Editor’s note – This is the final edition of This Week in Massachusetts. Stay tuned as AIM introduces some exciting changes in the way we communicate timely and reliable information to Massachusetts employers.

Axios: Boston’s Still a Remote Work Hub, for Now

One-fifth of Boston metro area residents worked from home in 2022, down from a peak of nearly 27% a year earlier, new census figures show.

Boston remains a remote work hub, like many other major U.S. cities, but remote tech workers joined the exodus of people leaving Massachusetts in 2022, Economic Development Secretary Yvonne Hao told state lawmakers earlier this year.

Hao and others have cited cost of living as a major driver for outmigration.

Boston’s share of remote workers fell above last year’s national average of 15%, but the numbers were even higher across the East and West coasts and in other major cities.

Boulder, Colorado, had the highest share of remote workers of any metro area last year, at 32%. Denver wasn’t far behind.

Austin, Texas, San Francisco and San Jose also reported higher shares than Boston.

Workers in America’s biggest, most competitive cities aren’t giving up the flexibility and savings — in both time and gas money — of working from home.

The work-from-home revolution is front and center in big cities with large concentrations of office buildings, and downtown economies that once relied on those office buildings being full.

Boston Herald: Beacon Hill Democrats Reach Deal in Principle on Tax-Relief Bill

Top Democrats on Beacon Hill said Thursday afternoon that they reached an agreement “in principle” on a tax relief bill that has sat idle in some form for more than a year, pledging to file the legislation and take it up next week.

Tax relief talks were first scrambled last summer after a once-obscure law known as Chapter 62F required state officials to send billions back to residents in the form of tax refunds. Lawmakers this year ushered a new bill into private negotiations in June after both the House and Senate passed competing versions.

In a joint statement, House Speaker Ronald Marinao, Senate President Karen Spilka, and Ways and Means Co-Chairs Rep. Aaron Michlewitz and Sen. Michael Rodrigues said they were “thrilled to announce that an agreement has been reached in principle that reconciles the differences between the House and Senate tax relief packages.”

“We look forward to filing and taking up the conference report next week, which responsibly implements our shared goal of making Massachusetts more affordable, equitable, and competitive,” the group said in a statement.

State House News Service: Mid-September Tax Revenues Running Ahead Of Last Year’s Pace

With lawmakers poised to vote this week on a tax-relief package expected to total more than half a billion dollars in this budget year, the Department of Revenue recently gave the Legislature an update on tax revenue collections.

Revenue Commissioner Geoffrey Snyder told leaders of the House and Senate Ways and Means committees last week that DOR hauled in $2.42 billion in the first half of September, which is $76 million or 3.2 percent more than what was collected during the same period in September 2022.

September’s full-month revenues will be due from DOR by Oct. 4 and the administration has established a benchmark of $4.337 billion for the month’s collections. That would be $139 million above actual September 2022 collections. By Sept. 15, DOR had collected about 55.8 percent of what it expects to have collected by the end of the month.

“In general, September is a significant month for revenues because many individuals and corporations are required to make estimated payments. Historically, roughly 10% of annual revenue, on average, has been received during September, making it the third or fourth largest revenue month of the year,” Snyder wrote in his mid-month revenue letter. He added that the mid-September results “show increases in withholding, income estimated payments, sales and use tax, and corporate and business tax, partially offset by an increase in income tax refunds and decreases in all other taxes.”

Boston Globe: 10 Insights into the State of Today’s Tech Sector

At a gathering of 600 tech entrepreneurs last week in the Seaport, there were free mini burgers and chocolate-covered bananas, but not a lot of optimism for a quick rebound in the fortunes of the tech sector.

The event was organized by Underscore VC, a Boston-based venture capital firm, and the gathering eclipsed its pre-COVID size. Here are the 10 most interesting takes on what’s happening in tech right now.

• Everyone knows venture capitalists have money to invest, but they’re still sitting on their wallets. Kevin Colleran, a Boston-based investor at the firm Slow Venturesand an early Facebook employee, told me it had been 20 months since he’d made a new investment. What’s he doing instead? Helping to ensure the survival of companies in which he has already invested.
• The same goes for angel investors. “When the froth in the market goes away, so does the FOMO,” said David Chang, an entrepreneur and member of the group TBD Angels, using the acronym for “fear of missing out” on a potentially amazing startup investment.

As Return-to-Office Debate Continues, Boston Employers Say This Could be as ‘Returned’ as it Gets

Another Labor Day has come and gone, and with it, another wave of chatter about whether this is finally the autumn that office workers will be corralled back into their cubicles.

But as Boston’s largest employers continue to grapple with the post(ish)-pandemic return-to-office debate, many of them are acknowledging that this may be as back as they’ll ever be.

“I think most companies have resigned themselves to the fact that flexible work schedules are here to stay,” said Jim Rooney, CEO of the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce. “Could I see a day when it’s viewed as better for the business, better for the employee, and better for society if people are getting up and going to work? Yeah, I can see that coming back — but it’s not going to happen in the short term.”

The one thing that Boston’s biggest companies seem to agree on is that, at least for workers who can do their jobs remotely, the traditional workweek of five days in the office could be gone for good. Taking its place? A patchwork of arrangements, ranging from the ultra-lax (work from home whenever you please) to the rigid (mandating butts-in-seats Monday through Thursday) to the middle-ground (come in two or three times a week, pretty please?)

Lowell Sun: Lawmakers: Immigrants Can Plug Labor Force Voids

With Massachusetts straining under an overburdened emergency shelter system and staring down a shortfall of workers, a group of more than 60 Bay State lawmakers is sending a letter urging the White House and Congress to work with haste to find a bipartisan solution that can address the “dual crises of a dysfunctional immigration system and a rapidly-devolving domestic workforce shortage.”

Spearheaded by Senate Dean Marc Pacheco of Taunton and signed by a bipartisan clutch of 65 legislators, the letter makes the case that Massachusetts’ state of emergency — declared last month as the combination of homeless families and immigrants newly arriving to the country pushed the emergency shelter system to its limits — is the result of decades of federal inaction around immigration policy and federal foot-dragging when it comes to clearing immigrants to work here.

With plentiful hyperlinks and a blend of specific national and Massachusetts data points, the letter makes the case that the American economy has come out the other side of the COVID-19 pandemic showing its resilience, but that Washington, D.C., needs to keep a more active hand on the tiller as companies of all sizes struggle to find enough workers to keep that momentum going.

The Business Journal: Cambridge Startup UAI to Rewrite Literary Classics for All Reading Levels

A new Cambridge startup wants to make literary classics like “Frankenstein,” “Pride and Prejudice” and “Wuthering Heights” available for all reading levels and in multiple languages.

The company behind this idea, Adaptive Reader, plans to do this with its own AI-assisted platform, which co-founder Ethan Pierce says can rewrite full books at different reading levels and in multiple languages.

“I started wondering as the machine-learning models like ChatGPT became so widely available over the past year whether or not there was an opportunity to sort of invert this traditional model,” Pierce said.

Rather than supporting a student with reading text at the grade level they’re supposed to be at, Pierce wants to create text suited to the reading level of each student.

“It was able to produce a copy of ‘Frankenstein’ rewritten to a sixth-grade level. I started showing that to teachers and administrators and they were so excited by this concept that we started looking at how we could scale that technology,” Pierce said.

Boston Globe: Companies Hope the Workplace Can Be ‘a Magnet, Not a Mandate’

State Street doubled the number of meeting spaces at its new downtown office. Sun Life added a fire pit, a prayer room, and treadmill desks. And when their new headquarters opens next year, CarGurus employees will be able to reserve their own private reclining chair to code or toggle through spreadsheets in peace for a few hours.

Assigned cubicles and offices are out. “Touch-down spaces,” “coffee bars,” and “neighborhoods” are in. And video screens? They’re seemingly everywhere.

The future office is here. It’s a look that has changed considerably since the COVID-19 pandemic prompted a surge in remote work, and then hybrid schedules. As a result, many Boston-area companies with leases coming up for renewal are preparing for a world where few, if any, employees trek in from home five days a week.

“When we designed this office, we were deep enough into the pandemic that we knew things were going to change, and our office design changed with it,” said SimpliSafe chief people officer Ai-Li Lim, whose company moved into a new downtown headquarters this past spring with expanded meeting spaces, more soundproof phone booths, and a modular approach that makes it easier to change layouts to meet future needs.

Office design firm Gensler keeps a running tally of popular “workplace modifications” that are increasingly being requested by clients to support hybrid work: improved collaborative environments with updated AV systems and movable furniture; more variety among workstations, to reflect how an employee’s needs might change during a workday; enhanced communal spaces such as cafés to encourage more socializing; and grouping unassigned workstations by “neighborhood” (or work team) to offer flexibility while increasing space efficiency.

Boston Globe: In Union Push, State House Aides Cite Poor Pay, Difficult Work

Becoming the third state in the country to allow legislative staffers to unionize would slow the revolving door of aides on Beacon Hill, improve constituent services, and prove lawmakers’ commitment to labor causes, about half dozen legislators said in a hearing Wednesday.

“I am incredibly fortunate to work with my aide, Lucas Schaber, as well as many other aides, whether through caucus work, whether through other legislation, who work extremely hard. And it is something that is always on the top of my mind: Are they going to continue being able to work in this building? Are they going to find other opportunities elsewhere?” Representative Erika Uyterhoeven testified before the Joint Committee on State Administration and Regulatory Oversight. “It is not in our interest as legislators and it’s not in the interest of our constituents.”

Uyterhoeven was one of several lawmakers who urged the committee to favorably recommend a bill that would allow staffers the right to unionize, alongside Senators John Keenan, Jaime Eldridge, and Rebecca Rausch, and Representatives Rodney Elliott, Samantha Montaño, and Mike Connolly.

Massachusetts labor leaders, Auditor Diana DiZoglio, legislative staffers from Oregon — who won the right to unionize in 2021 — and Bay State aides also joined their voices to the calls of support.

WBUR: Administration Launches ’90-Day Push’ to Fill Vacancies in State Public Housing

Massachusetts housing officials announced Friday they are launching a “90-day push” to reduce the number of vacancies in state public housing by the end of the year.

The initiative comes after an investigation by WBUR and ProPublica found nearly 2,300 of 41,500 state-funded apartments were vacant at the end of July — most for months or years — despite a housing shortage so severe that Gov. Maura Healey called it a state of emergency.

Massachusetts is one of only four states with state-subsidized public housing, and about 184,000 people are on a waitlist for the units.

The state’s plan focuses on providing financial and other assistance to local housing authorities, which maintain and operate the apartments, to help fill units.

The Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities is “undertaking a new initiative to significantly reduce the number of state-aided public housing vacancies,” Fatima Razzaq, acting director of the public housing division, said in the memo. “We recognize the shared responsibility in tackling this challenge and are therefore initiating a 90-day push to assist with reoccupying units.”

Gazette Net: Board to Connect Discharged Vets with State Benefits

Gov. Maura Healey on Wednesday swore in the members of a new state board set to help get state benefits flowing to veterans who were denied an honorable discharge because of the U.S. military’s former “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.

The reception in the governor’s office was part celebration — coming 12 years to the day since the repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell” — but also marked “an occasion to say our work is not done,” Healey said.

The Veterans Equality Review Board, established in the fiscal 2023 state budget, is tasked with reviewing applications from Massachusetts vets “who believe they received an ‘other than honorable discharge’ due to their sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression.” The board can then recommend those veterans for state-level benefits.

Starting five-year terms on the new panel are: VA Boston clinical psychologist Claire Burgess, Home Base project manager Cliff Brown, Wachusett district veterans’ services director Lynette Gabrila, VA Boston staff psychologist Christine Serpe, and U.S. Army Reserve veteran Rachel McNeill.

Axios: Massachusetts Expands Legal Services for Migrants amid Surge

Massachusetts is spending $2 million to expand state-funded legal services for migrants in response to the surge of new arrivals.

Legal help speeds up migrant applications for relief and work permits so they can find work and transition out of shelters sooner, thereby alleviating the strain on the state.

More than 6,500 families are in the state’s emergency family shelter system as of this week, a record high for Massachusetts.

The state will contract with eight refugee resettlement agencies to help fill out asylum petitions and work permit applications for thousands of migrants in up to 50 emergency shelters, Gov. Maura Healey’s administration announced Thursday.

This is separate from the existing state-funded legal services led by the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition.

The expansion will cover more than 70% of the state shelters that don’t currently have legal services.

Mass Live: ‘Greatest State’: Healey, Driscoll Visit on Massachusetts Day at Big E

Massachusetts Gov. Maura T. Healey emerged from her hand-shaking, snack-tasting tour of the Massachusetts Building at The Big E. And, as she took questions from reporters, Healey glanced up and down the bustling Avenue of the States.

“I mean, we’re the greatest state, right?” she said with a grin. “I mean, we’re here with our other New England states, and we get along with them great.”

“But Massachusetts is where it’s at. Right?’’

It was a good-natured response on a day that Healey, now nine months into her first year in the top state job, said is a celebration.

Of the nearly 2 million people who’ll visit the Eastern States Exposition over the 17-day fair, 80% hit up the Avenue of the States.

“And it’s just great to see so much of Massachusetts, all in one place. And you realize, and I hope people come and appreciate, just the riches of our state, right. And that’s what The Big E is all about: celebrating our state.”.

WAMC: Feds Give $108 million for East-West Rail in Massachusetts

The federal government is putting major funding toward the longtime effort to connect western and eastern Massachusetts with high-speed passenger rail.

The U.S. Department of Transportation is putting $108 million toward a project to significantly upgrade an existing rail line west of Worcester to facilitate more frequent and faster passenger trains between Boston and Springfield.

“This is a huge step forward, a huge investment,” said Gov. Maura Healey.

She joined with Congressman Richard Neal and state and federal transportation officials at Springfield’s Union Station Friday to applaud the federal funding award.

Once the improvements to the track, signals, and other rail infrastructure is completed, Amtrak plans to add two daily trains to the route. Over some stretches of the new track, trains will be able to travel at speeds up to 80 mph. It means a trip between Springfield and Boston by rail could be accomplished in two hours.

There is no timetable for the project, which is still in the design phase, according to MassDOT officials.

Neal, an impactful and longtime advocate for improved east-west passenger rail service, said it will benefit the entire region.

Health Care

The Recorder: State Awards $772,706 to Support Childhood Mental-Health Program

A regional provider of comprehensive behavioral health services has been awarded nearly $800,000 to continue its work providing social and emotional support for children in licensed child-care facilities.

The $772,706 Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation Grant from the Healey-Driscoll administration will support Behavioral Health Network’s Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation Program, a service that provides support and guidance to child-care programs, teachers and families to address the needs of children with challenging behaviors, mental-health disorders, developmental delays, and/or those at risk of suspension or expulsion. The grant is $107,000 more than what BHN received last year, according to Robert Churchill, senior director of children’s outreach programming.

“The grant really can be provided in three ways,” said Churchill. “We can work with individual kids, we could work with an entire classroom, or if the need is here, we could work with an entire program.”

Overall, $4.5 million was awarded statewide.

“We have a mental-health crisis that has only been made worse by the pandemic, particularly for our youngest kids,” Gov. Maura Healey said in a statement.

“Our administration is continuing to help break down the stigma behind seeking treatment while ensuring that Massachusetts residents know how they can access the health care and support they deserve — no matter how small. These grants will provide early education and care programs with the tools and resources needed to help educators identify kids [who are] struggling and support families in accessing help.”

Newburyport News: Pace of MassHealth Removals Picks Up

About 82,000 Bay Staters lost MassHealth coverage in August, another sizable drop in enrollment as the state reaches an “inflection point” in a year-long effort to review eligibility for every single member.

Total enrollment in MassHealth, which combines Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program under one umbrella, fell for the third straight month with additional drops forecast in the near future, officials announced Thursday.

Massachusetts is now five months into a campaign to determine how many of the 2.4 million people on MassHealth rolls in April still qualify for the publicly funded health insurance. The federal government prohibited people from losing Medicaid coverage during the pandemic. That policy has since ended, requiring all 50 states to embark on a similarly gargantuan review.

So far, a total of about 208,000 people have departed MassHealth since April 1, according to the latest state data. Normal new enrollments have continued in that span, cutting the net drop in the caseload to about 64,000 or 2.66 percent.

Boston Globe: ‘Glitch’ Deprived Some 4,800 Massachusetts Residents of Medicaid Coverage

Thirty states, including Massachusetts, are pausing the removal of thousands of people from Medicaid rolls after the federal government identified a “glitch” that had mistakenly deprived half a million eligible people across the country of state-sponsored insurance.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services said on Thursday that fewer than 10,000 people in Massachusetts were affected, and state officials later clarified that the number stood at approximately 4,800. Federal officials also initially said the issue likely affected mostly children, but state officials said no children in Massachusetts were affected. All impacted Massachusetts residents will regain coverage, according to the state.

States use an auto-renewal process to determine if people are eligible for Medicaid, using information available through state wage data and other sources. Federal officials say such a process makes it easier for people to renew their Medicaid insurance or remain on its sister program, the Children’s Health Insurance Program.

However, in a media briefing, the federal agency said it had noticed when looking at data and talking to states that the automatic renewal system was assessing eligibility at the family level rather than the individual level, even though individuals in a family might have different eligibility for the program. For example, children are likely to be eligible for Medicaid or CHIP even if their parents no longer qualify.

Mass Live: MassHealth on Track to Cover Doulas during Birth

As a Ghanian-American birth doula, Adwapa Asenso said she has seen first-hand how traumatic a pregnancy or birth can be, especially for clients of color. One Black client she worked with, who was also an obstetrics and gynecology resident, knew she didn’t want to give birth to her first child at the hospital she worked at after witnessing how Black women were treated.

Doulas are individuals who are trained to support a birthing person before, during and after pregnancy. They provide emotional, physical and educational support.

“Despite being an OB (obstetrics and gynecology) resident, she chose a different hospital for her delivery due to a lack of trust in her workplace providers. Her reasons were clear — she had witnessed how people like her were treated and wanted to avoid that experience,” Worcester-based Asenso said at a Wednesday hearing on a bill aimed at solidifying Medicaid coverage for doulas in the state.

According to a June report published by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, the rate of life-threatening pregnancy-related complications in Massachusetts nearly doubled from 2011 to 2020. Black patients experienced severe complications two and half times more often than white patients.

Budget and Taxation

Boston Herald: Delegation Works to Boost Healey’s Funding Request, Markey Says

The Massachusetts Congressional delegation is working to boost the profile of a plea from Gov. Maura Healey for federal funding to address an emergency shelter crisis in Massachusetts, Sen Ed Markey told the Herald Saturday.

Healey has publicly called on the Biden administration multiple times for money to deal with an overcrowded emergency shelter system serving local homeless families and newly-arrived migrants. Managing the influx of migrants and crushing costs of housing in Massachusetts has emerged as one of the first major tests of the Healey administration.

Markey said the state’s federal delegation is working to raise the issue of federal funding with the Biden administration.

“We’re working with [Healey] to press for more funding from the federal level to help the governor and we’ve been doing it now for several weeks,” Markey said at the Massachusetts Democratic Party convention in Lowell. “We’re going to continue because we know it’s a problem that has to be dealt with and the governor is doing the best she can with the resources that she has right now.”

Local lawmakers have previously expressed frustration with the federal delegation’s ability to secure dollars for the state. Healey has also increasingly escalated her criticism of Congress for not passing immigration reform.

State House News: Shelter System Money Request Raises Questions in House

House Speaker Ron Mariano is “still searching for some answers” about the scope of the fast-changing emergency shelter crisis, while Gov. Maura Healey delivered another impassioned plea for federal aid that she acknowledged so far has not been forthcoming.

The record number of families in need of shelter, many of them new arrivals from other countries, was top of mind for Healey — who warned the situation is “not sustainable” — and top House and Senate Democrats when they sat down for their first formal leadership huddle in more than three months.

Days after Healey proposed steering another $250 million toward shelter services as part of a supplemental budget to close the state’s books on fiscal year 2023, Mariano said Beacon Hill’s top officials discussed the issue “at length” behind closed doors.

“Right now, I think that we’re still searching for some answers on the potential total expenditures that we’ll be dealing with,” Mariano told reporters. “There’s a lot of questions around the number that need to be tightened up.”

He added, “The administration is doing the best that they can do to gather all this information and give us some hard numbers, and it’s not an easy thing to do. It’s people coming from all different countries and coming in at all different points of entry. So, it’s a difficult challenge.”

Energy and Environment

State House News Service: Boston’s T Board Member Brings Climate Background

The years-in-the-making city of Boston seat on the MBTA’s governing board has been filled.

Mayor Michelle Wu on Monday named Mary Skelton Roberts as the first person to represent the city on the MBTA’s Board of Directors amid what Wu’s office called “a moment of crisis” for the agency.

Skelton Roberts is president of the Climate Beacon Conference and senior advisor to the Climate Beacon Project, which Wu’s office described as a nonprofit that works to push Massachusetts toward an “equitable energy transition.” She previously worked as senior vice president at the Energy Foundation, and spent more than a decade as co-director of climate at the Barr Foundation in Boston.

Wu’s office said Skelton Roberts will focus on advancing faster bus trips, fare-free transit, ensuring all commuter rail trips within Boston charge the lowest Zone 1A fares, and boosting communication with the public about improving the agency.

“For residents and workers in Boston to thrive, we need a world-class public transit system connecting community and opportunity,” Wu said in a statement. “I’ve known Mary for years, from running into her on the Orange Line during our morning commute, to collaborating on transportation policy advocacy at the MBTA and City of Boston. I’m excited to appoint Mary as the very first representative of the City of Boston on the MBTA Board of Directors.

Boston Globe: Climate tech is Buzzing in Boston. Here are Six Young Workers Leading the Way.

From building better EV batteries to designing fusion power reactors, climate tech is one of the fastest-growing sectors of the economy.

But with so much at stake — think killer storms, rising seas, wildfires — the industry needs top minds to tackle its biggest problems. So, who is going into this field and driving innovation locally?

Massachusetts is home to at least 115 privately held companies in climate tech, according to financial database PitchBook. They range from battery makers to carbon-capture firms to startups developing more sustainable materials.

And they have collectively raised $1.4 billion in funding this year, which is roughly on pace to match last year’s $1.9 billion. Globally, the Boston area ranks in the top five climate-tech hubs, along with the San Francisco Bay Area, New York City, London, and Paris, according to corporate-data firm Dealroom.

All of this activity means there is plenty of opportunity for a new generation of technology workers to make their mark.

“We’re seeing a massive trend of more students and grads exploring climate tech as an area of study as well as employment,” said Katie Rae, CEO of The Engine, a venture capital firm affiliated with MIT. “Boston, in particular, is leading the way for entrepreneurial and academic pursuit of climate tech.”

Gloucestertimes: Lawmakers Urged to Ban Retail Energy Suppliers

Lawmakers are being urged to ban retail energy suppliers, but supporters of the burgeoning industry argue the move will deprive consumers of choice and allow the state’s major utilities to create monopolies.

A pair of proposals, filed by Rep. Frank Moran, D-Lawrence, in the state House of Representatives and Sen. Brendan Crighton, D-Lynn, in the Senate, would restrict retail energy suppliers from signing up new customers in the state, among other proposed changes.

Another proposal, filed by Rep. Tackey Chan, D-Quincy, would allow the market to continue operating but would set new requirements aimed at protecting consumers from predatory practices.

Both sides squared off on the issue on Thursday when the bills were the subject of a public hearing before the Legislature’s Joint Committee on Telecommunication, Utilities and Energy, with lawmakers getting an earful from supporters and opponents of the competitive energy market.

Attorney General Andrea Campbell is among those urging state regulators to crack down on the competitive electric supply industry amid claims that the companies are using deceptive marketing to sell consumers on the promise of lower utility bills.

Fall River Reporter: Fall River, Springfield, Boston-Area Communities Receive More Than $22 Million to Plant Trees, Combat Extreme Climate

The Healey-Driscoll Administration announced that Massachusetts communities have received more than $22 million in funding from the USDA Forest Service’s Urban and Community Forestry Program. The funding comes from a competitive grant program designed to plant and maintain trees, combat extreme heat and climate change, and improve access to nature in communities across the country.

The projects include plans to plant more than 15,000 trees in Springfield, fund an urban forestry fellowship in Lynn, improve public health for vulnerable populations in Fall River through an expanded tree canopy, and advance social inclusion and workforce development through community forestry in the Boston neighborhoods of Chinatown, East Boston, Dorchester, Mattapan, and Roxbury.

“We are incredibly excited to see Massachusetts cities and towns receive the funding they need to proactively expand green space in environmental justice communities across the Commonwealth,” said Governor Maura Healey. “We are committed to continuing to partner with these municipalities as they put their federal money to work improving public health and increasing access to opportunity for the people of Massachusetts.”

“This summer’s extreme temperatures have shown that our cities and towns are on the front lines of responding to the impacts of climate change. We’re proud to see these communities leading the charge in implementing climate resilient measures that will ensure a healthier, more equitable Massachusetts,” said Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs Rebecca Tepper. “Congratulations to the communities receiving this important funding to support their urban forestry programs.”

Education

Boston Globe Editorial: No, the MCAS Exam Isn’t Holding Kids Back

For years in Massachusetts, opponents of the state’s graduation exam have cast the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System as a daunting hurdle to high school students. Requiring students to display a 10th-grade level of competence in English, math, and a branch of science to graduate from high school has been portrayed as a draconian demand, an exercise in “high-stakes” educational excess that makes their high school years both a trial and tribulation.

That line of attack is a huge exaggeration, as Matt Hills, vice chairman of the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, demonstrated in a fact-filled presentation to the board on Tuesday. The data Hills presented show that, in aggregate, of the class of 2019 students (the last pre-pandemic class) who passed the MCAS, more than 90 percent did so on their first try, in their sophomore year.

Although there was some variation among ethnic and socioeconomics cohorts when it came to first-time MCAS success, of the students who passed the MCAS, at least 79 percent of Black, Hispanic, white, Asian, and economically disadvantaged students earned their MCAS competency determination on their first attempt.

More than 90 percent of students in those groups, plus students with individual education plans, passed after their second or third attempt, which usually take place during their junior year. After a fourth attempt, English language learners were also above 90 percent. So despite the regular claims that MCAS passage rates reflect little more than one’s socioeconomic status, that really isn’t the case.

Boston Globe: Massachusetts Education Leaders Hope to Jump Start a New Era of Charter School Growth

Massachusetts education leaders are creating a new pipeline to develop and open more charter schools across the state, as they grapple with a dearth of applications and political hostility to new charter proposals.

The state’s effort aims to add charter schools in districts with high concentrations of low-income students and those at high risk of quitting school. Currently, there are 76 charter schools and more than 21,000 students are on waiting lists.

Yet growth in new charters has been nearly nonexistent. Worcester Cultural Academy made history this fall as the first charter school to open in Massachusetts in five years, breaking the longest drought ever for new charter startups. The school endured a bruising fight with teachers unions and local elected officials, who worried about losing millions of dollars in state aid to the charter.

Beth Anderson, president of the Massachusetts Charter Public School Association, said the difficult political climate surrounding charter schools is probably deterring educators and others from opening new schools. She welcomed any help the state can provide.

Commonwealth Magazine: State Wants Updated MCAS to Consider Student ‘Experiences’

It’s future as a graduation requirement may be the subject of much back and forth, but the MCAS test is still in line for a refresh. Amid critiques that the standardized assessment can tend to further marginalize some students, the Healey administration seems to want to emphasize cultural sensitivity in designing the new test.

A request for proposals quietly went out earlier this year, seeking a vendor to support the development, production, administration, scoring, and reporting of an updated statewide MCAS test starting in 2025. According to the state Executive Office of Education, the request has been closed and a selection committee is reviewing bids.

“The RFR sought proposals to expand accessibility for English learners, add innovative science and eighth grade civics assessments, reduce testing and score turnover time, and craft test items reflective of students and their experiences,” said an administration spokesperson in a statement.

Massachusetts is required by federal law to annually test all students in grades 3-8, and the state puts out a request for proposals every eight years to retool its exam. The recurring bid process, therefore, says nothing about Gov. Maura Healey’s views on the 10th grade test students currently must pass to graduate from high school.

Commonwealth Magazine: Mayors Renew Call for Vocational School Admission Changes

More than three years after calling on the state to revamp what they said were unfair and discriminatory admission practices at regional vocational schools, a group of Massachusetts mayors says little has changed – and they are calling on the new Healey administration to take decisive action on the issue.

Admission policies at the schools have been the focus of controversy for several years, as local officials, civil rights groups, and other advocates decried state regulations that allow voc-tech schools to use selective criteria, such as middle school grades and attendance records, in admitting students. The result, they say, is that many of the students who would benefit most from hands-on learning and training in skilled trades – who may have struggled with a traditional classroom structure – are being shut out of that opportunity.

In a 2020 letter to then-Education Secretary Jim Peyser, the mayors called on the state to institute a lottery-based admission system at vocational schools that would give all students an equal chance at a seat. “Unfortunately, that did not happen,” the group of 25 mayors wrote in a letter this month to the new Healey administration education secretary, Patrick Tutwiler. Instead, they say, the state education department “instituted a set of half-measures that have failed to end pervasive discrimination in vocational admissions.”

WGBH: AI is Taking Off in Classrooms. Here’s How One Boston Teacher is Using It.

World history teacher Andre Wangard walks among the rows of desks in his classroom at Cristo Rey Boston High School, stopping occasionally to look over students’ shoulders as they type away on their laptops.

The 11th graders asked Genghis Khan and Confucius about Asia’s economic systems — and through an artificial intelligence chatbot, those long-dead figures answered back.

The AI answers may or may not be correct — one of the big problems with generative AI technology — but Wangard’s students are delighted by the ability to have a simulated conversation with historical figures.

“We were able to actually ask a person questions and get a better answer than what the textbooks would give you,” junior Fatima Koumbassa said excitedly.