THE REMOVAL OF Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz as co-chair of the Legislature’s Joint Committee on Education drew harsh words on Thursday from leaders of four organizations serving communities of color, who charged that the move weakens advocacy for vulnerable students and waters down the already limited clout minority lawmakers wield on Beacon Hill. A statement issued by […]
Education
Posted inOpinion
UMass Bayside deal is about a lot more than money
IT’S RARE FOR THOSE OF US in public life to have the opportunity to make a profound and lasting difference for the people we serve. That’s why we are so excited about the transformation just around the corner for UMass Boston as a consequence of the Bayside lease. Much has been made of the extraordinary […]
Posted inOpinion
Lesson from LA: Less standardized testing
TEACHING CHILDREN is one of the hardest and most important things a society does. So teachers should be treated as among the most valued members of our society. That’s the message that drew hundreds of thousands into the streets of Los Angeles last month to support striking teachers. The result was a historic agreement illustrating […]
Posted inEducation
UMass Boston scores big revenue gain with Bayside lease
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS on Thursday tapped Boston-based Accordia Partners to develop the former Bayside Expo Center site, agreeing to a deal that university officials said could generate a transformational $235 million in revenue for its Boston campus. The university bought the 20-acre property adjacent to UMass Boston in 2010 for […]
Posted inEducation
Mass. must do more to boost early education workforce
WHEN IT COMES TO education bonafides, Massachusetts has a lot to brag about. Horace Mann, the reformer who popularized the idea of free, universal education grew up in Franklin and served as the state’s first secretary of education from 1837 to 1848. The Bay State frequently tops popular lists by US News & World Report […]
Posted inEducation
Local accountability in schools lacking, says report
MASSACHUSETTS HAS BUILT its school reform effort on a combination of new state funding and accountability measures that track student and district achievement, but that has largely let local districts off the hook for setting ambitious goals of their own and holding themselves and schools responsible for meeting them. That’s the conclusion of a new […]
Posted inEducation
Protesters say parking strike effective
THEY WERE OUT HOLDING SIGNS reading, “Monopoly, UMass Boston Edition,” and “You’re Driving Us Out.” The students, faculty, and staff of UMass Boston spent Wednesday outside the new on-campus West Garage urging drivers to boycott parking there for a day. The “parking strike,” where protesters flagged down drivers, explained their concerns, and urged them to […]
Posted inEducation
Parking ‘strike’ called at UMass Boston
STUDENTS, STAFF, AND FACULTY at UMass Boston say they plan to hold a “parking strike” on Wednesday, urging people not to park at campus garages and lots where charges have increased from $6 to $15 a day. “Our administration talks about their commitment to urban mission, but I can’t see it on a $15-a-day parking […]
Posted inOpinion
We must continue to invest in braille
IN A WORLD where technology is rapidly opening new doors for people with vision loss, most notably in the case of the smartphone and its applications that greatly aid navigation, shopping, and other activities, one might think that braille is going the way of the buggy whip. The reality, as seen every day on our […]
Posted inEconomy
Getting workforce development right
IN MARCH 2017, Boston Foundation CEO Paul Grogan wrote an op-ed for the Boston Globe titled “A Tight Labor Market is a Terrible Thing to Waste.” Since that time, when Boston’s unemployment rate was 3.3 percent, the labor market has only tightened. At the end of 2018, Greater Boston’s unemployment rate was below 2.5 percent. […]