<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:150%;font-family:Georgia,serif"><a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2012/05/massachusetts_is_the_best_state_in_the_union_.single.html">http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2012/05/massachusetts_is_the_best_state_in_the_union_.single.html</a></span></p>


<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:150%;font-family:Georgia,serif"> </span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%"><b><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:150%;font-family:Georgia,serif">Don’t Mess with Massachusetts</span></b></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%"><b><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:150%;font-family:Georgia,serif">It may be
everyone’s punching bag, but it’s time to face facts: The Bay State is best.</span></b></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:150%;font-family:Georgia,serif">By <a href="https://mail.uidaho.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.slate.com/authors.mark_vanhoenacker.html" target="_blank"><span style="color:blue">Mark Vanhoenacker</span></a>|Posted
Monday, May 14, 2012, at 6:00 AM ET</span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:150%;font-family:Georgia,serif"><img border="0" width="1" height="1" src="file:///C:\Users\Admin\AppData\Local\Temp\msohtmlclip1\01\clip_image001.gif" alt="Illustration by Robert Neubecker"></span><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:150%;font-family:Georgia,serif"></span></p>


<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:150%;font-family:Georgia,serif">Illustration by Robert Neubecker</span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:150%"><b><i><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:150%;font-family:Georgia,serif">Check out our <a href="https://mail.uidaho.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://todayspictures.slate.com/20120509/" target="_blank"><span style="color:blue">Magnum Photos gallery on Boston.</span></a></span></i></b><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:150%;font-family:Georgia,serif"></span></p>


<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:150%;font-family:Georgia,serif">Massachusetts, in today’s political culture, is more epithet than
state. The People’s Republic, Taxachusetts, “Sweden”—this is America’s
arugula-munching, maple syrup-swigging, receding-ponytail hippy uncle, exiled
to its cold, lonely corner of American geography by Sunbelt population growth
and a rightward-leaning national discourse. That “Spirit of America” license
plate doth protest too much. For much of the country, Massachusetts, if not
actually un-American, is the suspicious redoubt of the American left.  </span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:150%;font-family:Georgia,serif">As a native, I’m willing to take it on the chin for the state’s
crimes against the republic:  certain unfortunate regional accents, the
term <i>wicked</i>, and that <a href="https://mail.uidaho.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2008/01/17/the-photo-op-that-tanked" target="_blank"><span style="color:blue">image of Michael Dukakis in a tank</span></a> .
For the state’s affection for happy-clappy bumper stickers (“no one is free
when others are oppressed”) and the drivers my brother calls “Massholes”—I
apologize.</span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:150%;font-family:Georgia,serif">Advertisement</span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:150%;font-family:Georgia,serif">Still, all the Bay State-baiting can get depressing. Especially in
the recent primary season, as Mitt Romney, pummeled by charges of
“Massachusetts moderate,” has run far<i> </i>from the state he once
governed. <i>Et tu</i>, Mitt?</span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:150%;font-family:Georgia,serif">On the brighter side, though, Gov. Romney’s candidacy is an
opportunity to take a closer look at the state that dare not speak its name.
Through all the red mist and flying blue fur this election year, it’s worth
reminding voters of a truth Romney probably won’t be emphasizing: The nation’s
favorite punching bag is an exceptionally successful state.</span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:150%;font-family:Georgia,serif">Let’s compare Massachusetts to its peers on three basic measures
of success: education, social well-being, and economic strength. Some Americans
believe good results on these metrics are the goals of responsible government,
and others believe they’re the happy consequences of free markets. But however
we get there, these are desirable outcomes for all Americans.</span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:150%;font-family:Georgia,serif">First up is education, the foundation of America’s meritocratic
values and the key to whatever success the country will find in a globalized,
knowledge-based economy. Massachusetts is renowned for its higher-education
institutions. Less well known, though, is that the home of the original Tea
Party also has the best schools in the country. On the most basic measures of
educational achievement—fourth- and eighth-grade <a href="https://mail.uidaho.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/statecomparisons/" target="_blank"><span style="color:blue">math and reading skills</span></a>—Massachusetts
tops the nation.</span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:150%"><i><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:150%;font-family:Georgia,serif">Education Week</span></i><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:150%;font-family:Georgia,serif">’s Quality Counts 2012 report expands
on this success. On their <a href="https://mail.uidaho.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.edweek.org/ew/qc/2012/16src.h31.html?intc=EW-QC12-CTR" target="_blank"><span style="color:blue">overall index</span></a>, Massachusetts
ranks second, to Maryland. But on two of the index’s most important measures of
results—a lifetime educational <a href="https://mail.uidaho.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2012/01/12/16sources.h31.html%23chance" target="_blank"><span style="color:blue">Chance for Success</span></a> index,
and a <a href="https://mail.uidaho.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2012/01/12/16sources.h31.html%23achievement" target="_blank"><span style="color:blue">K-12 Achievement</span></a> index
that bundles metrics such as test results, year-on-year improvement, and the
gap between poor and wealthier kids (perhaps the truest test of our fabled
meritocracy)—the Bay State again leads the nation.</span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:150%;font-family:Georgia,serif">And most of the world. According to a <a href="https://mail.uidaho.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.hks.harvard.edu/pepg/PDF/Papers/PEPG11-03_GloballyChallenged.pdf" target="_blank"><span style="color:blue">2011 Harvard study</span></a>, while
reading proficiency in Mississippi is comparable to Russia or Bulgaria,
Massachusetts performs more like Singapore, Japan, or South Korea. Often
better: Massachusetts students rank <i>fifth</i> in the world in
reading, lapping Singapore and Japan, and needless to say, every state in the
union. In math, Massachusetts slots in a global ninth, ahead of Japan and
Germany. (Some international educational studies rank Shanghai and Hong Kong as
separate countries; if this wasn’t done, Massachusetts would likely rank two
places higher.)</span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:150%;font-family:Georgia,serif">What about social well-being? Above all, we want kids to have a
healthy start in life. <a href="https://mail.uidaho.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.statehealthfacts.org/" target="_blank"><span style="color:blue">According to the Kaiser Family
Foundation</span></a>, Massachusetts has the nation’s highest level of <a href="https://mail.uidaho.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.statehealthfacts.org/comparetable.jsp?typ=2%26ind=44%26cat=2%26sub=12%26sortc=1%26o=a" target="_blank"><span style="color:blue">first-trimester prenatal care</span></a>,
and the third-lowest <a href="https://mail.uidaho.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.statehealthfacts.org/comparetable.jsp?ind=47%26cat=2%26sub=13%26yr=89%26typ=3%26sort=a%26o=a%26sortc=1" target="_blank"><span style="color:blue">infant mortality</span></a> rate
(Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Missouri are about 50 percent higher). It also has
the second-highest rate of <a href="https://mail.uidaho.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.statehealthfacts.org/comparetable.jsp?ind=584%26cat=2%26sub=14%26yr=62%26typ=2%26sort=a%26o=a%26sortc=1" target="_blank"><span style="color:blue">child access to both medical and
dental care</span></a>, the nation’s lowest <a href="https://mail.uidaho.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.statehealthfacts.org/comparetable.jsp?ind=61%26cat=2%26sub=18%26yr=63%26typ=3%26sort=a%26o=a%26sortc=1" target="_blank"><span style="color:blue">child mortality</span></a> rate,
and the lowest <a href="https://mail.uidaho.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.statehealthfacts.org/comparetable.jsp?yr=63%26typ=3%26ind=62%26cat=2%26sub=19%26sortc=1%26o=a" target="_blank"><span style="color:blue">teen death</span></a>rate.</span></p>


<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:150%;font-family:Georgia,serif">It goes without saying that Massachusetts has the lowest
percentage of <a href="https://mail.uidaho.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.statehealthfacts.org/comparetable.jsp?typ=2%26ind=125%26cat=3%26sub=39%26sortc=6%26o=a" target="_blank"><span style="color:blue">uninsured residents</span></a>—5
percent (Thanks Mitt! Mitt? You there, Mitt?), compared to 16 percent
nationally, and a whopping 25 percent in Texas. On <a href="https://mail.uidaho.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.statehealthfacts.org/comparetable.jsp?ind=784%26cat=2%26sub=206%26yr=18%26typ=1" target="_blank"><span style="color:blue">life expectancy</span></a>,
Massachusetts ties for sixth-highest, about five years longer than the
worst-performing states. In another political universe far, far away, you might
describe a place like this as pro-life.</span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:150%;font-family:Georgia,serif">A few other metrics of social well-being: The Bay State has the
second-lowest <a href="https://mail.uidaho.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.statehealthfacts.org/comparetable.jsp?typ=3%26ind=37%26cat=2%26sub=11%26sortc=1%26o=a" target="_blank"><span style="color:blue">teen birth</span></a> rate, the
fourth-lowest <a href="https://mail.uidaho.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.statehealthfacts.org/comparetable.jsp?ind=667%26cat=2%26sub=155%26yr=63%26typ=3%26o=a%26sortc=1" target="_blank"><span style="color:blue">suicide</span></a> rate, and the
lowest <a href="https://mail.uidaho.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2012/ranks/rank39.html" target="_blank"><span style="color:blue">traffic fatality</span></a> rate.
The birthplace of Dunkin’ Donuts has the sixth-lowest <a href="https://mail.uidaho.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.statehealthfacts.org/comparetable.jsp?typ=2%26ind=89%26cat=2%26sub=26%26sortc=1%26o=a" target="_blank"><span style="color:blue">obesity</span></a> rate. And
depending on the source, the first state to legalize gay marriage has either
the <a href="https://mail.uidaho.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2012/tables/12s0133.pdf" target="_blank"><span style="color:blue">lowest</span></a> or one of
the <a href="https://mail.uidaho.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.census.gov/prod/2011pubs/acs-13.pdf" target="_blank"><span style="color:blue">very lowest</span></a> divorce
rates in the country.</span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:150%;font-family:Georgia,serif">Finally, let’s take a purely dollars-and-cents look at
Massachusetts. No matter where you start on the political spectrum, this is the
most important question, because many Americans believe we must choose between
social investments and a competitive economy. So what economic sacrifices is
Massachusetts making to achieve such extraordinary educational and social
outcomes?</span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:150%;font-family:Georgia,serif">None, apparently. Massachusetts has the second-highest <a href="https://mail.uidaho.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.bea.gov/newsreleases/regional/spi/2012/pdf/spi0312.pdf" target="_blank"><span style="color:blue">per capita personal income</span></a> among
the states. <a href="https://mail.uidaho.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.bls.gov/web/laus/laumstrk.htm" target="_blank"><span style="color:blue">Unemployment</span></a> in March
was 6.5 percent, well below the national 8.2 percent. Its<a href="https://mail.uidaho.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_by_GDP" target="_blank"><span style="color:blue">state per-capita GDP</span></a> ranks
sixth-highest. Its <a href="https://mail.uidaho.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/income/data/historical/household/2010/H08_2010.xls" target="_blank"><span style="color:blue">median household income</span></a> (a
measure of widely-distributed income) is fifth.</span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:150%;font-family:Georgia,serif">Massachusetts is looking particularly sharp when it comes to the
globalized, tech-driven economy on which America’s superpower standing hinges.
According to a 2011 <a href="https://mail.uidaho.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://web27.streamhoster.com/mtc/index_2011.pdf" target="_blank"><span style="color:blue">report</span></a>, Massachusetts has
the highest per-capita venture capital, patents, and technology licensing of 10
leading high-tech states. Worker productivity in Massachusetts (GDP per
employed person) is the third-highest in the world. And research and
development spending as a share of GDP in Massachusetts is higher than any
country anywhere.</span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:150%;font-family:Georgia,serif">Massachusetts is as green as it is high-tech, and recently
displaced California as the nation’s<a href="https://mail.uidaho.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.aceee.org/press/2011/10/aceee-massachusetts-overtakes-califo" target="_blank"><span style="color:blue">most energy-efficient state</span></a>.
No surprise, then, that the Kauffman Foundation put Massachusetts at the top of
its <a href="https://mail.uidaho.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.kauffman.org/research-and-policy/snei-interactive.aspx" target="_blank"><span style="color:blue">New Economy Index</span></a>. More
surprising, perhaps, is CNBC’s <a href="https://mail.uidaho.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.cnbc.com/id/41666602" target="_blank"><span style="color:blue">index</span></a>of America’s top
states for business. This is a calculus so ruthlessly focused on corporate
competitiveness that it marked states <i>down</i> for high union
membership. Massachusetts came in sixth. Not bad for the People’s Republic.</span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:150%;font-family:Georgia,serif">All this isn’t to suggest that the Bay State doesn’t have
problems. While the state is among the lowest for property crime, it ranks
considerably worse on <a href="https://mail.uidaho.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2012/tables/12s0308.pdf" target="_blank"><span style="color:blue">violent crime</span></a><i>.</i> On
a recent corruption<a href="https://mail.uidaho.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.stateintegrity.org/your_state" target="_blank"><span style="color:blue">index</span></a>, it ranked 13^th—nice,
but not A-list. Its unemployment figure handily beats the national number, but
14 states do better. And, what you’ve all been wondering about: Massachusetts
has high <a href="https://mail.uidaho.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.taxfoundation.org/taxdata/show/336.html" target="_blank"><span style="color:blue">taxes</span></a>, though perhaps not
as lofty as reputed. It ranks 11^th-highest (and at 10 percent, only
barely above the national average of 9.8 percent).</span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:150%;font-family:Georgia,serif">It’s also worth noting that there are many ways to cut the
statistical cake. Massachusetts’ second-lowest teen birth rate, for example,
may reflect a higher <a href="https://mail.uidaho.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2012/tables/12s0103.pdf" target="_blank"><span style="color:blue">abortion rate</span></a> (though
one that’s still below the national figure). The low traffic deaths may be due
to the <a href="https://mail.uidaho.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://urbanlegends.about.com/od/historical/a/molasses_flood.htm" target="_blank"><span style="color:blue">molasses</span></a>-like flow of
traffic on the state’s notorious roadways. And the marvelously low divorce rate
is paired with a below-average <a href="https://mail.uidaho.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.slate.com/articles/life/map_of_the_week/2012/05/marriage_rates_nevada_and_hawaii_have_the_highest_marriage_rates_in_the_u_s_.html" target="_blank"><span style="color:blue">marriage</span></a> rate.</span></p>


<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:150%;font-family:Georgia,serif">The most compelling retort, though, is that Massachusetts is
simply a rich state, so of course it has good schools and health care. To
address this, I contacted Kristen Lewis, co-director of Measure of America, a
project of the Social Science Research Council. Their <a href="https://mail.uidaho.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.measureofamerica.org/human-development/" target="_blank"><span style="color:blue">American Human Development Index</span></a> weaves
health, education, and income metrics into a quick summary of a state’s
well-being. Connecticut ranks first and Massachusetts second. (Anyone
interested in exploring the state of their state will love these
beautiful <a href="https://mail.uidaho.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.measureofamerica.org/maps/" target="_blank"><span style="color:blue">interactive maps</span></a>.)</span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:150%;font-family:Georgia,serif">So, what of the charge that good outcomes result from high
incomes? Lewis says “you might turn the question on its head” and ask, instead,
why is Massachusetts so rich? “Massachusetts and others at top of the index
tend to make significant public and private investments in the ingredients of
well-being,” explains Lewis. Ultimately, these investments pay off both
socially and economically. She points out that Maryland is third on Measure <a href="https://mail.uidaho.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://measureofamerica.org/" target="_blank"><span style="color:blue">of America</span></a>’s income index,
but 33^rd in life expectancy. Virginia comes in 6^th on
income (right behind Massachusetts), but 11^th on education, and
25^th on health.</span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:150%;font-family:Georgia,serif">So high income is no guarantee of good social outcomes and strong
investments in people clearly haven’t punished one of our wealthiest and most
globally competitive state economies. In fact, if America wants to be a
healthy, smart, rich, globalized, high-tech powerhouse, we arguably have no
better model than Massachusetts.</span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:150%;font-family:Georgia,serif">For many, a steady drizzle of mockery for the state and its
“moderates” is the only response to that uncomfortable truth. Still, it’s hard
not to dream of a presidential campaign in which a former governor would
run <i>on</i>, not from, his associations with Massachusetts. Dukakis, of
course, ran on a “Massachusetts Miracle.” But Gov. Romney is already too far
from home for that, and probably knows better than to try.</span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Georgia","serif""> </span></p>