GOV. HEALEY HAS good work to build upon when it comes to helping students of color enroll and succeed in college. The governor supports expanding “college-in-high school” initiatives as a way of addressing equity issues in college success. Investment in expanding these important programs makes good sense given the demographic and labor force challenges facing […]
John Schneider
Posted inEducation
The real art of the deal
Commitment and Commonsense: Leading Education Reform in Massachusetts By David P. Driscoll Cambridge: Harvard Education Press 256 pages BOOKS ABOUT THE ins and outs about how laws are implemented do not tend to keep you up reading late into the night. That’s a shame, because what happens at the ground level once a law is […]
Posted inEconomy, Opinion, Politics
Mending the social fabric
The Fractured Republic: Renewing America’s Social Contract in the Age of Individualism By Yuval Levin New York: Basic Books 262 pages SPEND SOME TIME in West Virginia or Kentucky and you begin to understand why Donald Trump has made it so far as a candidate for president. Making America great again sells well in the […]
Posted inEducation
Back to school on the American Dream
Degrees of Inequality: How the Politics of Higher Education Sabotaged the American Dream By Suzanne Mettler New York: Basic Books 261 pages the american dream is in trouble. As our economy has become more globalized and competitive, it has become harder to achieve what was once available to most Americans—a good job with a good […]
Posted inThe Back Story, Uncategorized
Patrick targets the achievement gap
In a passionate speech before a packed house at UMass Boston on Wednesday, Gov. Deval Patrick announced that we must close the achievement gap in our schools if opportunity is to still have any meaning in today’s America. He said poverty is the reason the state’s achievement gap remains so persistent, and unveiled several initiatives […]
Posted inOpinion, Transportation
Revenue crossroads for transportation
In his recent response to the MassINC report “Next Stop, Massachusetts,” Transportation Secretary Jeffrey Mullan says: “Departure from the cost-cutting, efficiency-finding, and culture-changing approach we have taken would be a large setback for anyone who cares about the [transportation] system.” We agree and see transportation reform as a positive step forward, particularly in providing a […]
Posted inEconomy
Build to suit
early last year, MassINC released Reconnecting Massachusetts Gateway Cities, a report on how the state’s historic mill communities have been struggling to make the shift to the New Economy. It acknowledged the challenges holding these communities back — challenges that we all recognize — but more importantly, it revealed enormous opportunities, some of them hiding […]
Posted inEducation
Credit report
at the core of MassINC’s mission is the belief that all citizens of Massachusetts should have the opportunity to pursue the American dream. And as we’ve written in this space before, a college education is fast becoming a prerequisite for living that dream. College graduates have a much better chance to earn the income needed […]