How much of a burden are taxes in Massachusetts compared with other states? It all depends on how you make the comparison. In one common measure–total tax burden (state and […]
Household tax burden
Posted inPolitics
Year Up raises the aspirations of innercity high school grads
By the age of 35, Gerald Chertavian had made so much money that his two children would probably never have to work a day in their lives. Now the Lowell […]
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The conventional wisdom about Bostons image
Who stands for Massachusetts–Frasier or Spenser? Visions of conventioneers–and not Shriners in fezzes–are dancing in Boston heads. Mayor Thomas Menino wants to host the Democratic Party’s national convention in 2004, […]
Posted inPolitics
Tom Patterson on why parties campaigns and the media are driving voters away from politics
At the Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, Thomas E. Patterson is something of a rare breed: a political scientist. […]
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Counterpoint
Contrary to Sam Tyler’s opinion, institutions that offer advanced educational degrees that qualify police personnel for salary upgrades have not stood still for the 30-plus years the Quinn Bill has […]
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Argument
The theory sounds good: Better-educated police officers make for better policing, and that’s something worth paying for. But what if there are no standards to ensure that the quality of […]
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The telecom implosion hits the Bay State
INTRO TEXT Sitting in an austere conference room at the Sonus Networks headquarters in Westford, Hassan Ahmed speaks with calmness and confidence, but his tone strains against an unnerving reality. […]
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TEAM finds a less taxing name
INTRO TEXT Formed in 1987 as a liberal counterweight to Citizens for Limited Taxation, the Tax Equity Alliance for Massachusetts has made the case for public spending and progressive taxation […]
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School bus ads are a nonstarter
INTRO TEXT In a little-noticed rider tacked onto the state budget this spring, lawmakers gave Massachusetts school districts the green light to sell advertising on the outside of school buses. […]
Posted inPolitics
iCommonWealthi grills the candidates
INTRO TEXT As Election Day approaches, most voters will see the candidates for governor in tightly structured settings, such as television commercials, formal debates, and staged photo-ops. But this summer […]
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Harshbarger finds a corporate cause
He’s the last person one would have expected to benefit from the corporate scandals that have rocked the nation this year. But it’s true: Scott Harshbarger, the former Massachusetts attorney […]
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Accounting scandal colors career option
A recent New Yorker cartoon says it all: A woman looks longingly at a man sitting at a bar and tells her friend, “Being an accountant gives him that extra […]
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A top campaign stop in Codman Square
When gubernatorial candidate Steve Grossman needed a campaign backdrop to roll out his plan to save the state money on prescription drugs, the Codman Square Health Center seemed as logical […]
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Misdiagnosis
Jennifer Stokes had a problem. Earlier in the day, a pediatrician outside Springfield called her child advocacy center about a 3-year-old girl in his office who had vaginal bruising and […]
Posted inState Government
Beacon ill
IT’S A STEAMY afternoon in late July, and you might expect the temperature to be rising even higher beneath the golden dome of the Massachusetts State House. The state Senate […]
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A botched experiment in this laboratory of democracy
At this writing, the general election campaign for governor has just gotten underway, and it’s looking like a barn-burner. And with the first post-primary poll putting the race at a […]
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Dispelling the myths about Shays Rebellion
Shays’s Rebellion: The American Revolution’s Final BattleBy Leonard R. RichardsUniversity of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia, 216 pages. Residents of western Massachusetts find it difficult to avoid regular encounters with the legacy […]
Posted inPolitics
Does it matter if the governors race severs our last bond with the GOP
When Massachusetts voters choose a governor on November 5, they’re more likely to be thinking about, say, tolls on the Turnpike than the balance of power in Washington, DC. But […]
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Adams wants more than mowed lawns at Greylock Glen
ADAMS — Hard times and failed dreams aren’t new in the North Berkshire town of Adams. Since 1940, the picturesque hamlet has lost nearly one-third of its population as its […]
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Contested legislative races
When they go to the polls this November, two-thirds of Massachusetts voters will see only one candidate for state representative on the ballot. Only South Carolina has less competition for […]
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The CALL doesnt stop at job placement
For many years, Jewish Vocational Service of Greater Boston was a small agency that helped Jewish immigrants find jobs. The organization was founded in 1938 to accommodate the influx of […]
Posted inPolitics
Taking the laws into their own hands
From the archives This article first appeared in CommonWealth’s Fall 2002 issue. Click here view more issues. WHEN IT COMES TO DEMOCRACY, is it possible to have too much of […]
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Inching toward acceptance
Le Petite Café, where I get my favorite French baguette sandwich, is a small, family-owned restaurant in an enclave of real estate agencies, cell phone providers, and medical offices at […]
Posted inEducation, Opinion
Where education reform has failed changing schools
State education aid is up $2 billion from what it was in 1993, the year the state’s education reform law was enacted. While there’s little doubt that school programs are […]