The most difficult realities are oftentimes the most important to accept. Now is one such time, as the state’s healthcare system buckles under the weight of unsustainable cost pressures and is showing once unimaginable signs of peril.
Opinion
Posted inOpinion
The long history of ballot questions influencing races between candidates
Ballot questions can energize and draw voters based on the issue being decided. Less well appreciated: The turnout they generate can affect — and perhaps even decide — the outcome of other contests on the ballot.
Posted inOpinion
UMass Boston is heading in the wrong direction
Our chancellor wasted no time in declaring that UMass Boston would henceforth be a “leading anti-racist and health promoting university.”Â
Posted inOpinion
Wu’s tax shift is no compromise
Boston’s double-digit office vacancy rates—driven in part by remote work—are among the highest in the nation and unlikely to decrease in the near future, curbing demand for office space and straining city revenues as companies opt for less space when leases expire. Rising construction materials costs and interest rates further cloud the outlook.
Posted inOpinion
Question 2: A misguided effort that will harm kids, their futures, and the economy
If this ballot question passes, it will turn back the clock 30 years to a time when children in far too many districts graduated from high school without the skills and knowledge they needed to be successful in life beyond high school.
Posted inOpinion
3 things to keep an eye on in Pennsylvania on election night
Trump railed against voting by mail in 2020 despite the fact it was the Republican state Legislature in Pennsylvania that passed Act 77 in 2019, which allowed mail-in voting (a priority for Democrats) and eliminated straight-ticket voting (a priority for Republicans) in the state.Â
Posted inOpinion
Voting yes on Question 4 is a vote to support veterans’ mental health
Passage of Question 4 would create a framework for therapeutic (not commercial) use of certain natural psychedelics, such as psilocybin, which is found in mushrooms, allowing veterans and others to legally access an alternative method of treatment that has shown enormous potential to treat post-traumatic stress, depression, and other mental health ailments.
Posted inOpinion
A warning about Project Maple
The Canadian fossil fuel corporation erroneously claims New England, New Jersey, and New York need more gas for homes and buildings and to generate electricity.
Posted inOpinion
Report often cited by MCAS backers isn’t as pro-MCAS as they say
Is the MCAS graduation requirement itself the spark that drives improvement for all students? The evidence says otherwise.
Posted inOpinion
MCAS helps us stay the course on education standards and gains
Without the MCAS graduation standard, we risk returning to the pre-1993 era, when a high school diploma in Massachusetts was little more than a participation medal rather than a genuine indicator of readiness.