This fall, the Rappaport Institute’s Boston 101 speakers’ series will focus on some of the key challenges facing the victors of November’s statewide elections. The Institute is also pleased to announce the release of two working papers on key issues as well. Details on the events, the working papers, and other Institute-related news follows.

Fall 2010 Boston 101 Events

- New Urban Mechanics:
How “Peer-Produced” Government Can Help Fill Potholes, Save Cities, and Maybe Even Rescue Democracy
Thursday, September 23, 2010 at 5:30 p.m.
Allison Dining Room, 5th floor, Taubman Building, 15 Eliot Street

Mitchell Weiss, Chief of Staff, Office of Mayor Thomas M. Menino, City of Boston

Commentary by Robert Behn, Lecturer in Public Policy, Harvard Kennedy School

Over the past decade, leaders of many cities, including Boston, have used technologies to identify and improve operational problems in their basic operations. While these efforts have produced many noteworthy successes, today the city of Boston (like a few other cities) is going further and is trying to use new technologies to better connect people with city government and, in doing so, to get them more involved and engaged as well. As the new chief of staff to Thomas Menino, the city’s five-term mayor, Mitch Weiss oversees the city’s Office of New Urban Mechanics, which is working with departments to develop new ways to address a variety of age-old problems.

This event is co-sponsored by the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study and the Taubman Center for State and Local Government.

- High School Success Stories:
How Did Some Exemplary High Schools in Greater Boston Raise Achievement and Narrow Test-Score Gaps?

Tuesday, September 28, 2010 at 5:30 p.m.
Nye AB, 5th floor, Taubman Building, 15 Eliot Street
Ronald Ferguson, Faculty Co-chair and Director, Achievement Gap Initiative at Harvard University and Co-author “How High Schools Become Exemplary: Ways that Leadership Raises Achievement and Narrows Gaps by Improving Instruction in 15 Public High Schools”

Commentary by Mary Skipper, Chief Education Officer, TechBoston Academy Upper and Lower and
Sharon Wolder, Associate Principal, Brockton High School

This event is co-sponsored by the Achievement Gap Initiative, the Taubman Center for State and Local Government, the Malcolm Wiener Center for Social Policy, and the Program on Education Policy and Governance.

- Making the Case for Housing: Can We Balance Regional Needs and Local Concerns?
Tuesday, October 19, 2010 at 5:00 p.m.

Allison Dining Room, 5th floor, Taubman Building, 15 Eliot Street
Tina Brooks, Undersecretary, Massachusetts Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development

Commentary by Alexander von Hoffman, Senior Fellow, Joint Center for Housing Studies and author “To Preserve and Protect: Land Use Regulations in Weston, Massachusetts”

Moderated by Edward Glaeser, Director, Rappaport Institute for Greater Boston and the Taubman Center for State and Local Government

This event is co-sponsored by the Taubman Center for State and Local Government and the Joint Center for Housing Studies.

- Increased Solvability or Increased Intrusion?
The Use of Familial DNA in Criminal Investigations

Monday, October 25, 2010 at 5:30 p.m.
Allison Dining Room, 5th floor, Taubman Building, 15 Eliot Street
David Lazer, Associate Professor of Political Science and Computer Science, Northeastern University and Director, Program on Networked Governance, Harvard Kennedy School

Other panelists to be announced.

This event is co-sponsored by the Program in Criminal Justice Policy and Management and the Taubman Center for State and Local Government.

- Protecting the Safety Net in Hard Times:
Lessons from Catholic Charities of Boston

Thursday, October 28, 2010 at 5:30 p.m.
Allison Dining Room, 5th floor, Taubman Building, 15 Eliot Street
Tiziana Dearing, CEO, Boston Rising and former President, Catholic Charities of Boston

Commentary by Mary Jo Bane, Bradshaw Professor of Public Policy and Management and Academic Dean, Harvard Kennedy School

The current economic downturn has created two great problems for those who fund and offer key social services for those most in need. On the one hand, the downturn has greatly increased the demand for services. At the same time, it also has greatly reduced public and charitable funding for those services. Dearing will discuss how one major provider in Boston responded to these pressures and discuss how that experience informs her work as the new head of Boston Rising, a new non-profit focused on fighting poverty in Boston.

This event is co-sponsored by the Taubman Center for State and Local Government, the Malcolm Wiener Center for Social Policy, and the Hauser Center for Nonprofit Organizations.

- Sustaining Health Care Reform in Massachusetts (and Beyond)

Monday, November 15, 2010 at 5:30 p.m.
Allison Dining Room, 5th floor, Taubman Building, 15 Eliot Street
Jon Kingsdale, former Executive Director, Commonwealth Health Insurance Connector

Commentary by David Cutler, Eckstein Professor of Applied Economics, Harvard University and Senior Health Care Advisor to the Obama campaign

While Massachusetts’ groundbreaking health-care reform law greatly reduced the number of uninsured people in the state and provided a model for national health-care reform, many key challenges must still be addressed at both the state and national levels. Most notably, the state’s efforts to revamp payment systems in ways that might restrain the growth in health-care costs have stalled while premiums for health insurance have continued to rise, particularly for small businesses. Looking forward, what can the state do to address these issues and what does the state’s experience suggest about national health-care reform as well?

This event is co-sponsored by the Taubman Center for State and Local Government and the Malcolm Wiener Center for Social Policy.