early last year, MassINC released Reconnecting Massachusetts Gateway Cities, a report on how the state’s historic mill communities have been struggling to make the shift to the New Economy. It […]
Build to suit
Posted inPolitics
Override forces turn to the pros in the art of winning elections
INTRO TEXT Voter apathy may have hit a new low in Holliston in May. Even with a Proposition 2 1/2 override of $992,000 on the ballot, only 29 percent of […]
Posted inEducation, Politics, State House News Service
Patrick reveals a big appetite for education reform
INTRO TEXT The unveiling of the Readiness Project should dispel any doubt that Gov. Deval Patrick sees himself as the master builder of the next epoch of education reform. “Our […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Politics
Child care centers get Web scrutiny
INTRO TEXT Massachusetts is taking steps toward giving parents online access to information about licensing and state inspections of child care centers. Matt Veno, a spokesman for the state Department […]
Posted inPolitics
Liberal business group aims for impact on public policy
CAN A SEMI-ANNUAL gathering of liberal-leaning business bigwigs provide a fresh jolt of private-sector energy into civic doings and public policy in Massachusetts? That’s the thinking behind a year-old organization that […]
Posted inEconomy, State House News Service, Transportation
Pump it up
For a picture-perfect view of the Boston skyline on a bright, cloudless day, looking from the Longfellow Bridge to the other side of the Charles River is as good as […]
Posted inEconomy, Politics
Preserving power
Secretary of State William Galvin is running a $50 million-a-year state tax credit program like a personal fiefdom. He decides which developers receive historic rehabilitation tax credits from the state […]
Posted inEconomy
Moving the goal posts
Sudbury officials say this small stretch of sidewalk along Dakin Street qualified under the Community Preservation Act for partial state funding because the pathway is a recreational facility for walkers, […]
Posted inEconomy
Statistically Significant
Illustrations by Travis Foster FORECLOSURE CRISIS FLOODS DOUBLE-DECKERSThe current foreclosure wave in Massachusetts has knocked down a disproportionate number of multifamily homes, at least compared with the housing market crash […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
The price of prisons
What part of state government is growing faster than education or Medicaid? Nationwide, spending on correctional facilities jumped by 9.2 percent in fiscal 2006, second only to transportation, according to […]
Posted inPolitics
Point of entry
we live in a time of demographic upheaval. We are becoming foreign-born, non-English-speaking, black, brown, yellow, and white. That’s as true in Massachusetts as it is nationally. In 2005, a […]
Posted inArts and Culture, Politics
Play money
During tough fiscal times, arts and sports programs are often the first to get cut from municipal budgets. So it’s not a big surprise that the “culture and recreation” category, […]
Posted inEconomy
Hidden tax credit
Tax credits are exploding in popularity in Massachusetts. Over the last several years, state lawmakers have approved tax credits to lure movies and movie stars to the state, to redevelop […]
Posted inEconomy, Education, Opinion
Too many incompletes
Education reform in the Commonwealth focused our attention on those students who were passing through school without acquiring basic academic skills. We aimed for a particular target, and we hit […]
Posted inEducation, Opinion
Next steps
The commonwealth of Massachusetts is frequently, and with solid justification, considered to be the poster child of successful, systemic, standards-based school reform, but the ultimate goal of the 1993 Education […]
Posted inEducation
High-stakes test
Passage of the state’s landmark 1993 Education Reform Act was a rare moment in politics when consensus was forged around a truly big idea that shook up the status quo. […]
Posted inEducation
Ed reform must move beyond MCAS
As mayor of New Bedford, I rely upon the entire community to work together to move our city forward. So it alarms me to watch New Bedford’s best resources, our […]
Posted inOpinion
A diploma means nothing without evidence of skills and learning
Read Counterpoints by: Tom Birmingham Nick Donohue Education reform in Massachusetts was a grand bargain: a massive infusion of state dollars into our public schools in return for high academic […]
Posted inState House News Service, Uncategorized
Laptops rule among students in middle school
INTRO TEXT Deep into their “Unsung Heroes” reports, students worked on monologues about historical figures they’d chosen that would be recorded as iMovies and posted to the school intranet. Tyrone […]
Posted inEconomy, Education
Fewer high school grads in jobs pipeline
INTRO TEXT Massachusetts is facing a serious brain drain. Over the next 15 years, forecasters expect the state’s school-age population to shrink and the number of high school graduates to […]
Posted inState House News Service, Uncategorized
Craven gets a grip on the rising costs of school construction
INTRO TEXT School building authorityhead Katherine Craven. Katherine Craven is all about the numbers. On a yellow legal pad page, the head of the Massachusetts School Building Authority jots down […]
Posted inEducation
What about college?
Salvador Pimentel, asenior at Brighton HighSchool, says his jobs haveshown him there’s notmuch to look forward towithout a college degree.The colorful murals that ring the walls of Brighton High School’s […]
Posted inEducation
Sparking the brain
Danielle Pellegrine race downfield in a game of “ultimate ball.” Chasing her, on right, is fellow Millis Middle School student Alex Golash. MUSIC FROM A homemade CD blares from […]