Latest news with #Healey
CBS News
a day ago
- Business
- CBS News
Massachusetts public schools are the best in the country, new report says
Once again, Massachusetts public schools have been crowned the best in the country in an annual ranking. The report from personal finance website WalletHub says Massachusetts is No. 1 in its ranking of public school systems. The state also took the top spot in 2024 and 2023. Massachusetts schools ranked first in quality and second in safety. The state has the highest math and reading test scores among fourth and eighth graders, the study found. Earlier this year, an educational assessment known as the "Nation's Report Card" also found that Massachusetts students lead the country in test scores. But experts also cautioned that reading scores in Massachusetts and around the country have been declining since the COVID pandemic took students out of the classroom. Gov. Maura Healey's administration celebrated the new WalletHub ranking and touted investments in universal free school meals, special education, early literacy and preparing students for the workforce. "Massachusetts is home to America's first public school and has always led the way when it comes to providing our students with the best education," Healey said in a statement. "This recognition is a testament to the students, teachers, parents and staff who have invested their time and energy to help our schools succeed all across Massachusetts." According to WalletHub, Massachusetts also had one of the lowest dropout rates and the highest share of high schoolers who got a score of 3 or better on their Advanced Placement exams. The state also said few students report problems with bullying, fights or illegal drugs on campus. All New England states scored in the Top 20 of the WalletHub ranking. Connecticut was second, followed by New Hampshire at No. 5, Rhode Island in seventh, Maine at 14th and Vermont at No. 19.
Boston Globe
a day ago
- Business
- Boston Globe
Builders coalition enters new chapter as founder Dave Madan rejoins
Advertisement Under Madan's leadership, the group shortened its name to The Builder Coalition, or TBC. The focus, he said, is on opening doors 'for all talented individuals, especially those who have historically lacked access to key networks and resources.' Its mission now includes a 'TBC Innovation Center' think tank, essentially consulting and convening services that it offers to help other communities diversify their development sectors. The first national Innovation Center event will be held in September, at the Seaport Hotel, to bring together real estate finance experts from around the country. Madan leads a four-person staff, and hopes to add a fifth by early 2026, with an annual budget of around $1 million. The organization is also awaiting action from the Healey administration on a state budget earmark for another $150,000. Advertisement The coalition celebrated its new phase of growth Friday by hosting a fellowship kickoff event at the Bruce Bolling building in Roxbury and a tour of affordable housing sites where previous TBC fellows have foundations in the ground and wood frames going up. Speakers included Representative Russell Holmes and Senator Liz Miranda (co-sponsors of the budget earmark), city housing chief Sheila Dillon , and Sabrina Correia from sponsor JPMorgan Chase & Co. For Madan, it was inspiring watching this new class of 25 fellows — each one gets matched with two industry mentors — meet with previous fellows and observe how they're changing the city in their own way. 'It's a pretty incredible thing,' Madan said. 'There were just big smiles when everyone got off the buses. They were like, ... 'This is the real deal. Seeing is believing.'' Banking on more English classes When the findings of a MassINC report about the need for more career-focused English classes were announced a year ago at the UMass Club, those in the room looked around at each other and said, essentially, 'We can solve this.' The report showed that funding in Massachusetts for English proficiency classes was not keeping pace with the pressing need: One in 10 working-age adults in the state still had limited English skills. 'That report was really a galvanizing moment,' said Rahn Dorsey , chief executive of the Eastern Bank Foundation , a lead sponsor of the MassINC report. Now, the report is translating into action. The Eastern Bank Foundation last week announced it is committing $10 million over three years to support English teaching programs in the state, with an eye toward filling workforce gaps. The news, announced at the State House, happened alongside the Healey administration's announcement that the Legislature had pledged a separate $10 million for English proficiency work in a recent supplemental budget. Advertisement Foundation board chair Bob Rivers , who spoke at the State House event, said in an interview that it's just a coincidence that the dollar amounts are the same. The Eastern Bank Foundation recently hired Eva Millona as a foundation fellow to help lead this new initiative, with assistance from Jerry Rubin , the former chief executive of Jewish Vocational Service and another foundation fellow. Millona is back in Boston after serving in the US Department of Homeland Security. Previously, she led the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition . MassINC chief executive Joe Kriesberg said he was impressed to see the foundation's financial commitment to this cause, saying it 'supercharges' the Healey administration's efforts. 'It's certainly of a scale that you do not see very often from any kind of foundation or philanthropy,' Kriesberg said. '[It's] courageous for Eastern ... to take this leadership role at a time when not everybody is standing up to support our immigrant communities.' Getting machines to talk at SharkNinja Making a 'smart home' even smarter was one of the top missions for Mike Harris during his seven years at Amazon . Now, it will be one of his top missions at SharkNinja . The Needham-based company has recruited Harris from Amazon to be its first-ever chief innovation and technology officer, as it tries to Harris said he's been impressed with the pace of activity at the headquarters, with engineers tinkering with products around almost every corner, to improve on the flagship lines of Shark vacuums and Ninja blenders, as well as new lines ranging from smoothie makers to hair dryers. Advertisement The road to Amazon for Harris started at a startup called Zonoff, which specialized in connected-home software. Smart-home device company Ring acquired Zonoff's staff in 2017, bringing Harris on board. Amazon gobbled up Ring roughly a year later. Harris will lead SharkNinja's electrical engineering and software efforts related to connectivity — figuring out how to get various electronic devices to talk with each other. He'll report to Ross Richardson , SharkNinja's chief design officer. Now that he's furnishing his new home in the Boston area, he may be in the market for SharkNinja products. He's already hearing from others who want to place orders. 'All my friends and family have been sending me lists,' he added. 'I'm going to have to set up a warehouse just to fulfill [their] needs.' Rest-stop rivalry draws lobbyists A redevelopment lease for In the final round, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation ended up Global Partners . Global has long been represented by Dorchester lobbyist Bobby White , whose firm, Robert F. White Associates , has several other fuel sector clients. On June 18, the day Applegreen O'Neill and Associates , Boston's third-busiest lobbying firm. Spokesman Reid Lamberty said Global has relied on White's expertise over the years, and the company tapped O'Neill to 'help us navigate MassDOT's final decision on the RFP — specifically to gain insight into the process and receive guidance as we moved forward." Advertisement Global continues to make the case to MassDOT and Governor Maura Healey 's administration that its bid is better, primarily because it contains a higher rent price and because of Global's local ties. On Applegreen's side, the Blackstone -backed company hired Smith, Costello & Crawford , the city's busiest lobbying shop, last year to help craft the bid. Recently, Dempsey Associates , the city's fourth-busiest lobbying firm, has been involved as Applegreen contractor Suffolk Construction 's adviser. Jim Smith of Smith, Costello & Crawford said his firm's advice to Applegreen was to be responsive to the top priorities of the Healey administration, namely to launch a Smith, a Tesla owner, said the primary reason electric vehicles are not being more widely adopted is the concern over finding places to charge up when batteries are running low. The service plaza bid, he said, represented an opportunity to address that issue. Plus, the existing state plazas 'are not in particularly good shape [and] are frankly embarrassing for a commonwealth that really relies on tourism' to help the economy. 'It wasn't complicated at all,' Smith said. 'Yeah, money was important but there were other things that were more important.' Jon Chesto can be reached at
Boston Globe
2 days ago
- Business
- Boston Globe
AG Campbell proposes new regulations on embattled Roxbury mortgage lender tied to Healey donor
Advertisement Under a program the nonprofit calls BlueHub SUN, BlueHub buys properties from banks that are foreclosing on the homeowners, then resells them to the original owners. As part of the deal, the homeowners take on what is known as a shared appreciation mortgage — a relatively rare type of real estate loan that entitles BlueHub to a portion of any increase in the home's value when the homeowner sells or refinances the property. In a statement, BlueHub spokesperson Autumn McLaughlin wrote that BlueHub 'completely support[s] regulations that align with the intent and spirit of the law [Healey signed in 2024].' She said that the nonprofit intends to provide comments on the changes during the 27-day public comment period, after which Campbell's office will finalize the new rules. Advertisement The proposed regulations do not specifically name BlueHub; however, the rules as drafted would require BlueHub to share with homeowners the maximum amount that could be due under the shared appreciation mortgage and disclose that the loan includes a so-called balloon payment, or a one-time payment due to BlueHub at the end of the loan term. The proposed regulations also would bar BlueHub from making false promises to influence someone to sign a shared appreciation mortgage application or steer them away from hiring a lawyer to review the application. Both echo accusations by homeowners who 'I feel like it was the only reasonable move the AG could make,' said Jeffrey Wiesner, a partner at the law firm Wiesner McKinnon LLP who represents the homeowners in that lawsuit. In 2024, homeowners and state officials alike were shocked when the Legislature included a proposal to legally protect BlueHub, one of hundreds of policy riders lawmakers tacked onto a nearly $4 billion economic development bill. The measure was approved as part of a bundle of amendments without debate on the floor or a roll-call vote. Specifically, the language states that lenders utilizing shared appreciation mortgages would not be liable 'for monetary relief, injunctive relief or other equitable relief at common law or by statute' as long as it gives a homeowner 'full disclosure' of any shared appreciation requirement. Homeowners and consumer advocates immediately saw that the measure would benefit BlueHub, which is the only nonprofit entity in the state that offers such a loan. Advertisement In Activists urged Healey to veto the language McLaughlin, the BlueHub spokesperson, told the Globe for this story that 'the legislature understood the value of regaining and retaining homeownership when it passed this law last session, and the fact that we need workable regulations to help families avoid the devastating impacts of foreclosure and eviction.' But long before the law passed in 2024, homeowners had raised concerns about BlueHub's practices. More than a dozen complaints from consumers to the state's Division of Banks dating back to 2015, illustrate the frustration, according to documents obtained by the Globe. One homeowner told regulators in 2016 that the organization was 'a loan shark' and that they had tried to reach out to BlueHub multiple times 'for some mercy.' Another consumer in 2020 wrote to the banking regulator that BlueHub and its affiliates were 'conducting sharecropping practices on their customers.' 'They are taking advantage of low-income communities as well as people of color,' the consumer wrote. 'They present themselves as sheep but are wolves in sheep's clothing.' In a recent interview with the Globe, Boston homeowner Annie McKnight said the 47 percent shared appreciation mortgage BlueHub has on her Hyde Park colonial means that, at 72 years old, she can't afford to downsize or bequeath the house to her children. She said at the time, she was at risk of losing her home and that the BlueHub loan officer who approached her 'was not forthcoming' about the terms. Advertisement 'They said if you don't sign today, we can't do anything for you ... to me, that just says you are stealing my home,' McKnight said of the house she's lived in since 1978. 'You're stealing any kind of investment I might make in this house. You're stealing any opportunity I have to have any kind of legacy or build wealth.' BlueHub officials say their Stabilizing Urban Neighborhoods Initiative, or SUN, program has helped 558 Massachusetts homeowners who were in danger of foreclosure. According to the 2020 lawsuit, dozens of people in Massachusetts who borrowed from BlueHub — which at the time was known as Boston Community Capital — said they discovered belatedly that they had agreed to a shared appreciation mortgage, and that they were misled about what they were signing up for. The borrowers said they had no lawyer at the closing and no one adequately explained the agreement, which included a requirement that they not talk about the terms of the deal, according to the lawsuit. After Healey signed the bill into law, some drew connections between the governor and BlueHub's longtime chief executive, Elyse Cherry, who have Bruce Marks, chief executive of Jamaica Plain-based Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America, which has helped finance the lawsuit against BlueHub, said the signing represented 'the corruption of the Massachusetts governor.' In a Advertisement Shortly after the bill signing, Wiesner and other consumer advocates met with Campbell and her staff to discuss how to protect homeowners despite the legal immunity given to Bluehub. The regulations Campbell's office proposed this week mirror a number of the ideas floated during that discussion, though Wiesner said that the new law raises questions about what could happen if BlueHub violated the new rules. '[The 2024 law] is a huge barrier to enforcing the regulations,' Wiesner said. 'If you can't enforce the regulations, then the company can get away with violating them.' The proposed regulations, however, do say that while shared appreciation mortgage lenders are exempt under the new law, they can still be held liable for 'unfair or deceptive marketing, servicing, underwriting, and collection acts or practices.' This, Andrea Bopp Stark says, is crucial. 'I do feel they really listened to the concerns of consumers,' said Bopp Stark, a senior attorney at the National Consumer Law Center who also met with Campbell in December. 'I think it's a really great start. It's thoughtful and really tries to protect the borrower.' Campbell's proposal will hold Samantha J. Gross can be reached at
Boston Globe
2 days ago
- Politics
- Boston Globe
State Police train higher education leaders to combat hate, promote positive campus culture
The training came as colleges across Massachusetts will welcome students back to campus in the fall from all over the world. International students It also comes after a couple of years of unrest on public and private university campuses. Advertisement Protests over the Israel-Gaza war, and in some cases, pro-Palestinian The training was designed to deepen 'understanding of hate crimes, bias incidents, harassment, vandalism, direct threats, and conflict,' with an eye toward prevention and appropriate response, a State Police said in a statement Monday. Gov. Maura Healey said she is grateful for the leadership of the Massachusetts State Police to enhance public safety on campuses, prevent hate and build a positive environment for everyone.' Healey's administration has awarded $24.5 million in hate crime prevention grants through the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security, the statement said. Advertisement The grants are to support or expand programs that help campuses 'reduce incidents of bias in schools,' according to the statement. The State Police program was designed with the International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators and Rutgers University Miller Center on Policing and Community Resilience. The training addressed intimidation, terroristic threats, harassment, and violence toward students and faculty, and ensured that institutions understand their legal reporting responsibilities under federal law, according to the statement. The programs also provided tools for formulating strategies to protect victims from vulnerable communities along with prevention measures for achieving and maintaining a 'positive campus culture,' according to the State Police. Stacey Lloyd, chief of police and director of public safety at the Boston campus of the University of Massachusetts, said involvement in the initiative 'means actively contributing to a culture of trust, safety, and mutual respect, which is essential for promoting an inclusive and secure environment on campuses.' Tonya Alanez can be reached at
Boston Globe
2 days ago
- Politics
- Boston Globe
What Eric Tarpinian-Jachym's killing says about the politics of tragedy
According to an aide, Healey did connect with Eric Tarpinian-Jachym's family on Saturday — after the radio interview and 19 days after his death. When I reached out to Tamara Tarpinian-Jachym on Monday, she declined comment about it. But asked about the time it took for Healey's outreach to happen, Massachusetts Republican Party chair Amy Carnevale told me in an interview, 'It disappoints me to think that politics did play a role.' Get The Gavel A weekly SCOTUS explainer newsletter by columnist Kimberly Atkins Stohr. Enter Email Sign Up Of course, there is no proof of that. This is primarily a terrible story of a young life cut short. Eric Tarpinian-Jachym, 21, was shot when gunfire broke out and he was caught in the cross fire. Police said he was not the intended target of perpetrators who have not yet been apprehended. That it can also be a story about political affiliation and how that might influence who deserves condolences is another depressing sign of these polarized times. Advertisement Today, disaster — like the flooding that killed more than 130 people, including young campers, in Texas — is routinely viewed through the prism of partisan politics. For example, did personnel cuts imposed by the Trump administration hinder coordination between federal and local authorities? And victims of violence, from Minnesota lawmaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, to Eric Tarpinian-Jachym, are analyzed through their political affiliations — as are alleged perpetrators. In this case, a letter of sympathy from President Trump and first lady Melania Trump, which was read at Eric's funeral, also underscored who reached out to the family and who didn't. That is a shame. By all accounts, Eric Tarpinian-Jachym should be remembered as a caring and charismatic young man of great promise who believed in public service. He also loved fishing, excelled in archery, and was described by his mother as 'an old soul.' With the internship, he was starting to live his dream. Not that it should matter, but voter records shared with me by Carnevale show that he was an unenrolled or independent voter, and so are his immediate family members, just like some 60 percent of all registered voters in Massachusetts. According to Carnevale, Tarpinian-Jachym ended up interning for Republican Representative Ron Estes of Kansas after talking to several Republican and Democratic lawmakers. As a finance major at UMass, Tarpinian-Jachym was drawn to working with Estes because he serves on the House Committee on Ways and Means, Carnevale said. Advertisement Representative Richard Neal, whose district includes Granby, did connect with the family and After what Healey described as 'meaningful conversations' with Tamara Tarpinian-Jachym, the governor issued a statement on Monday calling Eric 'a remarkable young man. I am deeply moved by his young life and all that he stood for. He worked incredibly hard his whole life and represented the very best of our young people. He was bright, engaged and cared deeply for his community. He also sought ways to bring others in — whether it was in school or organizing fishing outings for family and friends. He went to DC committed to pursuing public service and making a difference. Instead, his life was senseless and horrifically cut short.' Healey also pledged to work with Tamara Tarpinian-Jachym to honor her son's memory and said her office has been in touch with D.C. authorities to pledge support and assistance in holding his killer accountable. Those are welcome outcomes. But it does make you wonder what took so long. For sure, governors have a lot to do. But what they consider worthy of their attention does send a message. For example, Healey Advertisement With the death of Tarpinain-Jachym, we are left to analyze the politics of tragedy and silence. Joan Vennochi is a Globe columnist. She can be reached at
