sponsored by The Boston Foundation
CommonWealth Voices aims to be a beacon of robust discourse, offering a platform for analysis and advocacy on the challenges and aspirations of political life in Massachusetts.
The Boston Foundation is deeply committed to civic leadership, and essential to our work is the exchange of informed opinions. We are proud to partner on a platform that engages such a broad range of demographic and ideological viewpoints.
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Proposed Trump administration changes would gut vital Head Start regulations
Head Start works comprehensively. The harm of the proposed rule does not come from any one of the above changes alone, it comes from the compounding impact of removing services and protections for the most vulnerable children and families.
Massachusetts state tests are leaving students unprepared for today’s information challenges
What gets tested gets taught. Media literacy isn’t tested in Massachusetts, so it isn’t taught.
Our study didn’t ignore grid costs. We measured them — and utility-scale solar lowers them.
Rooftop solar should be compensated for the savings it provides the system — the avoided generation, the deferred upgrades, the peak demand it shaves — no more, and no less.
Suspending the gas tax would be a shortsighted election-year stunt
The state gas tax is the price we pay to ensure that we have safe and reliable ways to get where we need to go, with sufficient funding to build, operate, and maintain the essential transportation infrastructure we all depend upon. Â
All-party primaries would bring more competition and a more vigorous democracy
Open up the primaries to every voter, every qualified candidate, and we get more competition, higher turnout, and better results.
White Stadium and the community engagement gap
There’s still time for White Stadium project planners to deliver on the principles of EJ Community Engagement and Outreach – improved levels of trust, transparency, and stronger pathways for ongoing collaboration.
Why the Beacon Hill transparency debate gets it all wrong
The problem is not that the public lacks crucial information about its government; it’s that its government lacks crucial information about the public — and has little motivation to care about that.
Massachusetts is already putting its untapped talent to work
The administration is working across state agencies and with workforce partners to remove obstacles that prevent people from entering—and staying in—the workforce.
A Massachusetts diploma should come with a plan
One of the most consequential recommendations in the state graduation council’s report is its emphasis on postsecondary planning and the implementation of My Career and Academic Plan, or MyCAP.
Will Massachusetts go deep in the health care affordability playoffs?
Like the Red Sox season, the health care picture in the state this year has been marked by big ups and downs.
AI data centers are coming for Massachusetts. Gov. Healey’s new guardrails aren’t enough.
GOV. HEALEY took an important step last week to protect Massachusetts communities from the unchecked growth of data centers. Her new executive order will require large data centers to meet new standards around energy, water, air quality and public health and gives communities a greater voice in deciding whether these projects move forward. Data centers with peak electricity demand above 25 megawatts must demonstrate compliance with the state’s responsible development framework and enter into a community benefits agreement before receiving state permits. These new standards are an acknowledgment of what communities across Massachusetts have been saying: AI infrastructure may exist…
Massachusetts political parties stand by as their membership rolls evaporate
Why Massachusetts parties are allowing the slow-moving self-destruction to continue is anyone’s guess.
Massachusetts schools face a desperate shortage of STEM teachers. Here’s how we can fill that gap.
We are asking more of our students than ever before. Now we need to build the pipeline of teachers who can get them there.
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