Two different kinds of problems point to the urgent need to rethink our entire system of teacher education in Massachusetts, and in the country as a whole. On one hand, […]
Future teachers need more liberal arts fewer courses in education
Posted inUncategorized
Letters
I wish you had also addressed the tuition costs (and, of course, fees) at our state university in comparison with other states (“Is it higher-ed’s turn?” CW, Spring ’05). Perhaps […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Approaching Re-entry
As candidate for governor in 1990, Bill Weld put it in the most stark terms – pledging to “reacquaint felons with the joys of busting rocks” – but the general […]
Posted inEconomy, Education
Job training initiatives should begin with realistic expectations about employers and employees
The Commonwealth has an impending workforce crisis on its hands, but it’s one that’s paradoxical. As a percentage of population, Massachusetts has more college-educated residents than any other state in […]
Posted inEducation
Counterpoints
Yes, charter schools have been controversial, but then again, so has just about everything we’ve done to improve public education. Curriculum frameworks, graduation requirements, teacher testing, you name it, and […]
Posted inEnvironment
Wind farms stir up trouble in the hills
INTRO TEXT Wind turbines may be a source of renewable energy, but they also generate strong feelings. That’s what William Hubbard learned from his two-year fight to build a 12-megawatt […]
Posted inEconomy, Politics
The Community Preservation Act finds its balance
DESPITE EARLY WORRIES that the Community Preservation Act was funding a land grab by suburban communities eager to lock in open space at the expense of the affordable housing the law […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, State House News Service
DNA test cause headaches for the states crime lab
INTRO TEXT Even crime has its growth sector, and in the Bay State, it’s burglary. The only violent or property crime category to increase between 2002 and 2003, burglary rose […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service, Transportation
CommonWealth Forum weighs mass transit
INTRO TEXT The state’s plan to extend the MBTA’s Green Line to West Medford does not promise enough environmental benefits to justify its cost, according to one panelist at the […]
Posted inEconomy, Politics
Under Control
Consultant Carroll Buracker (left at microphone) gives the Springfield Finance Control Board his grade of the police department: “Dysfunctional with a capital ‘D.'” It was nearly a year after the […]
Posted inEconomy
Lone Rangers
At first glance, Rick Hill and Lauren Dragon seem to have little in common. Hill, 60, has worked for the past decade as a high-paid software engineer, much of the […]
Posted inEconomy
Flying solo
Additional research by Eric Wagner The self-employment sector is often depicted as a haven for nonconformists, so maybe it’s appropriate that there seems to be an infinite number of ways […]
Posted inEconomy
Lawrence CommunityWorks expands the definition of a CDC
On most evenings, the offices of Lawrence CommunityWorks bustle with activity. The sprawling former mill building that houses the nonprofit community development corporation is divided into many small spaces, which […]
Posted inEconomy
Growing pains
A long about June, the “housing bubble” became big news nationally. In the same week, a cover story in Time (HOME $WEET HOME) focused attention on the “blistering” US real […]
Posted inUncategorized
Florida dreaming
Illustrations by Elizabeth RockIn The Rise of the Creative Class, economist Richard Florida wrote that gays are good for a region’s economy. In his new book, The Flight of the […]
Posted inUncategorized
Ted Kennedy takes up immigration reform
It isn’t a typical day in Washington when that liberal lion Sen. Edward Kennedy joins forces with a conservative Republican from Idaho, especially to take up a cause of prime […]
Posted inPolitics
Walpole tackles football bleachers and the Patriot Act
WALPOLE – “I know some people don’t want to hear this, but I just don’t see the greater benefit to the entire population of the town,” says Lee Ann Bruno, […]
Posted inPolitics
Lynnfield tries to add town meeting attendees by reducing its quorum
LYNNFIELD – It’s Monday, May 2, the second night of town meeting, and residents are gathered in the auditorium of Lynnfield Middle School to consider two articles left over from […]
Posted inUncategorized
Statistically Significant
Illustrations by Travis Foster GREEN CARS MAY HIT GLASS CEILINGHybrid cars, which are partly powered by electric batteries and thus burn less gasoline, are surging in popularity, according to automotive […]
Posted inPolitics
The Red Sox have transcended if not reversed the racial curse
Now that donkeys can fly, hell has frozen over, and the Red Sox have been champions for an entire year, there exists here a palpable desire to peer even more […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Opinion
Improving the re-entry of ex-inmates is essential to reducing crime
In “Approaching Reentry” (CW, Summer ’05), crime expert Jeremy Travis spoke at length about the problem of inmates returning to society. As former district attorney of Middlesex County, state attorney […]
Posted inEducation, Opinion
A push to expand MCAS may dumb down science education
It was hardly a surprise when the state Board of Education voted in June to require high school students to pass one of several new MCAS tests in science in […]