Isn't every child special? - The funding tug-of-war between special education and regular education - CommonWealth Magazine
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Politics, i deas & civic li fe i n M assach usetts
Isn’t every
child special?
The funding tug-of-war
between special education
and regular education
Visit www.CWunbound.org
SPRING 2009 $5.00
State reps follow the leader | The limits of green power
Hollywood’s view of our film industry tax credit
S P R I N G 2009 CommonWealth 1
CommonWealth
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4 CommonWealth S P R I N G 2009
CommonWealth
volume 14, number 2 | spring 2009
34
48
DEPARTMENTS
7 | CORRESPONDENCE
9 | EDITOR’S NOTE
ARTICLES 11 | INQUIRIES
34 | ON THE COVER ISN’T EVERY CHILD SPECIAL? The state 18 | STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT
BY ROBERT DAVID SULLIVAN
is funneling more and more money into special education,
even as regular education students face big spending cuts. 21 | STATE OF THE STATES
BY JACK SULLIVAN AND BRUCE MOHL Massachusetts turns a corner.
BY ROBERT DAVID SULLIVAN
48 | STRINGS ATTACHED With the speaker calling all the
23 | HEAD COUNT
shots, debate and dissent have all but vanished from the Deval Patrick vs. Tim Cahill.
state House of Representatives. BY MICHAEL JONAS BY ROBERT DAVID SULLIVAN
58 | THE SHAPE OF WATTS TO COME Energy efficiency and 25 | WASHINGTON NOTEBOOK
renewable power sources are gaining momentum, but Obama taps local talent for
they probably aren’t enough to avoid new fossil fuel plants. science advice. BY SHAWN ZELLER
BY GABRIELLE GURLEY 85 | PERSPECTIVES Chelsea’s Jay Ash
on the achievement gap, Blue
68 | HIGH-TECH BREAKDOWN Government websites in Cross’s John Coughlin on the GIC,
Massachusetts are behind the curve in replying to citizen and Massport’s John Quelch on the
emails. BY COLMAN HERMAN agency’s 50th anniversary.
95 | REAL TALK Opportunity and
frustration in New Orleans.
68 BY ALISON LOBRON
DISCUSSION
31 | WHAT WORKS Students learn life skills at “work colleges.”
BY ALISON LOBRON
80 | CONVERSATION Producer Lynda Obst likes the Bay State’s
film tax credit but worries about our lack of qualified crew
members. BY ALISON LOBRON
COVER GETTY IMAGES S P R I N G 2009 CommonWealth 5
“Blue Cross has definitely kept
our teachers in the classroom.”
John Siever Principal, Plymouth South Middle School
Blue Cross Blue Shield is proud to support municipalities across Massachusetts by providing communities with
a wide range of health and wellness programs designed with their specific needs in mind. For more information,
call your Blue Cross Blue Shield sales representative, your broker/consultant or visit GetBlueMA.com
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Massachusetts is an Independent Licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association.
6 CommonWealth S P R I N G 2009
correspondence
CANDIDATES NEED scared to run. They just need a level
A LEVEL PLAYING FIELD playing field. The Minnesota model
I’m a three-term selectman in Fal- and the reform actions there are things
mouth and a recent independent that need to be addressed. Thanks for
candidate for the Third Barnstable the great articles and reaffirmation of
District seat in the House of Rep- what I knew to be true.
resentatives, held by Democrat Matt Carey M. Murphy
Patrick. Your editorial and article on Falmouth
“Ending the One-Party State” (CW,
Winter ’09) were dead on. The prob-
lem is that change needs to come IT’S TIME TO FINALLY
from a Legislature that is currently ENJOY THE GREENWAY
unaccountable to the people. Spring on the Greenway is here! Thou- The Greenway was created with a
I ran as an independent based sands will come to enjoy the sunshine, vision that was developed collabora-
partially on the fact that 54 percent flower beds, and dancing fountains; to tively well before the Conservancy
of the voters in my district are unen- eat lunch on the grass; and to people- was created. It’s a vision that views
rolled, to use the term given to any- watch. the Greenway as an urban retreat with
one who does not subscribe to any The region has waited years for this. parks, plazas, fountains, and public
of the four officially recognized par- Certainly, the Greenway’s progress has events and programs that draw people
ties in Massachusetts. You have given not always been smooth. (See “Plush closer together and build community.
me a glimmer of hope that there can Park,” CW, Fall ’08.) Designs were The Conservancy has embraced this
be some progress in changing the hotly debated, funding was uncer- vision, and with the signing of a lease
status quo. My sense is that a moder- tain, and questions persisted about with the Massachusetts Turnpike
ate Republican party, largely consist- who would inherit the responsibility Authority, we began officially to care
ing of unenrolled voters, is the best to manage, maintain, and program the for the parks on February 23.
hope. new public space. But the momen- None of this progress would have
On the other hand, I watched the tum is shifting. Now the Greenway is been possible without the shared
news today, and [outgoing Speaker a vibrant contributor to Boston’s city dedication among the state, the city,
Sal DiMasi’s] farewell speech—with- life and the questions are behind us. the neighborhoods, and the business
out a hint of remorse or apology, The Rose Kennedy Greenway Con- community—a clear sign of commit-
applauded by his fellow legislators— servancy, the nonprofit created to ment to the Greenway as an impor-
was scary. The subtitle in your article, steward the Greenway, has pledged to tant asset for the neighborhoods, the
“A ‘Fool’s Errand’ to Challenge an make it “open, green, excellent, and city, and the Commonwealth. In this
Incumbent,” also struck me, as I was welcoming to all.” The notion of non- economic climate, of course, there
repeatedly asked if I was crazy to run profits managing public land began are questions about the adequacy of
against any Democrat. I was proud in the 1980s, with neighborhoods, funding for this sophisticated park.
that I got 38 percent of the vote, ran business groups, and park advocates But a blend of private and public
a clean campaign without rancor, and, banding together to save parks that support is assured.
at the very least, was on the field with were decaying from government Taken together, this all means one
my uniform on. People need not be neglect. thing: This is the time to start expect-
ing the best instead of the worst. The
largest public works project in history
We welcome letters to the editor. Send your comments to editor@massinc.org, has produced a glorious series of
or to Editor, CommonWealth magazine, 18 Tremont Street, Suite 1120, Boston, parks envisioned as a gift to those
MA 02108. Please include a city or town, as well as a daytime phone number.
who endured the construction for so
many years. This summer, it’s going to
Letters may be edited for clarity and length.
get even better, and now is the time
to let ourselves enjoy it.
S P R I N G 2009 CommonWealth 7
correspondence
Take a look at our website (www. ful for such dedicated and competent tion, of the environmental damage
rosekennedygreenway.org) for infor- public servants. from fossil fuels, of ever-increasing
mation on the Greenway, its events, It is unfortunate that so many attor- electrification, and of the growing
and the Conservancy’s activities. Come neys general feel that their responsi- realization that the world’s energy
to one of our public meetings. Even bility to the public includes interven- demand is ever more rapidly outpac-
better, come on down to the Green- tion in the licensing of nuclear power ing discovery and exploitation of
way. Take a walk, sit on a bench, and plants, without having the technical fossil fuels, a renaissance of nuclear
take a deep breath. Enjoy. competence to make a useful contri- energy is not only essential, but is
Nancy Brennan bution. Most AG interventions appear increasingly recognized as essential.
Executive director to have been based on consultation So, to protect the little guy who
Rose Kennedy Greenway with anti-nuclear activists or organi- relies on the jobs, services, and the
Conservancy zations, not with objective and qual- necessities of life so dependent on
Boston ified experts. The Nuclear Regulatory assured supply of electricity, efforts
Commission is quite thorough and to assure safety should be construc-
competent, and the time and resources tive rather than adversarial. Fortun-
COAKLEY SHOWS FAIRNESS available to ensure safety should not ately, Martha Coakley, our current
ON NUCLEAR ENERGY be diverted from expert testimony. AG, is open-minded as well as com-
As Attorney General Martha Coakley Just waving the flag of consumer pro- petent. We should expect reasonable
said in her letter (Correspondence, tection is counter-productive, unless and public-spirited objectivity on the
CW, Winter ’09) her office does work intervention testimony is the result issues of nuclear energy—objectivity
hard at consumer protection, to pro- of objective and technically compe- that some of her predecessors greatly
tect “the little guy” from scammers tent preparation. lacked.
and unscrupulous businesses, and is In view of the quantitative limita- R. Murray Campbell
quite effective at it. We should be grate- tions of renewables and of conserva- Cohasset
Mayor Thomas M. Menino
The Boston Schoolyard Initiative (BSI),
a partnership between the City of Boston,
Boston Public Schools and the Boston
Schoolyard Funders Collaborative,
transforms Boston’s schoolyards into
dynamic centers for learning, recreation
and community life.
Since 1995, BSI has renovated over 70
> For more information, see www.schoolyards.org
Boston schoolyards, reclaimed 135 acres
> Boston Schoolyard Initiative of asphalt, built outdoor classrooms and
55 Court St., Suite 520, Boston, MA 02108 created play and learning spaces serving
617.426.2606 25,000 Boston school children every day.
THIS SPACE GENEROUSLY DONATED BY THE LYNCH FOUNDATION
8 CommonWealth S P R I N G 2009editor’s note
Making an impact
every time our magazine comes out, I wonder what kind
of impact it will have. I know I’m interested in the issues
we’re covering, but will others find them compelling?
We received a positive answer to that question recently
with the release of Gov. Deval Patrick’s fiscal 2010 budget payoff is for the state, or whether $20 million spent on film
proposal. It contains two provisions that were a direct tax credits is a better use of state money than $20 million
outgrowth of work done by CommonWealth magazine spent on education or local aid.
and MassINC. Judging from Alison Lobron’s Conversation with Holly-
One initiative would require the state to set aside any wood producer Lynda Obst in this issue, the data we need
capital gains tax revenue above a certain level and place it to evaluate the state’s film tax credit won’t be given up
in a “rainy day” fund. Research conducted by Cameron Huff voluntarily. Obst declined to say how many tax credits she
and Dana Ansel for MassINC (see “Point of Reckoning,” received from the state when she filmed This Side of the
Considered Opinion, CW, Spring ’08) found that Massa- Truth in Lowell last year or how much cash those credits
chusetts has become very dependent on capital gains tax netted her. She did acknowledge, however, that the film
revenues, but those revenues are subject to swings up and tax credit was the biggest piece of the puzzle when choos-
down depending on the state of the national economy. ing to do her film here. She also said only a third of the
Huff and Ansel had a simple recommendation: Smooth film’s jobs went to Massachusetts residents, exactly the
out the gyrations by setting aside a portion of the capital type of news that would be invaluable to policymakers as
gains tax revenues that come in during the good times and they weigh the pros and cons of tax credits.
using it in the bad times. Unfortunately for Massachusetts, It’s gratifying to see some of our articles and research
the proposal is moving forward at a time when the state is having an impact on Beacon Hill, and we hope that trend
caught in one of those sharp downward swings, so there’s continues with the stories in this issue. For example,
no cushion to soften the blow now. Michael Jonas’s article on the top-down management of
The governor’s other budget proposal would require the Massachusetts House underscores the lack of political
state agencies to disclose who is receiving a new breed of competition in Massachusetts, a dominant theme of our
tax credit that can be sold and converted into cash—and last issue and the focus of a panel discussion last month
also require the recipients of these tax credits to disclose featuring Harvard-Pilgrim CEO Charles Baker, Boston City
how many jobs they created in Massachusetts and what Councilor Sam Yoon, and state Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz.
those jobs paid. This spring’s CommonWealth raises a host of new issues.
The information is badly needed to determine whether The cover story on special education, written by Jack
the tax credits are worth their cost to the state. As Common- Sullivan and me, represents the magazine’s first foray into
Wealth has reported over the past year (see “Subsidizing investigative journalism. It details how special education’s
the Stars,” CW, Spring ’08), there is very little follow-up by soaring price tag is eating away at the foundation of our
state government on the hundreds of millions of dollars state’s education system.
in tax credits issued each year. Elsewhere in the magazine, Gabrielle Gurley reports on
For example, we know the film tax credit is attracting a high-stakes bid to cut the state’s electricity usage, Colman
movie productions to Massachusetts because we keep Herman details the unresponsiveness of some state and
seeing stars like Bruce Willis, Kate Hudson, and Jennifer local agencies to constituent emails, and Lobron explores
Garner pass through town. But we don’t know what the the wisdom of blending work and study at college.
I’m happy to see our stories effecting change on Beacon
Hill, but I also want to know how our reporting affects
you. I welcome your reactions and your suggestions.
bruce mohl
S P R I N G 2009 CommonWealth 9' SGTJGZK LUX INGTMK OY G SGTJGZK LUX YSGXZ
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Beacon Hill pols IBM offers transition
share their bounty
to teaching careers
Massachusetts legislators are big givers
> by alison lobron
with other people’s money. Campaign
finance reports for 2008 indicate law-
makers took about $1 million of the $9.8 when elizabeth cowles of Bedford graduated from college in 1987, she
million they raised from supporters and had two job offers: one to work for IBM and one to teach high school physics.
donated it to charities, other politicians, She chose IBM because the pay was better, but always imagined she’d switch
or a political party. to teaching at some point—until life got in the way.
The records show 179 lawmakers gave “When you end up with a mortgage and kids and everything else, it’s hard
just over $650,000 to charitable causes. to imagine going back for a new degree, paying tuition, and not working,”
Senate President Therese Murray led the said Cowles, who has three school-age children. “I thought about it over the
way, donating $32,485, or nearly 10 per- years, but it’s hard to make it work.”
cent of the money she raised in 2008, to Then Cowles learned about Transitions to Teaching, or T2T, an IBM pro-
charitable groups.They included the Fran- gram that offers money and schedule flexibility to employees who want to
ciscan Hospital for Children in Boston, retrain as math and science teachers. While continuing to work half-time as
which received over $4,000, as well as a an IBM analyst, Cowles enrolled in a part-time program to earn a master’s
host of organizations in the Plymouth in education at Boston College, and IBM footed about two-thirds of her
area including the Plymouth Center for tuition bill. Last December, she left the company after 21 years, and is now
the Arts ($1,000). Other big givers in the student-teaching at Bedford High School while she finishes up at BC.
Legislature included Sen. Steven Tolman Cowles says she expects a full-time teaching salary to be equivalent to
of Brighton,who donated $17,000 to local her half-time IBM salary, but she still thinks the
charities, and Sen. Steven Baddour of ibm footed trade-off will be worth it and is looking for a
permanent post for September. The biggest incen-
Methuen, who donated $15,000.
All but 26 of the 200 lawmakers on
two-thirds tive is that she enjoys teaching. A close second is
Beacon Hill gave money to a fellow politi- of tuition. the chance to have the same vacations and daily
cian or a political campaign in 2008. The schedule as her kids.
total handed out was $406,000, with “When you have kids, having to travel in the corporate world is very chal-
about half going to the Massachusetts lenging,” says Cowles, who was on the road every few months in her IBM
Democratic Party, which uses the dona- days. “It’s a quality-of-life issue.”
tions to support its candidates.“Candid- Maura Banta, the IBM executive who helped launch the program in 2005
ates contribute to the [state party] for and who also chairs the Massachusetts Board of Education, acknowledges
the purpose of supporting the coordi- that T2T follows a rather odd business model. That is, most companies don’t
nated campaign,” Stacey Monahan, the pay to train employees to go work somewhere else. Part of the goal, she said,
Democrats’ executive director, said in an is for the company to position itself as a leading voice in math and science
email. education—and to demonstrate that teachers who come out of industry,
Former House Speaker Salvatore rather than schools of education, can succeed in the classroom.
DiMasi was tops in political contributions, “We knew that if we didn’t prove that you could do this, we’d have no abil-
donating $25,000 to the state party. He ity to actually work in the policy area around how to prepare teachers dif-
was followed by Rep. Jim Arciero of West- ferently,” she said. “The program was born out of a desire to walk the talk.”
ford, who donated $21,000 to the state IBM gives program participants up to $15,000 in tuition reimbursement,
party during his successful run for office as well as scheduling flexibility that allowed Cowles to take a morning class
last year. three days a week. Employees choose and apply for their training and certi-
> c h r i st i n a p r i g n a n o fication programs; the company helps out only with money and time. Parti-
S P R I N G 2009 CommonWealth 11inquiries
cipants must work for IBM for at least a decade to
be eligible, and Banta says the current crop ranges This house in Waltham was
from 30-somethings wanting a seismic life change sold for $520,000 in 2005
and for $275,000 this year.
to Baby Boomers eager for a meaningful “encore”
career.
Four years after the program launched, there are
105 participants nationwide, 12 of them in Massa-
chusetts, making for a relatively small number
compared with IBM’s total workforce of nearly
400,000. Banta predicts T2T will always be small,
thanks to teacher’s pay (compared with engineer’s
pay), the challenges of the profession, and the
realities of starting over.
But she hopes other science and technology com-
panies—and, perhaps most importantly, policy-
makers—will follow IBM’s lead and make it easi-
er, and cheaper, for mid-career professionals to
share their knowledge with kids. “I would personally like consider the loan to be settled.
to see us be more realistic, and understand that you don’t The house was listed in January 2008 for $500,000.
necessarily go into teaching for 30 years,” says Banta. She The price was dropped to $450,000 later that month, to
hopes T2T will help challenge the common public image $399,000 in mid-February, and then to $350,900 by the
of teaching as a job for “people with low SAT scores” to end of February. Luis Gonzalez, the real estate broker han-
one that talented people are eager to choose, either for all dling the listing, says the owners finally received an offer
or part of their working lives. of $330,000, but the lender refused to accept a short sale
at that price.
Though the bank loses money on a short sale, if the bor-
rower is able to sell the house at or near its current mar-
ket value, it can minimize the lender’s loss, since the bank’s
Banks balk at short sales alternative is to wade through the foreclosure process and
then sell the property. In the meantime, the bank will incur
of underwater homes costs to maintain the house, and the value may fall even
further if the market is continuing to deteriorate.
> by michael jonas
That’s exactly what happened with the Waltham two-
family home. In November, Nomura Home Equity fore-
with banks bleeding red ink under the weight of mas- closed on the house. Two months later, the company sold
sive losses on home loans, you would think lenders would it to a local real estate investor for $275,000, or $55,000 less
be scrambling for every dollar they can squeeze out of the than the earlier offer to buy the house as a short sale. After
devalued houses they hold mortgages on. But when it putting $20,000 to $30,000 of
comes to minimizing mortgage losses, housing advocates hesitation work into the home’s kitchens
and real estate agents say banks often can’t get out of their and bathrooms, the new owner
own way.
can mean a now has the house listed for
Consider a modest two-family house on Guinan Street bigger loss. sale for $429,000 and already
in Waltham, which was bought in 2005 for $520,000 and has turned down one offer close
financed with no down payment, a common practice dur- to $400,000, according to the listing broker, David
ing the height of the real estate boom. Last year, falling DiGregorio of Coldwell Banker Residential in Waltham.
behind on their mortgage and with the falling value of “They’re stabbing themselves in the back,” Gonzalez
their house now well below the balance on their mortgage, says of lenders that turn down short sales only to wind up
the couple that owned the home tried to get out from under recouping even less of what they are owed on a house.
the debt through a short sale. In a short sale, a lender agrees He and other brokers say it can be difficult to navigate
to accept the proceeds from the sale of the house, even through the complex web of financial institutions that
though it is less than what’s owed on the mortgage, and have a stake in many homes. The bank that holds the mort-
12 CommonWealth S P R I N G 2009 PHOTOGRAPH BY BETH ADELSONinquiries
gage often hires another company to service the loan and
handle any transaction, and getting approval for short
sales can drag on so long that buyers often get impatient
and walk away from the potential deal.
“I see that scenario maybe six or seven times a month
within our office alone,” says DiGregorio. “They’re literally
their own worst enemy,” he says of banks that drag their
feet on short sales. Reconnecting
Tom Callahan, the director of the Massachusetts
Affordable Housing Alliance, a statewide nonprofit that Massachusetts
guides first-time buyers through a state-sponsored low-
interest mortgage program, says 10 percent to 15 percent Gateway Cities:
of the buyers MAHA has assisted in recent months were
able to purchase homes through short sales. But it can be Lessons Learned and
a trying process, he says. “Banks and lending institutions an Agenda for Renewal
have been making decisions that often are not in their
economic self-interest because they can’t figure out how
to deal with the volume of requests,” says Callahan.
Gonzalez says the firms that hold and service mortgages FROM RESEARCH
are understaffed and overwhelmed with troubled loans.
“Sometimes I feel they don’t even know what the heck
TO RESULTS
they own,” he says. “It’s really messy.” Since the publication of the report,
MassINC is working with leaders in
the 11 Gateway Cities and the University
of Massachusetts Dartmouth’s Urban
Initiative to develop a new urban agenda
School mergers in for Massachusetts. Gateway Cities provide
middle-class housing, infrastructure to
Maine hit snags accommodate smart growth, and an
expanding, energized, and diverse labor
> b y m at t h e w st o n e force. By forging a new state-local partner-
ship, Gateway Cities can help Massachu-
massachusetts officials looking to consolidate some setts stay economically competitive.
of the state’s school districts need only look north to Maine
to see how tough that job will be. To learn more about our Gateway Cities
Maine Gov. John Baldacci first floated his district con- initiative, visit gateways.massinc.org.
solidation proposal in January 2007, saying the state’s cost
of school administration shouldn’t continue to grow as To read the report, check out www.massinc.org
the student population shrinks. So he called for the state’s and click on the “Research” tab.
decentralized network of 290 school systems—ranging
in size from the five-student Monhegan Plantation on the
Gulf of Maine to the 7,000-student Portland system—to
become just 26 districts. A JOINT PROJECT OF:
But smaller school districts are not fading away quietly.
The consolidation bill that eventually passed in June 2007
called for 80 districts, and now, with just a couple months
before the big reduction is slated to take effect, it looks
like 220 districts will remain.
“Of those plans that failed, they failed for a reason,”
says state Sen. David Trahan. “Those communities do not
want the state of Maine dictating what they do with their
S P R I N G 2009 CommonWealth 13inquiries
JOHNSON HALEY
education system.”
Trahan, a Republican from Waldoboro in Maine’s Mid-
Coast region, actively supported a successful effort last
year to gather the more than 55,000 signatures needed to
bring a consolidation repeal question before voters this fall.
Public Law He is also sponsoring one of five repeal proposals pending
in the Legislature this session.
“It’s too sweeping. It’s too broad. It’s one size fits all,”
Executive
Trahan says of the consolidation law,“and I just don’t think
Legislative
it fits in the state of Maine.”
Regulatory
In the more than 120 districts where voters turned
down consolidation plans, schools will bear the penalties
Municipal written into law for noncompliant school units: reductions
in state education subsidies.
Fayette, for example, is a small district near Lewiston
where the 130 students attend school in town until sixth
grade and then choose among a handful of neighboring
districts’ schools. Fayette previously split from a larger dis-
trict, and in January it rejected a proposal to merge with
two nearby school systems.
51 Franklin Street l Boston 617.778.1200
“Towns like Fayette rejected consolidation because it
l
did not offer an opportunity for efficiency to save taxpayer
www.JohnsonHaleyLLP.com
dollars,” town manager Mark Robinson says. The town now
faces a $39,000 cut in state aid for the coming school year.
The Maine approach to school consolidation relies more
on sticks than carrots to work, although a lot of latitude
was left to school districts. Existing school systems choose
their own partners, no schools close as a result of the merg-
ers, and communities accustomed to school choice can
maintain it. Geographically isolated districts, as well as
those with 2,500 or more students, are exempt from the
mandate.
For the Maine Department of Education, implement-
ing the law has led to some awkward realizations. Under
one of the law’s snarls, for example, 17 districts that voted
in favor of consolidating found they couldn’t because
their merger partners rejected the arrangement. Those
districts now face the same penalties as districts that
opposed mergers.
The exemption of districts with more than 2,500 stu-
© 2009 B ingham M cCu tche n L LP One Fede ral Stree t, Bo ston M A 02110 T . 617. 951.8000 Pr io r resul ts do not guarantee a simil ar outco me.
dents, such as Portland, has also split Maine in two.
Districts in the state’s sparsely populated, rural northern
Diversity is powerful. reaches found themselves scrambling to set up partner-
ships and bring them before voters. Districts in more heav-
ily populated southern Maine found they could maintain
the status quo while complying with the sweeping state
mandate.
Massachusetts officials are moving more slowly on con-
solidation. They are making the case for it not by arguing
that savings will result, but by arguing that bigger is bet-
Attorney Adve rtising
bingham.com
ter. J.D. LaRock, policy director at the state’s Executive Office
of Education, says academic achievement will be the pri-
14 CommonWealth S P R I N G 2009inquiries
Wilkerson is now
mary motivation behind any regionalization proposal. being investigated
on bribery charges.
LaRock, citing eighth-grade test data from 2008, says
that districts of a certain size produce stronger academic
results. “When you look at the exams, you see a clear trend
that moderately larger districts do better,” he says, citing
school systems of about 5,000 students. “These central
offices have greater capacity to support their schools in
the way we want.”
According to LaRock, who says his office is working on
a bill to be introduced “over the coming months,” a
regionalization proposal for the Bay State will be open to
a variety of approaches.
“It may be more complicated in some parts of the state she is entitled.”
as opposed to others,” he says. “In some cases, two com- Wallace-Benjamin goes on to say that Wilkerson is
munities might want to join. In some cases, it might be upset that she had not been invited to meetings on gam-
more.” ing that the governor had with legislators. “So please, David
The Department of Elementary and Secondary Edu- and team,” Wallace-Benjamin implores, “call her, speak
cation in February awarded nearly $275,000 in planning with her about her legislation and what she needs and
grants to 12 districts considering regionalization. If the wants from us and the governor. She also wants to meet
districts consolidate, the mergers would chip away at with him…. This needs immediate action.”
Massachusetts’ network of 328 school districts—includ- In the same email, Wallace-Benjamin laments that Wilk-
ing 284 with fewer than 5,000 students—and, LaRock erson “admonished me that we have more (new) Republi-
says, provide key insights for the rest of the state. cans working on our agencies than African-Americans
and the community is ripped! The Latino community is
Matthew Stone is a freelance writer living in Sidney, Maine. up in arms as well; and you all know we have received a
binder of talent from the Asian community.”
Wallace-Benjamin then lists 11 people she wants hired.
According to public records, five of them are now on the
state payroll.
Email exchanges with Another email exchange in December 2007 about an
awarding of federal justice assistance grants reveals how
Patrick’s office reveal Wilkerson’s tirades could ricochet with lightning speed
through the Patrick administration. Layla D’Emilia-
Wilkerson’s tenacity Shepherd of the Executive Office of Public Safety and
Security emailed Patrick’s chief of staff, Doug Rubin, and
> by colman m. herman
two other officials after a phone call Wilkerson had with
D’Emilia-Shepherd’s boss, Secretary of Public Safety Kevin
the federal affidavits filed in conjunction with the Burke. “Burke just got off [the] phone with Wilkerson,”
Rubin apparently got an earful in person, since he
bribery investigation of former state Sen. Dianne Wilker- she writes. “She is pissed. Heads up.”
later wrote back to D’Emilia-Shepherd: “She just left
son reveal how relentless she could be in pursuing poli-
my office. You are right, she is upset.”
cies and projects of interest to her alleged benefactors.
Nowhere is that more evident than in her dealings over
the years with Gov. Deval Patrick and his staff, according The records also suggest Wilkerson was active in push-
to emails obtained by CommonWealth from the governor’s ing for Columbus Center, a proposed development span-
office under the state’s Public Records Law. ning the Massachusetts Turnpike in the South End. The
“I had a less than pleasant meeting with Sen. Wilker- chief developer of Columbus Center is Arthur Winn, who
son today,” writes Joan Wallace-Benjamin, the governor’s has admitted giving Wilkerson a $10,000 gift.
former chief of staff, in a March 2007 email to other top In a June 2007 email, an administration official refers
administration officials, including David Simas, deputy to a call Wilkerson had made to Rubin and Morris assert-
chief of staff, and Michael Morris, director of government ing that the Columbus Center proposal “isn’t moving fast
affairs. “You guys have got to keep her better informed enough.” The next day, Morris emailed colleagues to express
and show her the respect to which she feels as a senator his concern. “Sen. Wilkerson just called me again to say she
PHOTOGRAPH BY JOHN WILCOX/BOSTON HERALD S P R I N G 2009 CommonWealth 15inquiries
has not heard from anyone,” Morris writes. “Can some- Records Law’s deliberative process exemption, which
one call her and give her an update? She is going to be shields documents from public scrutiny that are part of
with the governor tomorrow at a bill signing so I would an ongoing public policy development process. The two
like someone to reach out to her before she complains remaining documents were excluded under the claim of
to him.” attorney-client privilege.
In another email, this one in January 2008 from Patrick’s lawyer also cited a previous Supreme Judicial
Wilkerson to Morris, she blasts Burke for his handling of Court decision that the governor has interpreted as ex-
legislation dealing with criminal offender records. “This empting him entirely from the Public Records Law. Patrick’s
entire process and how it was handled by the secretary aides say he voluntarily complies with most records requests,
and his staff has been outrageous…. We were flat-out lied but a recent review by Common-
to,” Wilkerson writes. “I am completely out of patience….
Unless and until you rethink the process, I am not inter-
‘we were Wealth of public records requests
made to the governor found that it
ested in spending any more time trying to work with the flat-out is not uncommon for him to with-
administration.” lied to.’ hold documents.
She did, however. Patrick’s records indicate that he Last year CommonWealth ran a
met with Wilkerson twice more. In June 2008, for exam- cover story on the weakness of the state’s Public Records
ple, Wilkerson’s chief of staff emailed Patrick’s office Law. (See “Paper Tiger,” CW, Fall ’08.) Rep. Antonio Cabral
asking for a meeting outside the State House. That meet- of New Bedford has filed legislation that would toughen
ing, which took place on June 25, dealt with Wilkerson’s the law in a few respects, but it does not address the issue
campaign, according to a Patrick spokesperson. of whether or not the governor is covered. (See “Rep.
While Patrick’s legal counsel has handed over about 45 Cabral to Push Public Records Bill,” CW, Winter ’09.) Cabral
documents to CommonWealth dealing with the adminis- is anticipating a hearing on his bill in a month or two.
tration’s interactions with Wilkerson, he refused to release The legislation, Cabral says, could be folded into an ethics
nine other records. On seven of them, he cited the Public reform bill.
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16 CommonWealth S P R I N G 2009Imagine winning
the Lottery every day.
Your town actually does.
Over the last 6 years, the Mass Lottery has
returned over $5.5 billion in local aid to the
351 cities and towns of Massachusetts.
Visit masslottery.com to see how much your city or town has received.
S P R I N G 2009 CommonWealth 17statistically significant
by robert david sullivan
doing time outside the big house
One in every 24 adults in Massachusetts —
or 4.1 percent — was “under correctional
control” in 2007, according to recent data
from the Pew Center for the States. That’s far
above the national average (the center’s report is
actually titled “One in 31: The Long Reach of American gridlock loosens grip
Corrections”), and only Georgia, Idaho, and Texas had a greater percentage of their on boston in 2008
populations under supervision. Like the rest of the US, metropol-
What was unique about the Bay State is that we were so lopsided toward non- itan Boston experienced a “star-
prison supervision — that is, the use of probation and parole as an alternative to tling” decrease in traffic conges-
putting people behind bars. Massachusetts ranked third in the percentage of adults tion last year, but we still have
on probation or parole (3.58 percent), but we were way down at 46th in the percent- more than our share of bottle-
age of adults in prison (0.53 percent), with lower numbers only in New Hampshire, necks, according to new data
Vermont, Minnesota, and Maine. Nationwide, there were twice as many adults on from Inrix Traffic Services.
probation or parole as there were prisoners; here the ratio was more than 7-to-1. (Only The market research company,
Oklahoma and Virginia had more people under supervision inside than outside.) which compiles data from GPS-
The reliance on non-prison sentencing may be one reason that Massachusetts equipped vehicles, estimated
spends only 4.6 percent of its general budget on corrections, well below the national that traffic congestion during
average of 6.9 percent. peak travel times dropped by
29 percent in the 100 largest
urban areas last year, with only
bay state farms get fruitful and multiply Baton Rouge, Louisiana, regis-
Are “buy local” campaigns helping to preserve the state’s small farming sector? tering more crowded roads. Inrix
New data from the US Department of Agriculture show that the number of cited “turbulent fuel prices and
working farms went up from 6,075 to 7,691 from 2002 to 2007—even though a struggling economy” for the
the amount of land devoted to farming stayed almost identical, going from drop. Congestion in high-unem-
518,570 to 517,879 acres. That meant the average farm size dropped from 85 to ployment Detroit, for example,
67 acres. From 2002 to 2007, the annual market value of the state’s agricultural dropped by 47 percent.
output grew by 27 percent, to $490 million. In Boston, congestion drop-
Of the state’s 14 counties, Plymouth showed the greatest decline in farm ped by 27 percent, a bit below
acreage (down 17 percent), while next-door Bristol County registered the biggest the national average, and we
increase (up 9 percent). were ranked as the eighth most
After the release of the USDA data, the state’s Department of Agricultural congested area in the US over-
Resources proudly noted that Massachusetts ranks second in the nation in all. The worst “bottleneck” in
cranberry and wild blueberry production, and is also in the Top 10 for squash, the region was Neponset Circle
maple syrup, and raspberries. One thing the state doesn’t brag about: We’re in Dorchester. It ranked 190th
ninth for tobacco production, and Hampden County ranks 50th among all in the US in 2007 but rose to
437 tobacco-producing counties in the US. 116th last year.
18 CommonWealth S P R I N G 2009 ILLUSTRATIONS BY TRAVIS FOSTERtrout community
gets stimulus
The state’s trout population is
surging by 518,000 this spring,
thanks to the Division of
Fisheries and Wildlife’s program tax foundation gives middling grade to massachusetts
of restocking waterways with Massachusetts had the fifth highest annual state-and-local tax
fish from the state’s four hatch- burden per capita ($5,377) in the 2008 fiscal year, according to the
eries. The infusion of “feisty” Tax Foundation’s recent ranking of the states on tax-and-spend
fish includes 3,000 tiger trout issues. But that was largely because we were the second wealthiest
measuring at least 14 inches state, with an annual income per capita of $58,661.
On the measure of state and local tax burden as a percentage of
across, but smaller brooks and
tax filers’ income, we were pretty near the middle of the pack, in 23rd
streams are more likely to see place. An estimated 9.5 percent of our income went to Beacon Hill
fish in the 6- to 11-inch category. or City Hall. The comparable figures were 11.8 percent in first-place
The biggest trout recorded New Jersey, 11.7 percent in New York, and 11.1 percent in Connecticut.
in Massachusetts was a 24- As far as the Tax Foundation was concerned, Massachusetts gets
high marks for its sales tax burden (ninth best, or lowest, in the US,
pounder caught in 2004 in the
much better than 49th-place New York). And we ranked 16th best in
Wachusett Reservoir. Perhaps
terms of the income tax. But we ranked 44th (or seventh worst) in
the economic advantages of terms of property tax burden; we were also 47th in the “unemploy-
fishing as a sport — when you ment insurance tax index” and 44th in the “corporate tax index.”
win, you get to eat! — Massachusetts had the third highest cigarette tax in the survey,
will inspire local the 40th highest beer tax, and the 26th highest gas tax. But depend-
anglers to do even ing on how things play out on Beacon Hill, we could
vault past first-place New York, now at 41.3 cents
better this year.
per gallon.
bay state dentists reveal their agenda
Both the Massachusetts Dental Society (MDS) PAC and the affiliated Massachusetts Dental Society
Peoples Committee were among the 10 political action committees with the most money left on hand
at the end of 2008, according to the state’s Office of Campaign and Political Finance. The former had a
balance of $119,762; the latter had $135,717. (The Retired Public Employees PAC was on top with $1,162,958.)
Now we may know what the state's dentists have been gearing up for. The MDS is sponsoring leg-
islation this year that would require every child in Massachusetts to have a dental exam by a dentist
before entering kindergarten, in much the same way as children are required to have physical exams
before starting school. The MDS agenda also includes “a proposal to work with the state to assist
dental school graduates with tuition and loan repayment”— which may have something to do with
dentists’ complaints that Massachusetts is not paying them enough to treat patients with state-
subsidized insurance plans , as reported in the Boston Globe last summer.
S P R I N G 2009 CommonWealth 19I=: 8DHI D; 9D>C< CDI=>C< 67DJI I=: =:6AI= 86G: 8G>H>H >H ?JHI IDD =>
state of the states
End of an exodus by robert david sullivan
only a couple of years ago, many of us fretted about the As the map below shows, the Bay State may be in the
Bay State’s declining population. (See “A Fading Dream?”, vanguard of a national demographic shift. It was the only
Civic Sense, CW, Fall ’ 06.) We didn’t realize that something Northeastern state with a net migration gain in 2008 that
was coming that would reverse the tide: a rotten economy. also represented an improvement over 2003. (Five other
According to Census Bureau estimates, Massachusetts states went from a net loss to a net gain over the same
grew by just over 30,000 people from July 2007 to July period: Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Dakota,
2008, our biggest gain since the official 2000 count. This and Utah. How often are Massachusetts and Utah part
was not because we were having more children (our birth of the same trend?) It’s striking that all five other New
rate was still among the lowest in the US), and it wasn’t England states showed net migration losses, perhaps a
because more immigrants were arriving here (the influx sign that long commutes to jobs in Boston and New York
from other nations was the smallest since 2000). Instead, City are going out of fashion.
fewer people left Massachusetts for other states—perhaps, The “sand” states of Arizona, California, Florida, and
in part, because falling real estate prices are making it Nevada—all whacked by high foreclosure rates—still
harder for people to sell their homes and use the profits to gained people last year, but at a much slower rate than
move elsewhere. In 2005, we registered a net loss of 60,053 before. A report by the Brookings Institution in March
people to domestic migration. Last year that net loss was noted that “the migration bubble in the middle of this
down to 18,675. Add our 23,551 international immigrants decade, fueled by easy credit and superheated housing
over the same period, and you come up with 4,876 more growth in newer parts of the Sun Belt and exurbs through-
people deciding to settle here than deciding to leave. out the country, seems to have popped.”
NET MIGRATION GAIN OR LOSS, 2008 VS. 2003
Alaska
Hawaii
Net gain, greater than in 2003
Net gain, smaller than in 2003
Net loss, smaller than in 2003
Net loss, greater than in 2003
Source: US Census Bureau (www.census.gov).
S P R I N G 2009 CommonWealth 21You can also read
