Leaders Look to Increase Manufacturing as Semiconductor Shortage Continues

NBC Boston – Semiconductors are one of the most valuable components made in today’s technology-driven world, so much so the U.S. Commerce Department said they’re essential to national security.

Now local leaders are looking at ways to increase production so we’re less reliant on foreign suppliers.

The chips are the size of a fingerprint and help power everything from computers to smart devices and vehicles. They were first made in America, but the US has fallen behind other countries in its production.

“The power of these chips and the prevalence of them has expanded to everything. So, their strategic importance has grown at the same time as the U.S. has declined in manufacturing,” said Massachusetts Housing and Economic Development Secretary Yvonne Hao.

According to the Semiconductor Industry Association, the U.S. went from making 37% of the world’s semiconductors 30 years ago to just 12% today.

They point to a lack of government investment, which has led to more expensive manufacturing at home – growing our dependence on chips made in Asia.

State Funding Boosts Cybersecurity for Local Towns and Organizations

Capecod.com – Several local towns and organizations will benefit from the Municipal Cybersecurity Awareness Grant program to help boost defenses against ransomware and other digital attacks.

The awards come after the Steamship Authority, Cape Cod Regional Transit Authority, and—most recently—Nantucket Public Schools were targeted by cyberattacks in recent months.

“Our administration is committed to providing communities across Massachusetts with the resources they need to defend their technology against potential cyber threats,” said Governor Maura Healey in a statement.

“We are thrilled to see municipal leaders from across the Commonwealth prioritize cybersecurity by providing this vital training to their employees. Our administration will continue to advocate for resources to further support our partners in municipal government to meet the needs of the constituents they serve.”

Towns benefiting from the $250,000 grant program include Barnstable, Dennis, Oak Bluffs, Orleans, Truro and Yarmouth.

Spilled Beer: Ruling Upends Compromise between Craft Brewers and Distributors

Boston Globe – During the depths of the pandemic, beer distributors and craft brewers decided to end years of battling each other on Beacon Hill. COVID-19 sure put things into perspective for these long-warring factions as they reached a truce — one that produced a state law giving brewers far more freedom to choose who delivers their products to stores and restaurants. Raise a glass, everyone!

But a Superior Court judge, Peter Krupp, just called that law unconstitutional.

Way to spoil the party, Judge Krupp.

On Jan. 25, Krupp sided with Holliston-based wholesaler Atlantic Beverage Distributors in its dispute with Jack’s Abby, the first true test of the law in court

Previous state franchise law bound brewers and distributors after just six months working together, cementing for life a key relationship for brewers that want to get their beer on taps and in stores. Brewers typically needed to sue to break a franchise contract, and faced a high bar of proof if they wanted an exit.

But suddenly, thanks to the compromise law passed two years ago, divorce became much easier. Brewers could end the relationship as long as the distributor gets reimbursed for its investments — inventory, marketing materials, and the like. Disagreements could now be sorted out through arbitration, not a protracted court process that could jeopardize a brewer’s finances.

Bridges, Rail Expansion on Healey’s D.C. Agenda

State House News – Back from a string of activities in the nation’s capital that featured a pair of events with President Joe Biden, Gov. Maura Healey said Monday that the aging Cape Cod bridges and the prospect of a western Massachusetts passenger rail extension featured as recurring topics during her visit.

Healey ping-ponged between Massachusetts and Washington D.C. last week for Biden’s State of the Union address on Tuesday and then for a combination of National Governors Association events between Thursday and Saturday.

The governor told reporters on Monday she spoke with “several people” about the Bourne and Sagamore bridges, including federal lawmakers and Biden administration officials. Replacing those spans — which opened to motorists in 1935 — has loomed as a top priority for years, though the project’s future is uncertain amid unanswered funding questions.

“I think they understand the importance of these projects and the importance of funding it, and really, this is going to be about working together at the state and federal level to get this done,” Healey said.

The federal government in January rejected a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers grant application seeking $1.88 billion in funds toward replacing the two bridges, just a few months after Washington turned down another application for more than $1 billion.

Estimates for the project’s price tag have soared. In 2019, officials projected it would cost roughly $1.5 billion to remove and replace both bridges, but in May, then-Transportation Secretary Jamey Tesler said the cost now appeared to be “close to $3 billion to close to $4 billion.”

Struggles of Tourism Business Demand a Response

Boston Herald – For the past several years, COVID-19 ran rampant and devastated businesses across the country. Especially hard-hit was the tourism industry as travel ground to a standstill overnight and Americans were asked to shelter in place to discourage unnecessary contact with others. While most sectors of our economy are getting back on their feet, the tourism industry waits to recover.

Hopefully, the Biden administration will examine its policies impacting tourism and Congress does likewise and commit to policies and reforms the tourism industry needs.

During the pandemic hotels, resorts, aircraft, and convention centers stood empty as the engines that drove many communities stood silent. While some businesses have since rebounded – and some were saved through the direct intervention of the federal government – there are still hurdles to overcome. The hit New York City took says it all: the $19 billion the city took in from tourism in 2019 has hovered near zero for well over a year, a shocking and stark figure that sets off sirens about the urgency of the situation.

To help alleviate the problem and even drive local economies to further heights, we can look to previous federal actions for a proactive and fitting solution.

The global financial calamity born out of the housing crisis in the early 2010s led to similar financial struggles as Americans cut back on expenses and leisure travel. Realizing the effects this would have on the impacted industries, the federal government considered a constellation of diverse solutions to help ease the problems presented by the difficult economic environment. One of these solutions was to examine the issuance of tourism visas and offer several key changes to allow more international tourists to enter the U.S.

As it stands, the system for processing tourism visas is something of a mess. The United States only accepts visitors from a handful of countries whose citizens do not need to seek a visa before arriving in the U.S., with the rest forced to apply for a visa at their respective local embassy or consulate. Backlogs, depending on the country, can vary wildly, with some approaching or even exceeding a year. There is also a nonrefundable (in the case of rejection) affiliated cost of $160 per person just to apply. Factors like these constrict the number of travelers.

Micro-Businesses in Springfield Learn about Green Energy Programs

WWLP – Representative Carlos Gonzalez hosted an informational session for businesses Thursday in downtown Springfield.

This event was for micro-businesses – those having 10 or fewer employees – and the purpose was to let them know about green-energy incentive programs. The Latino Economic Development Corporation opened its doors to small, local businesses to inform them of state and federal incentive programs that exist to promote the use of green technologies, including solar panels, heat pumps, storage batteries and electric vehicles.

Rep. Gonzalez told 22News, “It also provides access to the funds that are out there for them. So, with the federal government and the infrastructure bill having a lot of funding available for clean energy and clean-energy initiatives, it can hit and connect with our micro business community.

Rep. Gonzalez said the benefits are two-fold: businesses are getting financial support while expanding green-energy adoption and awareness. Gonzalez added that many larger businesses take advantage of this funding and it’s time for smaller businesses in our area to have a seat at the table.

Mobile Sports Betting Can Go Live by March Madness

Boston Globe – Online sports betting can launch in Massachusetts just in time to place a wager on March Madness, according to a timeline sketched out by gaming regulators Thursday.

“I’m proposing a tentative launch date for the category 3 mobile operators, or online operators, of March 10th,” Massachusetts Gaming Commission Executive Director Karen Wells advised commissioners. “The recommendation is that we start at 10 a.m.”

The gaming commission launched in person sports betting at the end of January but had expressed the need for more time to consider the rules around mobile licenses.

They previously set a broad deadline to allow mobile operators to begin taking bets sometime in March but were clear they would not move faster than necessary, even if it meant missing a large event.

On Thursday, Commissioners learned from their executive director that, barring a few final administrative matters, the state should be able to allow bets in time for the NCAA’s much anticipated college basketball tournament.

“It gives us the weekend if there are any issues before March Madness starts,” Wells said. March Madness will begin on the 14th.

“Right now that’s the date we’re shooting for and I know folks would like some advance notice so they can plan,” she said.

Sports betting was made legal last summer, finally catching Massachusetts up to the mass of states and District of Columbia in allowing adults over the age of 21 to bet on sports.

East Boston Needs its Own Substation

Boston Globe – To operate reliably and reach the clean-energy future that Massachusetts envisions, new electric infrastructure like substations, transmission lines, and other equipment are vitally needed to integrate renewables and clean-energy technologies into the grid; help the system better withstand increasingly extreme weather events and other climate impacts; and support achievement of state and regional carbon reduction targets, as well as Eversource’s own goal to have carbon-neutral operations by 2030. These are outcomes that Eversource is working hard to achieve.

Communities like East Boston cannot be left behind. East Boston is the city’s fastest growing neighborhood and the only neighborhood in Boston without its own substation to serve local electric customer needs. Currently, East Boston customers are served by a substation in Chelsea, which is not only at capacity but operates as an isolated electric island without backup, making East Boston one of the most vulnerable areas on the distribution network.

Energy forecasts developed by Eversource system-planning engineers and submitted to the Energy Facilities Siting Board show that, without the new East Boston station in place to meet demand in summer peaks, overloading at the Chelsea substation will cause the loss of power to thousands of East Boston customers for a prolonged period of time — multiple days or even weeks during the hottest weather of the year, causing extraordinary hardship and health and safety risks for residents and businesses in this community.

Health Care

Health Connector Expects Flood of New Enrollees

WWLP – The state program that helps people acquire required health insurance policies is preparing for an influx of new enrollees as enhanced federal funds for Medicaid are scheduled to be cut off in March.

At the start of the pandemic, Congress required that state Medicaid programs keep people continuously enrolled through the end of the month in which the COVID-19 public health emergency ended. The federal emergency is due to end this spring.

Continuous Medicaid enrollment ends on March 31, and the federal government is phasing out pandemic-era enhanced funds this year. As Bay Staters who qualified under COVID-19 provisions lose their MassHealth coverage, the Health Connector Authority, which aims to connect people in need with affordable health plans, is preparing for up to 200,000 new members.

Since the start of the pandemic, MassHealth enrollment has increased by a third, up from 1,750,966 in December 2019 to 2,337,799 members in December 2022. The program is the largest in state government and is jointly funded by the state and the feds.

Meanwhile, the number of Bay Staters using the Connector has declined as more people have qualified for government-funded plans. Starting with 294,584 members in January of 2020, the Health Connector was down to 214,102 members as of January 2023.

GOP Races from Medicare, Social Security Third Rail

The Hill – The back-and-forth surrounding Social Security and Medicare this week shows that the entitlement programs remain the unquestioned third rails of American politics as Republicans back away from their decades of calls to slash the popular senior benefits.

Democrats have used Social Security and Medicare to bludgeon the GOP all week, putting Republicans on defense, especially as the White House continues to stoke the fire with Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) over his call to sunset all federal programs after five years. To most Republicans, the political impact of the two preeminent items is clear, and they’re taking long strides to distance themselves from Scott’s proposal.

“It’s essential. I mean, I live in an elderly state that…hits more people,” Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), a member of Senate GOP leadership, told The Hill. “In tight times like this…that it might actually be under duress or question is a terrible, not just practical, but political [issue] as well.”

“I think they’ve made it clear, and I’ve made it clear, we’re not going to touch it,” Capito added.

Such vows mark a sharp reversal for a Republican Party that has attacked Social Security and Medicare for decades as socialist initiatives that undermine American free enterprise. The most recent examples of that formal position were the GOP budgets proposed under former Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), who had made steep cuts to the entitlement programs a central tenet of his years-long effort to reduce federal spending.

Budget and Taxation

Coalition puts Tax Breaks for Low-Income Workers on Table

WWLP – Increasing a tax credit that aids low-income workers and establishing a near-universal child and family tax credit are among the priorities for a coalition that includes community action agencies around Massachusetts, who see the changes as geared toward reducing poverty.

Lawmakers aimed to provide tax relief last summer that would have included an increase in the state’s Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), which essentially subsidizes low- and moderate-income workers’ wages. But tax credit reforms were derailed at the end of July and cut from an economic development bill that passed in the fall.

Now, the Healthy Families Tax Credits Coalition is calling on state officials to follow through with reforms, including combining the Household Dependent Tax Credit (HDTC) with the Dependent Care Tax Credit (DCTC) into a single Child and Family Tax Credit, so tax filers will not have to choose one credit or the other.

They’re also calling for the state to increase the value of the newly-combined family credit to at least $600 per dependent. The economic development package lawmakers passed in July, then later changed to remove tax relief, would have combined the two tax credits and increased their value to $310 per dependent.

Most One-Time Refunds Won’t Count Toward Income

State House News – Many, but not necessarily all, Massachusetts taxpayers will not need to count one-time state tax rebates they received last year as income when they file federal tax returns, the Internal Revenue Service said.

Report says Millions from New Tax on High Earners could be Lost to Loophole

Commonwealth Magazine – State budget writers have begun planning to spend $1 billion in new revenue to fund education and transportation needs thanks to the so-called “millionaires tax” approved last year by voters. But a new report says Massachusetts could lose out on anywhere from $200 million to $600 million from the new tax on high earners unless legislators close a loophole in state tax law.

The analysis from the left-leaning Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center said high-earning married couples could skirt the new tax by filing separate state tax returns, while still reaping the tax benefits that come from filing a joint return for federal taxes.

The new state tax, also known as the “Fair Share Amendment” and approved narrowly by voters in November, imposes a 4 percent surcharge on all income over $1 million. But because the same $1 million threshold applies to both individual and joint filers, couples with combined income over $1 million might be able to avoid the surcharge by filing separate state tax returns.

“Voters chose to make our tax system more fair, and nobody was expecting that there would be a backdoor loophole to reverse a significant part of that change,” said Phineas Baxandall, the policy director at MassBudget and author of the report.

Barnstable County has $11 million for Housing Crisis. These Ideas Could Get the Money

Cape Cod Times – Barnstable County should take a layered approach in using its remaining $11.4 million in federal COVID-19 relief funds to move the needle on the region’s housing crisis, according to a committee tasked with determining the best way to use the money.

On Wednesday, Paul Niedzwiecki, chairman of the American Rescue Plan Act Advisory Committee, gave the Assembly of Delegates Standing Committee on Economic Affairs an update on how the group envisions using the money.

“These are general recommendations we’re making and some of the specifics will be included in the RFP (request for proposals) that has yet to be drafted,” said Niedzwiecki, who also serves as CEO of the Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce.

The lion’s share − $6.9 million − would go towards affordable housing.

The prime concerns include prioritizing gap funding for projects already underway; funding projects for those earning up to 80% of area median income and supporting multi-family housing projects; and supporting projects with a mix of different sized apartments in desirable areas with amenities nearby, among other considerations.

Wu, CDC Celebrate Housing Plan

Eastie Times -Mayor Michelle Wu joined the East Boston Community Development Corporation (CDC) for the East Boston Neighborhood Trust Blue Line Celebration that was held Jan. 31, in the auditorium at the Barnes School Apartments.

Al Cardarelli, executive director of the East Boston CDC who has been a part of the organization for 50 years, was master of ceremonies for the festive event that marked the East Boston Neighborhood Trust’s previously announced acquisition of 114 units in 36 site properties throughout East Boston, reclaiming the units off the private market to create affordable, family housing in East Boston.

Mayor Wu, Sen. Lydia Edwards, Rep. Adrian Madaro, and Boston City Councilor Gabriela Coletta each congratulated the East Boston CDC on its successful efforts in providing affordable housing to residents.

In his introduction of Mayor Wu, Caldarelli said “we were fortunate to elect a mayor who has come forth and proven to us that she supports us in all of our efforts and from the very beginning of her administration, she has started to push forward affordable housing, open space for our children, and care for our children.”

Tayna Hahnel, director of real estate for the East Boston CDC, said the event was “a celebration with our community partners who have been organizing for affordable housing and anti-displacement work in East Boston for the better part of the last ten years.”

Hahnel lauded the several funders and investors “who stepped up and helped raise the $50 million it took to take these 114 units off the market.”

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

For the Transgender Community, Work Can be a Difficult World to Navigate

Boston Globe – Trevor Boylston had started transitioning from female to male a decade before he started working at Boston Scientific, and he had no plans to reveal his true self to his new coworkers. Boylston has a stocky build and a beard and is married to a woman — “seemingly straight,” as he puts it. But about six months after he started at the medical device company, around the time Caitlyn Jenner transitioned, a coworker started making transgender jokes. And Boylston decided he couldn’t stay quiet any longer.

Navigating the world of work can be enormously challenging for members of the transgender community, and changing jobs is especially tricky. Resumes may reflect a person’s former gender through the schools they attended or jobs they performed, forcing candidates to reveal highly personal information right off the bat in a cover letter or initial interview. Job seekers may not be able to use an established LinkedIn page or references they’ve cultivated over the years under a different name, and changing driver’s licenses, professional certifications, and other documents used for employment verification can be a lengthy, convoluted process.

Then there’s the matter of potential employers’ health insurance benefits: Do they cover hormone therapy or gender-affirming surgeries? How about gender-neutral restrooms or LGBTQ employee resource groups?

Sustainability and Climate

New Verizon Antennas to Improve Coverage along Route 9 Corridor in Hadley

Gazette Net – Verizon Wireless will improve its coverage area for 4G and 5G service along the Route 9 corridor by installing new antennas on the roof of a Hadley hotel.

The Planning Board last week voted unanimously to issue a special permit to the company to place antennas and support equipment at the Homewood Suites at 340-350 Russell St.

Jay Latorre, principal radio frequency engineer for Verizon, said a growth in demand has placed a strain on the surrounding wireless facilities. That has also created a challenge in trying to cover all the traffic on the state highway between the Amherst town line and the Coolidge Bridge.

“This facility is really going to improve that experience,” Latorre said.

Kip Divito, a Verizon engineer, added that the new antennas will fill service gaps and provide more reliable coverage.

The antennas will include both ground and roof equipment toward the back side of the hotel, said Jesse Moreno of ProTerra Design Goup, LLC in Hadley. Plans are to conceal the antennas with a screen wall, with equipment inside that wall on top of the hotel’s stairwells.

“We’d be looking to match the color and the architectural features of the building so we can hide it better,” Moreno said, showing that, at their highest point, the antennas would rise to 49 feet above the parking lot.

Board member Mark Dunn appreciated that the antennas will blend in to the building.

Feds Won’t Ban Gas Stoves, US Energy Secretary Says

Sentinel & Enterprise – U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm emphatically denied the possibility of a federal ban on gas stoves, as local prohibitions continue throughout the country, including in major cities like Los Angeles and New York.

“Nobody’s banning gas stoves,” Granholm told the Herald. “Let me be very clear. It’s a ridiculous talking point that some have ginned up for political reasons.”

Rumors of a federal ban have been making the rounds, fueled most recently by new regulations on gas and electric stoves proposed earlier this month by the U.S. Department of Energy that could go into effect in 2027.

Some industry experts interpreted those regulations as a back-door way to ban gas-powered appliances, by barring less-efficient models from the market, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The story first caught fire in January, though, after a Biden administration appointee from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said the agency was considering a national ban on gas stoves amid indoor air pollutant concerns, Bloomberg reported at the time.

U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin III, a Democratic senator from West Virginia, and Ted Cruz, a Republican senator from Texas, proceeded to introduce legislation that would prohibit the federal government from banning gas stoves.

However, Granholm said the Biden administration has no intention of regulating the public’s use of gas stoves, saying that whether someone wants to install one moving forward “is totally up to them.”

What are PFAS Chemicals, and Should I be Freaking out about Them?

WBUR – The chemicals called “PFAS” have been in the news a lot lately. So, what are these chemicals, anyway? And should we be worried about them?

Here’s what you need to know:

What are PFAS?

There are thousands of chemicals in the PFAS family, and they all have two things in common:

They’re all man-made.

They contain chains of carbon and fluorine.

The bond between carbon and fluorine atoms is exceptionally strong. That means that PFAS chemicals don’t degrade easily; they stick around in the human body and the environment for a long time, and they are very stable in water. That’s why some people call them “forever chemicals.”

Where do they come from?

PFAS chemicals were invented in the 1930s. They repel oil, water and grease, which makes them useful for many consumer products. Companies use these chemicals in many common items, like paper food packaging, stain-proof rugs, waterproof clothing, some types of dental floss and nonstick cookware.

Massachusetts Plant on Track to be Global Leader in Fusion Energy

Boston Herald – The global race to develop commercial fusion energy could be won in Massachusetts, where a private company is aiming to operate the world’s first fusion power plant within the next decade.

Two-thirds of the roughly 30 fusion companies in the world are located in the United States, but Commonwealth Fusion Systems, which opened its new campus in Devens on Friday, is the furthest along in the effort, said U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm.

The nearly 50-acre campus is home to CFS’ corporate headquarters, advanced manufacturing facility and the SPARC facility, where the world’s first commercially viable net energy fusion machine is under construction.

The site also enables ongoing company growth to scale commercial fusion power, a potential source of clean electricity, for the world.

“What a moment for Massachusetts,” Granholm said, adding that the state has the opportunity to kickstart an energy revolution. “Commercial fusion has been a dream and has been worked on for six decades.”

The fact that CFS, which spun out of MIT’s Plasma Science and Fusion Center in 2018, took its concept from the lab and is close to making it a reality is “huge,” Granholm said.

CFS said its approach to fusion, a clean energy technology that uses the same reaction that powers the sun and stars, is magnetic confinement.

Fusion energy is produced by combining atoms to create heavier ones, and has long been recognized as having great potential as a safe, abundant, zero-carbon source of reliable electricity, according to a White House fact sheet.

“Being here today, you can’t help but marvel at the power and the promise of science,” said Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll. “Today we’re quite literally looking to harness the power of the stars.”

New Program at Three Libraries lets People Try Induction Stoves before They Buy

Gazette Net – A watched pot never boils, unless the watched pot is on an induction cooktop, in which case the water will boil in two minutes or less.

A new program at the Forbes, Lilly and Jones libraries is lending out induction cooktop kits to library members, giving people a chance to try them out in lieu of electric and gas stoves. Each kit contains an induction cooktop, pot, frying pan and meat thermometer.

Each library has two cooktops, purchased by Local Energy Advocates of Western Mass from Manny’s Appliances, which users can borrow for two to three weeks. The program is co-sponsored by Mothers Out Front, the Center for EcoTechnology and Local Energy Advocates.

“We’re hoping that more people will fall in love with these and decide to take advantage of all the incentives that are available right now to actually to transition to induction appliances,” said Adele Franks, treasurer of Local Energy Advocates.

One Northampton resident, Paige Bridgens, was among the first to take out a cooktop from Forbes Library.

“I am going to spend the next two weeks seeing if it is the kind of thing I want to have,” Bridgens said.

The program is a local response to state and national concerns over the environmental and health impacts of gas stoves. A 2022 climate bill in Massachusetts contains a section allowing 10 cities and towns across the state to adopt building codes banning fossil fuel use, including the installation of gas stoves, in new buildings. Similar policies have been adopted at 94 cities and counties across the country.

Education

Massachusetts to Pay for GED Testing

The Center Square – State funding in Massachusetts will be put to work helping residents acquire general equivalency diplomas and other credentials.

The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education announced Thursday morning that $800,000 from the adult education budget will be used this year to cover the costs of initial GED testing and HiSET tests and two retakes. Free HiSET testing is now being offered and free GED testing began last September.

“By removing testing fees, we are making an investment in Massachusetts residents and their futures,” Democratic freshman Gov. Maura Healey said in a statement. “No one should be held back from earning their equivalency credential due to costs. This investment will encourage more Massachusetts adult learners to continue their education, earn their credential, and begin higher education or enter the workforce.”

According to the release, the elimination of testing fees removes a barrier that previously prevented some individuals from earning their high school credentials. Fees for GED exams were listed at as much as $143 per test and nearly 9,000 residents took the tests in 2021.

Report Finds Fewer Students Heading to College; Pols Call for More Investment

Gazette Net – The number of students choosing to attend post-secondary education in Massachusetts has dropped significantly in recent years, a trend that started nearly a decade ago and has only been exacerbated during the pandemic.

“The pandemic’s impact and the rising costs of a college education may have contributed to the decrease in 2- and 4-year college enrollment and the associated increase in students pursuing career and other pathways,” according to a recent report published by the Rennie Center on Education Research & Policy, a Boston nonpartisan education think tank.

The report, “Condition of Education in the Commonwealth 2023,” found enrollment in Massachusetts community colleges has declined by nearly 23,000 students, or 10.4%, since 2015. UMass and the state university system suffered a significant drop of more than 50,000 students in 2021 alone, though those figures have since rebounded to pre-pandemic levels, the report found.

The report also highlights the increasing diversification of high school graduates’ planned next steps. Some of these can be attributed to programs such as early college, innovation pathways and internship opportunities.

“Perhaps most notably, the percentage of students reporting that they plan to work directly after high school graduation has risen more than 5% since 2019,” the report states. This trend is also revealed in data released by the state last fall, which showed the overall rate of Massachusetts high school graduates who immediately enroll in college has dropped nearly 10 percentage points over the past five years, to 60%.