Opinion

Surveillance of the Associated Press proves that we need more privacy protections, writes state Senator Karen Spilka.  

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. 

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

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

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

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

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

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.  

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

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

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.  

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. 

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. 

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

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

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

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

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

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. 

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

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

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.  

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

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

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

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. 

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 . 

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

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