate wants to hide names of tax credit recipients
Can you have tax credit transparency without identifying who's receiving the tax credits? That's the question facing House and Senate budget negotiators as they try to resolve differences between two […]
Posted inThe Download, Transportation
Logan Airport wins arbitrary award for bewilderment
J.D. Power has ranked Boston's Logan Airport 16th out of 21 "medium" airports in its recently released "2008 North America Airport Satisfaction Study." Its best category, with four out of […]
Posted inThe Download, Transportation
The trains will be on time… ish
The old saw about the regularity of a scheduled train is "you can set your watch by it." When a train is ready to leave at 12:38, there is no "ish" attached […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Sal makes three
Today's federal indictment of former House speaker Sal DiMasi fills out the ignominious trifecta many had been anticipating for several months: three straight Massachusetts House speakers indicted on charges related to activities […]
Posted inHealth Care, The Download
The medical mystery of McAllen, Texas
Harvard Medical School's Atul Gawande has a fantastic investigative piece — with the structure of a detective novel — in this week's New Yorker. "The Cost Conundrum" is about rising […]
Posted inEducation, The Download
With charter schools stalled, poor kids lose
State Sen. Robert O'Leary, just four months into his new role as co-chairman of the Legislature's education committee, says he has a lot of homework to get up to speed on […]
Posted inEducation, The Download
Duncan: Federal aid may depend on openness to charters
A timely add-on to our post earlier today on the Massachusetts charter school stand-off: US Education Secretary Arne Duncan made it clear yesterday that federal education aid will depend on […]
Posted inEducation, The Download
Teachers’ unions and Massachusetts achievement gains
Does passage of the Massachusetts Education Reform Act of 1993 and the achievement gains that have followed prove that teachers' unions are not nearly the obstacle to school reform efforts […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Some Medford city jobs are worth keeping
Last week we noted that things are so bad at Medford City Hall that the mayor is telling workers to get out while they can:“If [you] can secure employment somewhere […]
Posted inEconomy, The Download
Unemployment still centered in southeast Mass.
Town-by-town unemployment rates for April are now online at the state's Office of Labor and Workforce Development, and the results are shown in the map below: Statewide unemployment was 7.8 […]
Posted inEconomy, Education, The Download
An escalation in the debate over a graduated income tax
Blue Mass Group’s David suggested last summer that it’s time to consider, once again, a graduated income tax in Massachusetts. He pointed out that 34 of the other 40 states […]
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Where the boys (and girls) are
After Memorial Day, Cape Cod has no trouble attracting visitors of all ages. But Lynn Mason-Small of Yarmouth hopes to make the Cape a more attractive place year-round, especially for […]
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State of the States
OUTSIDE LINKS Obesity rates Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Unemployment rates Bureau of Labor Statistics, US Department of Labor CW UNBOUND ARCHIVES Internet access Summer 2009 Baby names: Ryan […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Boston’s leadership club
Thursday, May 21, 2009 This Michael Graham column in today's Boston Herald lays out the state of affairs in our capital city so perfectly that there is really nothing to add. The […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Government work not so secure in Medford and Worcester
Notwithstanding the sweet pension packages for certain public employees in Massachusetts, it's getting scary for a lot of people who get their paychecks from City Hall. For example, Medford Mayor […]
Posted inState House News Service, The Download, Transportation
Mission Impossible: Commuting on the MBTA or running it?
It wasn’t a fluke, an infrastructure issue, sabotage, or terrorism, according to MBTA spokesman Joe Pesaturo. Nor did it have anything to do with the T’s debt issues or the […]
Posted inThe Download, Uncategorized
Life after newspapers
Boston’s largest newspaper seems to have dodged the closure bullet for now, but the question of what the city might look like without it – and what might spring up […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Raynham deems 0.54% voter turnout good enough for town meeting
The South Coast community of Raynham, which has 9,283 registered voters and about 13,600 residents, last night "saved" its town meeting by lowering the quorum from 200 to 50 people, […]