Jennifer Smith

Reporter, CommonWealth

About Jennifer Smith

Jennifer Smith is a staff reporter at CommonWealth magazine. A California native by way of Utah, Jennifer has spent the last 12 years in Boston, covering Massachusetts news for a variety of publications. She worked breaking news in the Boston Globe’s metro section and provided courtroom coverage of the Boston Marathon trial for the international wire service Deutsche Presse-Agentur (DPA) while completing her undergraduate journalism degree at Northeastern University in Boston. For four years, Jennifer worked as a staff writer and later news editor for the Dorchester Reporter, covering her home neighborhood and the city of Boston with a particular focus on politics and development. Her work and commentary have appeared in WBUR, GBH News, Harvard Public Health Magazine, and Politico’s Massachusetts Playbook. She has co-hosted MassINC’s Massachusetts politics and policy podcast The Horse Race since 2018, interviewing newsmakers, journalists, and elected officials across the state.

About Jennifer Smith

Jennifer Smith is a staff reporter at CommonWealth magazine. A California native by way of Utah, Jennifer has spent the last 12 years in Boston, covering Massachusetts news for a variety of publications. She worked breaking news in the Boston Globe’s metro section and provided courtroom coverage of the Boston Marathon trial for the international wire service Deutsche Presse-Agentur (DPA) while completing her undergraduate journalism degree at Northeastern University in Boston. For four years, Jennifer worked as a staff writer and later news editor for the Dorchester Reporter, covering her home neighborhood and the city of Boston with a particular focus on politics and development. Her work and commentary have appeared in WBUR, GBH News, Harvard Public Health Magazine, and Politico’s Massachusetts Playbook. She has co-hosted MassINC’s Massachusetts politics and policy podcast The Horse Race since 2018, interviewing newsmakers, journalists, and elected officials across the state.

Stories by Jennifer Smith

Court says social worker, school district not liable in student suicide 

Despite heightened attention to mental health, public institutions may be immune from suit

Skepticism, exhaustion at state of the T

Riders brace for Red Line work surge next month

State wants updated MCAS to consider student ‘experiences’

Bid documents describe retooled science, civics, and reading sections

MCAS debate lands at state ed board meeting 

Board member defends graduation requirement as imperfect, but vital

Board approves first updated sex ed standards in decades

State education panel gives thumbs up to changes, emphasizing inclusivity and comprehensiveness

Reckoning looms over ‘home equity theft’

Supreme Court decision puts Mass. law, cities and towns in spotlight

Norwell homeowners pit affordable housing against conservation 

SJC considers whether town was clearly reserving land for affordable housing

Emotions run high as Boston progressives process preliminaries

Wu says voters still turned out for progressive candidates

Wu hints at housing tax incentives, moves to overhaul zoning

Planning department will be re-organized to launch new zoning initiatives

Augustus: No silver bullets in the housing crisis

New cabinet secretary grapples with long to-do list as housing bond bill looms

Hits and misses on ballot questions targeting elections

Campbell rules against allowing several voting-related measures to go on ballot 

Ballot question season already at a boil

Attorney general green-lights several contested initiatives

Arriving students victims – and villains – in Massachusetts housing crunch

Lack of coherent regional planning and data compounds the problems

SJC sides with Galvin in imposing higher standards on broker-dealers 

Robinhood opinion could prompt wider reconsideration of personal investment obligations

Boston Public School parents worry about high school options

New poll finds declining confidence in BPS meeting its commitments

A sea change on managed retreat?

After years of resistance, some cities and towns plan to move back from eroding coasts

A religious wrinkle in the rent control debate

Opponents argue including convents and monasteries should bar question from the ballot

After affirmative action blow, legacy preference draws focus

Civil rights complaint and a federal investigation target Harvard admissions

Massachusetts cities and towns have spent millions restoring historic religious sites. They don’t know if it was constitutional.

History and religion at an uneasy impasse in preservation funding debates

Will the Legislature have an appetite for overrides?

Some lawmakers eager to restore funding for slashed programs

Campbell, other AGs join call for feds to speed migrant work approvals

Work authorization speeds are 'inexcusable,' coalition says

Ballot face-off over gig workers looms

Attorney general will decide soon if questions make the 2024 ballot

Black Boston takes the convention stage

114th annual NAACP convention tackles city’s reputation and equity policies

The migrant shelter crisis is also a housing crisis

Existing housing shortages exacerbated by the swelling shelter rolls

Healey declares state of emergency for ‘unsustainable’ migrant housing crisis

Governor asks for federal assistance to manage ‘humanitarian crisis’ and strained shelter system

On Boston MBTA board seat, fears of déjà-vu

Lost in last-minute negotiations last year, board composition changes on the block again

NAACP panel tackles venture capital’s role in the racial wealth gap

Leaders say supporting Black entrepreneurship is key to closing the gap

In-state tuition, financial aid in sight for undocumented students

Proposal gained support from immigrant advocates, business community

In-car displays are the next distracted driving target

Lawmakers say the size and capacity of built-in screens pose a danger

New state board charged with making digital spaces accessible

Healey executive order targets improving digital infrastucture for disabled people