I ANNOUNCED THAT I was running for governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts one year ago to the day last week. I got into the race before Gov. Charlie Baker said he wouldn’t be running for re-election. I got into the race because I believed – as I still do – that there is nothing […]
Sonia Chang-Diaz
Posted inPolitics
A balancing act from front-runner Healey
MAURA HEALEY, who launched her campaign for governor in January with a modulated message vowing to continue what’s working and change what isn’t, swept the Massachusetts Democratic Party’s convention endorsement, vowing to be a champion for those left behind or left out. The two-term attorney general won the Democratic Party endorsement by a wide margin […]
Posted inPolitics
A hole in the middle
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER’S announcement that he won’t seek a third term – and Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito’s decision not to try to succeed him – not only creates a void when it comes to what Baker calls his “brand of Republicanism,” it creates an opening in the state’s broad political middle. Baker managed to maintain […]
Posted inPolitics
Baker, Healey watch as field for governor forms
ANOTHER DAY, another candidate in the race for Massachusetts governor not named Baker. Or Healey, for that matter. With today’s campaign launch by Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz, three Democrats have now formally announced bids for the state’s top job. The Jamaica Plain lawmaker joins former Senate colleague Ben Downing and Harvard professor Danielle Allen in the […]
Posted inPolitics
Chang-Diaz launches run for governor
SEN. SONIA CHANG-DIAZ, a hard-charging liberal who has championed issues ranging from education funding to criminal justice reform in her 13 years in the Legislature, declared her run for governor on Wednesday, vowing to bring an activist approach to tackle inequality and other challenges facing Massachusetts. “Voters didn’t send me to the state Senate to […]
Posted inEducation
Widespread praise for ed funding bill
WHEN THE YEAR STARTED, with Beacon Hill poised to make another go at a bill revamping the state’s education funding formula, some advocates were focused on boosting funding for schools, while others were insisting that new money come with new ways of holding districts accountable for how it’s spent and for closing the yawning achievement […]
Posted inThe Download
The Codcast: Widespread praise for ed funding bill
When the year started, with Beacon Hill poised to make another go at a bill revamping the state’s education funding formula, some advocates were focused on boosting funding for schools, while others were insisting that new money come with new ways of holding districts accountable for how it’s spent and for closing the yawning achievement […]
Posted inEducation
‘Promise Act’ ed bill would be boon for Boston
WHEN BOSTON MAYOR Mayor Marty Walsh testified in late March on behalf of a bill to revamp the state’s 26-year-old education funding formula, he called it “a solution that will finally take politics out of the conversation.” But as underscored by plans for a big State House rally on Thursday to push for more state […]
Posted inEducation
Momentum growing for ed funding bill
SIX MONTHS AFTER the clock ran out on negotiations to revamp the state’s education funding formula, a broad coalition of lawmakers, mayors, and school leaders unveiled legislation on Wednesday to finish that work in the new session now underway on Beacon Hill. “There are no more excuses,” said Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz, co-chair of the Legislature’s […]
Posted inEducation
Senate calls for ed funding formula revamp
STATE OFFICIALS ARE marking the 25th anniversary of the landmark 1993 education reform law with a statewide set of events being held under the banner “Leading the Nation,” a reference to the top performance of Massachusetts students on national achievement tests. But the boasts and bows are colliding with an inconvenient truth: The state’s students […]