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

Tracing Latino educational inequality

Education

Tracing Latino educational inequality

In Massachusetts, Latino college graduation gap among widest in US

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MASSACHUSETTS IS FALLING FAR SHORT when it comes to educating Latino students, with a four-year college graduation gap between white and Latino students that is the 37th worst in the country. The wide gulf in completion rates exists despite the fact that Massachusetts Latino students demonstrate higher achievement in K-12 education than Latinos nationally, according(...)

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NFL owners yield to Trump, bottom line

Criminal Justice/ Politics

NFL owners yield to Trump, bottom line

New policy states players must stand on the sidelines or remain in the locker room during the National Anthem

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In the end, the megamillionaire NFL owners decided to take a knee. Not a knee of protest or principle, as some of their employees pursued last season, but a knee of supplication. They bowed down to the royal leader, King Donald, hoping their new policy would satisfy his highness’s imperial ragings and lead him to(...)

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Report rips Boston record with ‘off-track’ high school students

Education

Report rips Boston record with ‘off-track’ high school students

1 in 5 students not on course to graduate

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A DECADE AFTER a report found that one of every five students in Boston Public Schools had fallen “off track” to graduate from high school, a new study finds that the figure has barely budged, with the district showing little progress in getting those students through high school. The report documents an uncomfortable truth about(...)

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Devin McCourty tackles criminal justice reform

Criminal Justice

Devin McCourty tackles criminal justice reform

New England Patriots co-captain sits down with CommonWealth magazine to discuss his platform for change

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When New England Patriots co-captain Devin McCourty joined the protests first set off by Colin Kaepernick and “took a knee” during the National Anthem last season, he was making a statement about racial justice issues in the country and the treatment of blacks by law enforcement officials. President Trump quickly “hijacked” the issue, McCourty says(...)

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Gonzalez, Massie share stage — and views

Politics

Gonzalez, Massie share stage — and views

Debate reveals little difference between Democrats on issues

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HE WAS NOWHERE to be seen, but Gov. Charlie Baker came in for a pummeling as the two Democrats vying for the right to take him on in November trained their fire on the state’s popular incumbent Republican, not each other, in a debate on Thursday afternoon at the University of Massachusetts Boston. Jay Gonzalez(...)

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All bets are on

Economy/ Gambling

All bets are on

Legalized sports betting may be on its way to Massachusetts

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Way back in 2005, when casino gambling in Massachusetts was still just a twinkle in Bob DeLeo’s eye, Gary Loveman, the Harvard Business School prof-turned-casino-pitchman regaled the region’s business bigs at a downtown luncheon of the Boston College Chief Executives’ Club. Loveman, then the chief executive of Harrah’s Entertainment, talked with the unbridled confidence of(...)

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The Codcast: “Time to degree’ is key

Education

The Codcast: “Time to degree’ is key

As the road to a college degree is increasingly filled with obstacles, states and institutions need to take action

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No one doubts the value of a college education. It is increasingly a requirement for entry into the middle class. But the road to a degree is filled with lots of potholes and obstacles. One top of it all is the ever-rising price of higher education, which is saddling many students with thousands of dollars(...)

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Diehl reverts to form

Politics

Diehl reverts to form

An upcoming fundraiser plays to Diehl's Trumpian base

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When Geoff Diehl worked his way to a second-ballot endorsement for US Senate by the state Republican Party at its convention last month, some wondered where the fire-breathing Trump supporter went. The Whitman state rep who co-chaired Trump’s Massachusetts campaign never mentioned the man in the White House in his speech to delegates. It felt,(...)

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Senate calls for ed funding formula revamp

Education

Senate calls for ed funding formula revamp

Lawmakers say the state is not making good on promise of 1993 reform law

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STATE OFFICIALS ARE marking the 25th anniversary of the landmark 1993 education reform law with a statewide set of events being held under the banner “Leading the Nation,” a reference to the top performance of Massachusetts students on national achievement tests. But the boasts and bows are colliding with an inconvenient truth: The state’s students(...)

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West Station wrangling

Transportation

West Station wrangling

Transit advocates say building the station now will influence future development

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IT’S PLAYING OUT as a classic chicken and egg situation. State officials say calls for a commuter rail station in the area of Allston being developed by Harvard as a major life sciences research hub are premature. They want to leave room for a station at the site, but are eyeing a possible opening in(...)

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