Michael Jonas

Executive Editor, CommonWealth

About Michael Jonas

Michael Jonas has worked in journalism in Massachusetts since the early 1980s. Before joining the CommonWealth staff in early 2001, he was a contributing writer for the magazine for two years. His cover story in CommonWealth's Fall 1999 issue on Boston youth outreach workers was selected for a PASS (Prevention for a Safer Society) Award from the National Council on Crime and Delinquency.

Michael got his start in journalism at the Dorchester Community News, a community newspaper serving Boston's largest neighborhood, where he covered a range of urban issues. Since the late 1980s, he has been a regular contributor to the Boston Globe. For 15 years he wrote a weekly column on local politics for the Boston Sunday Globe's City Weekly section.

Michael has also worked in broadcast journalism. In 1989, he was a co-producer for "The AIDS Quarterly," a national PBS series produced by WGBH-TV in Boston, and in the early 1990s, he worked as a producer for "Our Times," a weekly magazine program on WHDH-TV (Ch. 7) in Boston.

Michael lives in Dorchester with his wife and their two daughters.

About Michael Jonas

Michael Jonas has worked in journalism in Massachusetts since the early 1980s. Before joining the CommonWealth staff in early 2001, he was a contributing writer for the magazine for two years. His cover story in CommonWealth's Fall 1999 issue on Boston youth outreach workers was selected for a PASS (Prevention for a Safer Society) Award from the National Council on Crime and Delinquency.

Michael got his start in journalism at the Dorchester Community News, a community newspaper serving Boston's largest neighborhood, where he covered a range of urban issues. Since the late 1980s, he has been a regular contributor to the Boston Globe. For 15 years he wrote a weekly column on local politics for the Boston Sunday Globe's City Weekly section.

Michael has also worked in broadcast journalism. In 1989, he was a co-producer for "The AIDS Quarterly," a national PBS series produced by WGBH-TV in Boston, and in the early 1990s, he worked as a producer for "Our Times," a weekly magazine program on WHDH-TV (Ch. 7) in Boston.

Michael lives in Dorchester with his wife and their two daughters.

Stories by Michael Jonas

Haverhill teachers union rejects charter renewal

Education

Haverhill teachers union rejects charter renewal

Vote follows months of bitter debate

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AFTER MONTHS OF ACRIMONY in Haverhill, the city’s teachers union voted Thursday to block the renewal of the Silver Hill Horace Mann Charter School, dealing a crushing blow to faculty and families at the K-5 school who say it had become a model of creative, quality education in the city. Members of the Haverhill Education(...)

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Fear and loathing on Haverhill school vote

Education/ The Back Story

Fear and loathing on Haverhill school vote

Charter school at the center of charged debate

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THE SILVER HILL Horace Mann Charter School in Haverhill is seeking a five-year extension of its charter, but the seemingly routine process has mushroomed into a high-stakes battle reminiscent of last fall’s statewide ballot fight over charter school expansion. Members of the Haverhill teachers union will vote next week on whether to allow the K-5(...)

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Tito Jackson’s address? It’s complicated

Politics/ The Back Story

Tito Jackson’s address? It’s complicated

Boston mayoral candidate is both a Roxbury and Dorchester guy

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TITO JACKSON, the Boston city councilor who is challenging Mayor Marty Walsh this fall, is not generally one to shrink from a tough question or dodge and weave around a topic. Which makes it all the more remarkable to see Jackson tiptoe his way through a seemingly simple inquiry: What neighborhood does he live in?(...)

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Boston teachers union will welcome Chaffee

Education

Boston teachers union will welcome Chaffee

National Teacher of the Year to be invited to speak to members

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THE MASSACHUSETTS TEACHERS ASSOCIATION may not be interested in hearing from Sydney Chaffee, the Boston charter school educator who was recently named National Teacher of the Year, but the Boston Teachers Union wants her to come address its members. Richard Stutman, the longtime president of the union representing Boston Public Schools teachers, said his leadership(...)

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Mass. teachers union snubs National Teacher of the Year

Education/ The Back Story

Mass. teachers union snubs National Teacher of the Year

Votes down motion congratulating Dorchester charter school teacher

By 17 Comments

SYDNEY CHAFFEE WAS WELCOMED to the White House last month. She was honored at an event in Boston by the governor and the state education commissioner. But the first Massachusetts educator ever named National Teacher of Year was given the cold shoulder by the state’s largest teachers union. Delegates at the Massachusetts Teachers Association annual(...)

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Few answers on corrections spending  

Criminal Justice/ The Back Story

Few answers on corrections spending  

Baker, sheriffs offer muted explanations for findings  

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GOV. CHARLIE BAKER and the state’s sheriffs offered no clear explanation this week for why corrections funding is going up as inmate populations are declining. The puzzling spending pattern was detailed in a study released on Monday by MassINC, the nonpartisan public policy research organization that publishes CommonWealth. The report found that spending on corrections, especially in the county systems overseen by the state’s 14 elected(...)

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Boston reentry initiative hits the skids

Criminal Justice

Boston reentry initiative hits the skids

Award-winning program to aid those leaving prison loses federal funding

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BOSTON’S WIDELY ACCLAIMED prisoner reentry program, which is aimed at reducing recidivism by helping offenders who are released from prison with everything from employment and housing to addiction services, was quietly shut down last fall when a federal grant funding the efforts wasn’t renewed. The shutdown, which was never announced, is a big setback to(...)

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Mass. voters strongly back criminal justice reform

Criminal Justice

Mass. voters strongly back criminal justice reform

Residents favor preventive measures over incarceration, says new poll

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MASSACHUSETTS RESIDENTS STRONGLY support reform of the state’s criminal justice system, including elimination of mandatory minimum sentences and a greater emphasis on rehabilitation and education programs than incarceration, according to a new poll. Two-thirds of residents said prevention programs for youth and job training and education for inmates should be higher priorities in addressing crime(...)

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Rosenberg: Put ed policy on hold until tax vote

Education/ Politics

Rosenberg: Put ed policy on hold until tax vote

Eyeing ‘millionaire’s tax,’ Senate president brushes off union bill, other legislation

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EDUCATION POLICY INITIATIVES may take a back seat in the state Senate to a focus on boosting school funding through the proposed “millionaire’s tax” on high earners. Senate President Stan Rosenberg told an education group on Tuesday afternoon that his priority is pushing the proposal for a new income tax, which supporters want to have(...)

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Revisiting the Question 2 messaging battle

Education/ Politics

Revisiting the Question 2 messaging battle

Lots of factors in defeat of charter school expansion

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CONFUSION IS THE ENEMY if you’re trying to build support for change. Local media still matters. And when it comes to education, voters will trust the word of their local school committee and their children’s teachers over that of their governor – even one who is rated the most popular state leader in the county.(...)

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