A Proven Route to Education
In 1995, a bold experiment in public education was undertaken in Boston - the introduction of pilot schools. Forged by a unique collaboration... (read more)

Groups Seek Stimulus Jobs For Minorities
Advocates for the poor and minority groups are urging the Patrick administration to reserve a portion of the jobs created by the economic stimulus package for low-wage earners, the long-term unemployed, and young adults... (read more)

How To Spread The Stimulus
More Massachusetts residents are experiencing the heavy weight of empty pockets. Competition for jobs has more than doubled over the past year, and unemployment rates are pushing 8 percent. Frustration is especially high... (read more)

Breaking Bars to Jobs
Today, Patrick will unveil his plan to overhaul the state's Criminal Offender Record Information law, better known as CORI. The administration has mapped out its approach largely behind closed doors... (read more)

For Ex-Offenders, CORI Law Not Working
At a time when residents of high-crime neighborhoods are on edge over the plague of gang and gun violence, Mayor Thomas Menino ventured up to Beacon Hill this month to lobby on behalf of the city's ne'er-do-wells. The mayor was there to testify at a Judiciary Committee hearing in favor of a bill to limit employer access to criminal records. While some might say Menino should focus his energies on law-abiders, not lawbreakers, he is driven as much by a concern for the former as the latter... (read more)

Senate To Take Up Crime Records
Horace Small, executive director of the Union of Minority Neighborhoods and a proponent of CORI reform, said he would prefer sealing records after seven years for felony convictions and three years for misdemeanor convictions; studies have shown that former inmates who stay clean that long are unlikely to commit new crimes...(read more)