The Heartland Institute

The collective grasp of basic history and civics among American students is alarmingly weak. Beyond dispiriting test results on the National Assessment of Educational Progress and other measures, poor performance in history and civics portends a decay of the knowledge, skills, and dispositions needed for a lifetime of active, engaged ...

Throughout the US, the number and scope of defined-benefit pension plans have been on the wane for over a quarter century. Many private-sector workers have had their benefits wiped out by bankruptcies and fire sales of distressed businesses despite the legislative push from pay-as-you-go to fully funded pension plans. Meanwhile ...

Massachusetts is a state with many economic and competitive strengths, but policymakers, elected officials, and business leaders must not ignore its weaknesses. Massachusetts offers compelling advantages to companies looking to expand businesses or start new ones, but other states are chipping away at the state’s advantages in ...

This new Pioneer Institute policy brief on student writing in our schools will be helpful if it highlights the understanding that students will need to write often and at length in college and beyond. Personal and creative writing alone do not prepare students for college term papers or for the memoranda and reports they ...

As states and nations aggressively promote their business climates, the high cost of doing business in Massachusetts requires ongoing remediation for the Commonwealth to sustain its competitive advantage. While most employers are willing to absorb some higher costs in exchange for access to the Commonwealth’s skilled workforce ...

Charter public schools have existed in Massachusetts since 1995, after enabling legislation was included in the landmark Massachusetts Education Reform Act (MERA) of 1993. Originally conceived as laboratories for educational innovation 1 that could offer choice for families and competition for traditional district schools, charters ...

Business leaders, educators, policy makers, and civil rights advocates are increasingly dedicated to fundamental reform to close the achievement gap that limits hope and opportunity for students from historically disadvantaged groups. Substantial gaps in academic achievement between groups of students based on race, ethnicity and ...