Turnaround time

By Richard M. Freeland Higher Education and Adult Learning 0 Comments Apr 26, 2007

massachusetts is engaged in a fierce, long-term competition for talent, investment, and jobs with other states, regions, and countries. Success is essential to the future well-being of our citizens and institutions. In this struggle, our world-class cluster of private and public universities and colleges is among our most important assets. Yet our state does not(...)

Environment/ Transportation/ Opinion

Meeting transportation needs may require more tolls and a higher gas tax

By Charles Chieppo 0 Comments Jan 27, 2007

gov. patrick faces a transportation challenge that could make the Big Dig look like a piece of cake. Massachusetts could have a shortfall in highway and transit funding of $13 billion to $17 billion over the next 20 years—potentially exceeding the $15 billion price tag of the Central Artery/Tunnel Project. Closing the gap will require(...)

Economy

Risky business

By Robert Keough Cost of Living and Consumer Affairs 0 Comments Jan 27, 2007

few books have generated as much anticipation here in the CommonWealth office as Jacob Hacker’s The Great Risk Shift. In terms of addressing themes we keep coming back to in this magazine, the only equivalent that comes to mind is Robert Putnam’s Bowling Alone (see “Picking up the Spare,” CW, Summer ’00), the book-length expansion(...)

Education

The new math

Rejiggering grade configurations to eliminate middle schools is catching on

By Michael Jonas Elementary and Secondary Education 0 Comments Jan 27, 2007

EDITOR’S NOTE: After CommonWealth went to press, it was reported that Manuel Rivera would not be taking the job of superintendent of Boston’s public schools. Manuel Rivera, who arrives in Boston in July, launched a wholesale reconfiguration of the Rochester school system. AS THE BOSTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS struggle to raise achievement and keep students and(...)

Politics

Recipe for success

By Dave Denison 0 Comments Jan 27, 2007

shortly after the polls closed on election night, November 7, it was clear that voters from all around Massachusetts had turned out in droves to elect Democrat Deval Patrick as governor. At one point that evening, CBS4 political analyst Jon Keller went on the air with some wry advice for the governor-elect. Noting that there(...)

Politics

Republicans have a positive role to play

By Bruce E. Tarr 0 Comments Jan 27, 2007

For the past 16 years, the Massachusetts Republican Party, including its legislators and candidates, has been dominated by the agendas and personalities of single individuals: governors who mobilized the Republican base and appealed to voters wanting balance in state government. For all that time, the party focused its efforts on keeping hold of the governor’s(...)

Politics

Cold case

By James V. Horrigan 0 Comments Jan 25, 2007

a century ago, it was a little easier to gain access to the Commonwealth’s chief executive than it is today. Most appointments were scheduled in advance, but sometimes people just showed up in the lobby of the governor’s office, hoping he would see them. That’s how it was on December 5, 1907, when three men(...)

Economy/ Education/ Politics

Higher authority

A retirement village on a college campus is too much for opponents in Weston

By Ray Hainer City and Town Profiles, Growth and Development, Municipal Government 0 Comments Jan 25, 2007

weston To Regis College, it seemed like a win-win proposition. The 362-unit retirement community the college wished to build on its campus would reverse the school’s financial fortunes and bolster its educational mission, while also providing a valuable resource to the town. But when plans for the development were unveiled in 2005, many residents of(...)

Politics

ACTIVISTS, NOT MAYOR, CHANGE NEW BEDFORD

By CommonWealth Staff Municipal Government 0 Comments Jan 25, 2007

Your article on the mayors of New Bedford and Fall River (“Bright Lights, Little Cities“) is well-written, but there is a message that is lost, and those of us who are considered activists see it as a glaring omission. The biggest hurdle through all these decades has been that “our leaders” have always had very(...)

Politics

Statistically Significant

By Robert David Sullivan State Government 0 Comments Jan 25, 2007

Illustrations by Travis Foster big employers still hold sway in bay state Politicians in Massachusetts often refer to the economic importance of smaller employers (for instance, in her speech on the night of the September primary, GOP gubernatorial candidate Kerry Healey worried about burdens on “the small businesses that create half the jobs” here), but(...)

Winter 2007

Rejiggering grade configurations to eliminate middle schools is catching on

A retirement village on a college campus is too much for opponents in Weston