The Massachusetts Transportation Dashboard (click pic to take it for a spin and tell us what you think (paging EdFactor!))
With talk of T fare increases and some calling for a gas tax hike, we think you deserve to know whether our state transportation leaders are wisely managing your billions in tax and fare dollars. So, we teamed up with Northeastern to present "The Massachusetts Transportation Dashboard," a graphical snapshot of how MassDOT is doing at reducing congestion, increasing on-time performance, and improving the safety of roads and bridges across the state. Click the graphic to check out the dashboard, and read this brief guide, Introduction to the Massachusetts Transportation Dashboard and our press release here.
Education Commissioner Mitch Chester stepped in it again. This week, he put a Fitchburg charter school on probation based on the very AYP accountability measures that state education leaders are seeking federal waivers for. Then the Board voted to take the school off probation. This arbitrary decision-making smells as rotten as what went on with the Gloucester charter mess last year, and as Jamie Gass noted here it "has created a crisis of confidence in the commissioner's ability to handle charter-school evaluations fairly."
Charter schools have done more than any education policy to bridge achievement gaps in Mass. - so why is the Patrick Administration chipping away at this successful model? Check out Jim Stergios' blog here.
Enter Pioneer's 2012 Better Government Competition for your chance to win $10,000! We want your ideas for this year's theme - federal programs that can be devolved to the states across the following policy areas: Education, Healthcare, Regulations, Urban Redevelopment, Transportation, Interstate Commerce, Banking and Finance, and any others you can think of.
Click here to learn more about the contest and three easy ways to enter!
Save these dates!
› Removing the Barriers: Virtual Schools and State Regulations (March 1, 2012)
› No More Know-Nothing Laws: School Choice in Massachusetts (March 15, 2012)
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