The Podium

State needs to reform local aid program

The Legislature should consider a new formula to distribute new local aid funds in a more equitable manner, write Yolanda K. Kodrzycki and and Bo Zhaso of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.

The Podium

Banking on our students

Senator Elizabeth Warren and Representative John Tierney urge Congress to pass a bill that would slash the student loan interest rate for one year.

The Podium

One month later...

Ann Carter, CEO of Rasky Baerlein Strategic Communications, reflects on the one month anniversary of the Boston Marathon bombings.

The Podium

Upgrade child-care facilities

Child-care facilities around the state are inadequate and need to be renovated, write State Senator Sal DiDomenico and State Representative Jeffrey Sánchez.

The Podium

Innovation at the research institutes

Forsyth CEO Philip Stashenko says independent research institutes need to embrace broader missions tied to specific breakthroughs in order to survive.

The Podium

‘Cooter’ and ‘Fast Eddie’

Confederate flag defender and former “The Dukes of Hazzard’’ star Ben Jones wonders why Edward Markey disinvited him from a fund-raiser on Tuesday.

The Podium

An education fix from maritime colleges

The solution to fixing our educational system might come from a moribund maritime industry, writes Admiral Richard G. Gurnon, president of Massachusetts Maritime Academy.

The Podium

Obama administration’s inquiry into AP was justified

Those who liken the administration’s behavior to Watergate fancifully ignore that the investigation was authorized as part of an inquiry into a serious crime.

The Podium

The politicization of trauma care

Boston-based physician Alice Rothchild questions why an Israeli trauma group came to Boston to help the Marathon bombing victims.

The Podium

Putting food on the table

There is a critical relationship between food insecurity and the cost of health care, writes David Waters, CEO of Community Servings in Boston.

The Podium

For single moms, the keys to degrees

The nation needs to focus on education solutions for single mothers, urge Anne Mosle , vice president of The Aspen Institute, and Dr. Richard Wylie, president of Endicott College.

The Podium

Happy Mother’s Day to my two moms

For Kate Brodoff, Mother’s Day has a special meaning: Nine years ago, her moms were one of the first couples to marry in Massachusetts.

The Podium

Adequate funding for nursing home care

Massachusetts needs to reinvest in the long-term health care system by bringing Medicaid reimbursement levels in line with the cost of care, writes Naomi Prendergast, chairman of the Massachusetts Senior Care Association.

The Podium

Honoring Elizabeth Neuffer

Journalist Diane Asadorian Masters remembers Globe reporter Elizabeth Neuffer, who died 10 years ago today in Iraq.

The Podium

The contradictions of the classroom

For Jessica Lander, teaching has mader her appreciate the duality of a teacher’s life.

The Podium

The success of Carol Johnson

Matthew Wilder, former spokesperson for Boston Public Schools, reflects on the tenure of outgoing School Superintendent Carol Johnson

The Podium

Greater transparency in the housing market

Senator Elizabeth Warren’s efforst have jumpstarted mortgage lending reform, writes David H. Stevens, president and CEO of the Mortgage Bankers Association.

The Podium

One Fund should be a model for the nation

Family members of mass murders in the country urge Washington to look to Boston as a model for establishing a National Compassion Fund.

The Podium

Medical staff needs to lose the tie and the rings

Standard medical equipment and attire pose the risk of harboring and transmitting a host of dangerous organisms to patients, argue author Suzanne Gordon and Dr. Michael Gardam.

The Podium

Lift the charter school cap

State Sen. Barry Finegold and Paul Sagan, former CEO of Akamai Technologies, call for charter school expansion in failing districts.

The Podium

Insurers need to step up

Boston attorney Thomas O. Bean encourages companies that provide insurance coverage for business interruption to help businesses affected by the Marathon bombings.

The Podium

Caring for the caregivers

Julie Rosen and Dr. Beth Lown of the Schwartz Center for Compassionate Healthcare commend the heroic work that health care professionals do every day and urge greater caregiver support to prevent compassion fatigue and burnout.

The Podium

A social contract tested

Novelist Leonard Rosen reflects on how the Boston Marathon bombings tested America’s social contract.

The Podium

Judge the bombing suspects — not the Chechen people

In investigating the Tsarnaev brothers, don’t demonize the Chechen people, writes Akhmed Zakayev, prime minister of the Chechen government in exile.

The Podium

Medical response to Marathon bombings was a community-wide effort

Richard Serino, deputy administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, thanks the “whole community’’ of responders to the Marathon bombings.

The Podium

American Muslim community stands with Boston

The American Muslim community is with Boston every step of the way, writes American Muslim Firas Naji, a doctor and first responder at the Marathon bombings.

The Podium

Terrorism is no match for Boston ingenuity

When Kylah Goodfellow Klinge, biomedical development communications manager at Brown University, realized that a robot his father had a role in designing was being used to locate bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, his anger turned to hope .

The Podium

A day in lockdown in Watertown

A day of tension, and then relief, for Watertown resident Jim Sullivan.

The Podium

Humanity put to the test

Fatma Tanis, a junior at Suffolk University, describes the scene after the bombs exploded on Marathon Monday.

The Podium

Running the Marathon of freedom

Rather than being weakened, we gained strength from this act of terror, writes three-time Boston Marathon winner Uta Pippig.

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