OUTRAGE OVER THE brutal killing of George Floyd has rightly heightened public scrutiny of police union resistance to desperately needed reforms. Less understandable is the assumption that the police are an anomaly among the most powerful public employee unions when it comes to opposing reform. Of course the actions of other public sector unions don’t lead […]
Charles Chieppo
Posted inEducation
How Mass. abandoned its recipe for educational success
EINSTEIN DEFINED INSANITY as “doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results.” Education policy makers in Massachusetts have taken the concept to a new level by doubling down on policies that have brought a decade of decline. The Commonwealth’s K-12 education funding formula was no longer providing adequate resources to less affluent school districts, and […]
Posted inEducation
Tie state ed funding to school committee seats
FEW DOUBT THAT the time has come to update the mechanism by which the Commonwealth funds local school districts. After 25 years, the current formula isn’t keeping pace with rising employee health insurance and special education costs. The specifics may have changed over a quarter century, but as they address this issue, state leaders should […]
Posted inEducation
New Bedford pols fail kids with opposition to charter expansion
IF YOU WONDER where children fall in the hierarchy of priorities for some elected officials, take a look at New Bedford, where Mayor Jon Mitchell and City Councilor Hugh Dunn are apoplectic about a highly successful charter public school’s expansion plans. Alma del Mar Charter School has applied to open two more K-8 schools in […]
Posted inOpinion
Ruling could have big impact in Massachusetts
THE UNITED STATES has a single constitution, but interpretations of that document handed down by federal courts often have divergent impacts across the country. Such is the case with the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Janus v. AFSCME. The Court overturned a 41-year-old ruling and found that an Illinois public employee who chose not to […]
Posted inTransportation
Bus maintenance outsourcing makes sense
IT’S ALL BUT irresistible to characterize the MBTA’s efforts to contract out part of its bus maintenance operation as a union issue: Will bus maintenance continue to be performed by unionized T employees or will it be privatized? But focusing on that question misses the point. The proposal is really about bringing bus maintenance management and practices into the […]
Posted inUncategorized
T privatization survives key union challenge
THE MBTA’S BUDGET SHORTFALL, once pegged at $335 million for the current fiscal year, is now down to $30 million. That’s good news for riders, taxpayers, employers, and legislators—really everyone except the T’s unions. Much of the savings is the result of a three-year exemption from the Commonwealth’s anti-privatization law that the authority was granted […]
Posted inOpinion, Transportation
Congressional delegation should butt out
HERE’S ONE THAT COULD BE A JOKE, except it actually happened. Every member of Massachusetts’ congressional delegation recently thought it would be a good idea to sign a misguided letter to Gov. Charlie Baker and Secretary of Transportation Stephanie Pollack urging them to avoid saving money and improving service quality at the MBTA. The letter […]
Posted inOpinion, Transportation
MBTA control board is on track
REMARKABLE PROGRESS HAS been made since a Fiscal and Management Control Board was installed during the summer of 2015 and given powers not previously available to MBTA management. Yet those accomplishments are just a down payment on what it will take to fix the T, and the clock is ticking. As difficult as many of […]
Posted inEducation, Opinion
Charter schools are not ‘draining’ district budgets
AS THIS NOVEMBER’S ballot initiative on raising the cap on the number of charter public schools in Massachusetts draws closer, opponents find ever-more financial woes to blame on the schools. But a September Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation study is just the latest to conclude that those accusations don’t pass muster. The MTF study finds that “Examination […]