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Boston Globe
04-08-2025
- Business
- Boston Globe
‘Not getting what they needed': Since COVID, larger share of Mass. parents trade public schools for private
Financially, it will be a 'big, huge burden,' Weed said. 'But it's worth it … for them to reach to their potential.' Advertisement Before the COVID-19 pandemic, private schools across Massachusetts were losing students in droves. But in recent years, private school enrollment has remained nearly steady for the first time in decades. Families who left for private schools that were open in-person earlier than their local districts have stayed, while others like Weed's have switched since, in search of different academic or social experiences for their children. A smaller group of parents are also embracing homeschool at much higher rates than ever before. If private schools had kept losing students at the same rate as they were pre-pandemic, they would be down some 10,000 additional children, according to a new study from Boston University researchers. Public schools, meanwhile, have than expected, costing them some 16,000 children since 2020 relative to their pre-COVID rate of decline. The boost to private schools largely comes from more affluent white and Asian families, data show. Advertisement also appear in older national data, the researchers found. The accelerated decline in public school enrollment means financial challenges for districts, Goodman said in an interview. Schools lose enrollment-based state dollars when a student leaves for private school, and districts may have trouble getting town support when fewer residents attend. In recent years, Related : 'It's a problem for the political health of a public school system if it educates a decreasing fraction of families in a community,' Goodman said. 'It will put pressure on districts to reduce staff or in extreme scenarios close school buildings.' The shifts reflect the staying power of pandemic-induced enrollment shifts, with many families leaving public schools amid lengthy school shutdowns, opting to homeschool or send their children to in-person private school environments. The state's tiny homeschool sector nearly doubled in the immediate wake of the pandemic, and remains more than 50 percent larger than in 2019, with about 12,200 students last year. Advertisement Private school enrollment is down about 2.6 percent from fall 2019, but 13.8 percent above the pre-pandemic trend. Sara Wilson, executive director of the Association of Independent Schools in New England, which includes many of the region's elite private schools, said her organization's schools have seen modest growth, on average, although the trends vary widely by school. Related : 'We did see families leaving the public school system to go to private schools that opened in person and sooner,' Wilson said. 'Schools have been able to retain some portion of those families.' Eileen McLaughlin, superintendent of the Catholic Archdiocese of Boston's schools, said the Archdiocese's schools are 'seeing signs of growth and upward trends' thanks in part to returning largely in-person in the fall of 2020, before many public schools. 'Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Boston were an important and stabilizing presence for students and parents during the pandemic,' McLaughlin said. 'We are thrilled that families chose Catholic schools for their children and are seeing signs of growth and upward trends.' Other parents, like Weed, have continued to leave their traditional districts post-pandemic, over concerns about lack of rigor or student behavior problems in their public schools. The public school losses have been concentrated in wealthier districts, particularly among middle grade students, defined as grades 5 to 8. Both of Weed's children who are going to private school next year are in those grades. 'My two older weren't really getting what they needed in math or English,' she said. 'So we decided to look elsewhere.' Related : Wilson said many of her organization's member schools have also sought to tamp down the eye-popping tuition numbers in recent years, either through tuition 'resets' or by individualizing costs to families more closely. Still, many Massachusetts private schools have annually Advertisement With such high tuition prices, it comes as no surprise the enrollment shifts are concentrated in the state's wealthiest 20 percent of districts. 'The high income districts, that top 5th, are actually responsible for the majority of public school enrollment losses in the state,' Goodman said. 'There's no sign of recovery in those districts.' Alongside Newton, large declines relative to pre-pandemic trends occurred in communities including Some of these districts have seen sustained controversy over particular district policies that some parents see as watering down the curriculum. Newton has expanded 'mixed-level classrooms,' where students at different achievement levels could learn together. In Cambridge, Still, said Goodman, 'There does seem to be a wider phenomenon of wealthier families generally being dissatisfied.' Francis, Goodman's coauthor, noted behavioral issues may help explain the decline in public middle school enrollment in particular. 'Recent survey data has documented increased behavioral issues, especially centralized in the middle school years,' Francis said. Whatever the cause, Paul Levy, a member of the Newton School Committee, said the lost public school kids are concerning. 'Families in the city were choosing to spend $16 million in private tuition even though they were already paying in their taxes for the public schools,' Levy estimated. 'It means there's less political support within the schools, financial support for overrides and the like. … That's the political result.' Advertisement Even without the shift toward private schools, the state's school-aged population is on the decline, Goodman noted. 'The lines are just going down,' he said. 'It's sad to see in the data, by that measure Massachusetts is a shrinking state." Christopher Huffaker can be reached at
Yahoo
19-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Satanists sued over ‘Black Mass' at Kansas statehouse
Context: The above video initially aired on March 13. TOPEKA (KSNT) – The Catholic Archdiocese of Kansas City has filed a lawsuit against a group of Satanists for planning a 'Black Mass' at the Kansas statehouse later this month. A lawsuit filed in the District Court of Leavenworth County claims the Black Mass, hosted by the Satanic Grotto, will harm Catholics as it is allegedly fueled by 'shock' and 'outrage.' The state's Legislative Coordinating Council has also clarified their rules for hosting events on Capitol grounds, stating that 'criminal conduct' is not protected. 'The Kansas State Capitol is a beautiful place for individuals and groups with diverse views to gather and share their opinions. The First Amendment protects gatherings and speech, including offensive speech, and we cherish those rights. However, the First Amendment does not protect criminal conduct. Recent statements from an organization – which pledged to engage in such conduct – necessitated a thoughtful review of policies to ensure the safety of all those visiting our State Capitol.' Sen. Ty Masterson, (R) Kansas Senate President University of Kansas under investigation for alleged Civil Rights Act violations The group of lawmakers unanimously decided to 'prevent groups who are engaging in criminal conduct or make threats against public officials' from hosting events on the grounds of the State Capitol. There have been concerns from Catholics regarding the nature of the ceremony. A 'Black Mass' calls for use of a consecrated host, or the bread used in a traditional Catholic ceremony to symbolize the body of Christ. Michael Stewart, president of the Satanic Grotto, told Kansas Capitol Bureau in a statement on Tuesday, March 14 that his organization still plans to hold a ceremony inside the statehouse, despite the Governor saying that it won't be allowed. However, he said there are no plans to engage in any criminal activity or to use a stolen Eucharist. 'We were served today with a lawsuit from the archdiocese of Kansas, The complaint was in regards to stolen eucharists,' Stewart said on March 18. 'We here at the Grotto would like to say that we have never stolen or obtained any Eucharist by deceit or fraudulence. All of our wafers were purchased legally. I lead the transubstantiation in the ritual. I consecrate the host. My authority as a Satanist allows me this power, even outside the regular Catholic practices and laws. We might even find this mix up humorous, if it wasn't followed by house resolution 6016, which condemned our religion. We have still yet to be personally contacted by any of our accusers to ask what we plan to do or how we plan to do it. All of this was cleared by Capitol Police days before Laura Kelly first intervened. We provided them a walk-through of the ritual and receipts for the materials we were using. This is a classic satanic panic, maybe we should stop and look at how easy it is for Catholic interest to override and overwhelm any disagreement. I sure hope they don't disagree with a Baptist minister somewhere. Hail Satan. ' Michael Stewart, Satanic Grotto President and founder Kansas law enforcement agencies sign up to help ICE conduct deportations The Black Mass is set to take place on March 28. For more Capitol Bureau news, click here. Keep up with the latest breaking news in northeast Kansas by downloading our mobile app and by signing up for our news email alerts. Sign up for our Storm Track Weather app by clicking here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
CNN
19-02-2025
- Politics
- CNN
What to know about Ed Martin, the right-wing activist Trump tapped to be DC's top prosecutor
While Trump administration officials were preparing to install a seasoned conservative lawyer as the top prosecutor in Washington, DC, the firebrand right-wing activist in the job on a temporary basis was waging a public campaign to keep the job permanently. Within hours of becoming interim US attorney for DC on President Donald Trump's Inauguration Day, Ed Martin swiftly used his powers to dismiss pending January 6-related cases. He then fired prosecutors who were involved, and launched an internal review to hunt for possible misconduct. He also publicly allied with Elon Musk and offered to file charges against anyone who threatens members of his team in the so-called Department of Government Efficiency. People familiar with the matter said Martin's stock rose in Trump's orbit as he used his temporary powers to aggressively push a retribution agenda and chronicled his moves in social media postings, often bashing Democratic critics and praising Trump. On Monday, Trump announced Martin, a fellow election denier in 2020 and defense lawyer for US Capitol rioters, would be getting the nod. That left the man originally envisioned for the role, former Bush-era Pentagon official Cully Stimson, falling by the wayside, despite a recent meeting with Attorney General Pam Bondi at Mar-a-Lago to discuss priorities for the US attorney's office. Trump had even told allies that his pick for the position was Stimson. Martin's actions have jolted prosecutors in the office, and he contributed to fresh internal tumult this week. The top criminal prosecutor in the US attorney's office, Denise Cheung, resigned Tuesday after refusing an order from Martin and others to open a grand jury probe into climate funding under the Biden administration. In a post on his Truth Social platform on Monday, Trump highlighted Martin's clerkship on a federal appellate court and his past legal work for the Catholic Archdiocese of St. Louis, and said, 'since Inauguration Day, Ed has been doing a great job as Interim U.S. Attorney, fighting tirelessly to restore Law and Order, and make our Nation's Capital Safe and Beautiful Again.' In one of his only interviews as intern US attorney, Martin recently told the local ABC affiliate in DC that he was looking to make changes 'as quickly as we possibly can,' and emphasized his desire to crack down on local violent crime. 'It used to be you'd go to the bad section of town, and you knew you were in the bad section,' Martin said. 'When you're in all the sections and you're worried about gun violence, that's where the thugs with guns have to be stopped… we're going to raise the cost for you to be a thug with a gun in this district.' Martin will need to be confirmed by the Senate, which has a 53-47 Republican majority. It's quite the rise for Martin, who was tapped after the November election to serve as the chief of staff for the director of the Office of Management and Budget. Stimson and the White House declined to comment. Some prosecutors in Martin's office reacted to the announcement with dismay, according to current and former officials who are in touch with colleagues at the office. A specific point of friction is Martin's background as a political activist and his lack of prosecutorial experience. 'Folks are demoralized,' an official in Martin's office told CNN, who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retribution. 'He fired over a dozen experienced, trained, apolitical prosecutors and last week put out notice that he wants to hire 20 new prosecutors ASAP. He's saying he's going to kill the perceived weaponization through actual weaponization.' The official added: 'I'm sure there's an example of a team that found success despite having a coach that doesn't know the rules and hates his own team. I'm not aware of one, though.' Sean Brennan, a former prosecutor in Martin's office who handled January 6 cases and was fired last month with other newer employees, blasted Martin's elevation to the top post. 'The leader of the largest US attorney's office in the country is more focused on serving as a political lackey, as a tool that the Trump administration can wield for political purposes, instead of protecting the people of our district and the people of America,' Brennan said. In an interview with CNN, Brennan recounted a town hall where Martin urged staff to work hard to prepare DC for the 250th anniversary of the nation's founding, which is happening next July and will feature major celebrations in the capital city. Martin talked about 'how we need to clean up DC's streets, not necessarily because of safety, but because of a conversation he claimed to have had with Trump about the importance of the 250th anniversary of the founding,' Brennan said, adding that Martin seemed focused on making Trump look good, because he wanted to invite world leaders to DC for the celebration. Neither Martin nor the US attorney's office responded to requests for comment. Martin, who was briefly a CNN contributor in 2017, was an organizer in the 'Stop The Steal' movement that falsely claimed the 2020 presidential election was rigged against Trump. CNN reported that Martin assisted with financing for Trump's infamous Ellipse rally on January 6, 2021. Later that day, while the US Capitol was being violently breached by Trump supporters, Martin posted to Twitter, saying, 'I'm at the Capitol right now. Abd (sic) I was at the POTUS speech earlier. Rowdy crowd but nothing out of hand. Ignore the #FakeNews.' Later, Martin worked as a defense attorney for some people charged in the January 6 riot. He went farther than other senior Trump officials – like Vice President JD Vance and FBI director nominee Kash Patel – by backing mass pardons for rioters convicted of assaulting police. Within days of taking over the US attorney's office in DC, Martin initiated an internal investigation to look into one of the 'great failures of our office,' referring to the decision, later overruled by the Supreme Court, to charge some rioters with obstructing Congress. 'We have a lot of people in the Republican Party who are very nervous of conflict, but he has a reputation of not being afraid of conflict,' said Suzzanne Monk, founder of the J6 Pardon Project, which pushed for full pardons for all January 6 defendants. 'Let's see how much teeth that investigation has, and how much of a leash that President Trump gives his pit bulls.' Martin's actions in a matter of weeks on the job won him a place on Bondi's newly named Weaponization Working Group, according to a person briefed on the discussions. The purpose of the group is to look into allegations that the Biden administration acted inappropriately in pursuing investigations of the January 6 US Capitol riot and Trump. A DC resident, Monk praised Martin for putting a focus on crime in DC instead of January 6 cases. She said she noticed that 'his posts on Twitter are about actually prosecuting crimes in DC instead of prosecuting January 6ers.' Among other posts, Martin recently shared an image of his new iPhone wallpaper: a picture of a 3-year-old girl who was fatally shot in southeast DC last year. Over the years, Martin has also tried his hand at electoral politics, without success. In 2010, a Republican wave year, he tried to unseat Democratic Rep. Russ Carnahan, with support from Tea Party groups, but lost the St. Louis-area seat by about 2%. Martin then ran for Missouri attorney general in 2012, challenging incumbent Democrat Chris Koster. The race wasn't close: Martin lost by 15%, in part because he fell short in traditional GOP areas. He became the chairman of the Missouri Republican Party in 2013 and was at the helm for two years. In a series of op-eds, he bashed the GOP establishment 'racket' and candidates like Scott Walker and Jeb Bush in the 2016 primary, and argued that the professional class of GOP consultants 'hate the populist energy that Mr. Trump is capturing.' Martin has worked closely with Phyllis Schlafly, a fellow Missourian and one of the most prominent women in the conservative movement. He led the Phyllis Schlafly Eagles, an activist group that says it fights for 'pro-family' values and opposes 'radical feminists.' During Trump's first campaign, Martin and Schlafly co-wrote 'The Conservative Case for Trump,' which was published after her death in September 2016. The book was a watershed moment for Trump as he courted support from the religious right and conservative women. As a conservative radio host, Martin espoused extreme anti-abortion views that go far beyond any policies that Trump has proposed, according to reporting last year from CNN's KFile. An examination of dozens of episodes of Martin's radio show from 2022 to 2024 found that, among other things, he has suggested that there could be criminal punishments for women who get abortions. 'Could be criminal, could be a jail sentence, I suppose,' he once said. He has publicly called for a national abortion ban without exceptions for rape and incest. In one radio show, he reiterated his opposition to any exceptions by singling out the case of a 10-year-old girl from Ohio who was raped in 2022. He said: 'I have said over and over again the examples that shouldn't be the rule, right? You can't let the exceptions be the rule.' Martin also falsely claimed that medically induced abortion and birth control pills were 'damaging' and dangerous for women. He has falsely claimed it was 'an absolute scientific fact that no abortion is ever performed to save the life of the mother,' despite medical findings that abortions can be necessary to treat life-threatening pregnancy complications. Within the US attorney's office, Martin has already become infamous for his near-daily emails to the entire staff, which are sometimes riddled with typos and angry outbursts over leaks. After one of his emails leaked during his first week in office, Martin complained, 'Wow, what a disappointment to have my email yesterday to you all was leaked almost immediately. Again, personally insulting and professionally unacceptable. I guess I have learned my lesson ('Fool me once…').' That email was subsequently leaked to CNN and other media outlets. Many in the office have also picked up on Martin's heavy presence on X. Earlier this month, Martin publicly posted a letter that he sent to Musk, pledging to prosecute anyone who doxes or threatens staffers from Musk's so-called Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE. This came after news reports identifying DOGE staffers who were involved in disruptions and firings at key agencies like the Treasury Department and the US Agency for International Development. 'We will chase them to the end of the Earth to hold them accountable,' Martin wrote, adding, 'Noone (sic) is above the law.'
