Community college: Free for all or free-for-all?

Also: Why only a few Mass. schools are bringing back mask mandates; 7 books to take into hibernation [Donate ❤️]( [View in Browser](  January 10, 2023 🌤️ Mostly sunny, with a high near 39. Good Morning Boston, We're less than a week into Gov. Maura Healey's new administration. Healey herself is still "quite literally" figuring out her way around the State House. But, already, a focal point of the new legislative session has emerged: free community college — for at least some residents. Here's where things stand: - Healey and Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll held their first official meeting yesterday with Senate President Karen Spilka and House Speaker Ron Mariano to begin sketching out priorities for the 2023-2024 session. According to Healey, community colleges were a big point of discussion — but not everyone is on the same page. - Healey's plan: The new governor is proposing a program called [MassReconnect]( — modeled by [Michigan]( and [Tennessee]( — that would allow residents 25 and over who haven't yet gotten a college degree to pursue a community college certificate or degree for free (tuition, fees and even textbooks would be fully covered). Healey says this would help train older adults in critical emerging industries like clean energy and advanced manufacturing. - Spilka's proposal: The Senate leader wants to go even further. [Last week]( she announced the Senate will push a plan to make community college free for all students, regardless of age. - Third wheel? Unlike his fellow Democratic counterparts, Mariano hasn't expressed support for any free community college plan and has generally been more cautious about the state's revenue. "The devil is in the details," he told reporters after yesterday's meeting. "There's a cost involved. We have to ascertain what the costs are." - Dollars and cents: Remember, the [new millionaire's tax]( is expected to bring in over $1 billion in additional tax revenue each year for education and transportation. Spilka [told WBZ]( that her free community college plan would cost a fraction of that: $50 million a year. (Currently, the individual price of tuition and fees at the state's 15 public community colleges is [around $7,000 a year]( - Mariano is right about one thing: There are still a lot of details left to be worked out and negotiated. But it's a new issue we'll be following closely over the coming months. In other news: - Boston Public Schools and some neighboring school districts [have been asking]( students and staff to mask up as they return from winter break. But in other local schools, it's not an ask. Due to rising COVID rates, WBUR's Carrie Jung reports that UMass Boston and Chelsea Public Schools reimplemented indoor mask mandates yesterday. (You can read the details of the temporary policies [here]( and [here]( respectively.) - At the same time, UMass Boston and Chelsea remain rarities. Jung reports that education watchers expect few other districts to follow suit this winter — a fact they attribute to pandemic fatigue and the political tension around mask mandates. - Big picture: While the current COVID spike pales in comparison to last winter's omicron-fueled wave, the current wastewater data rates are actually twice as high as the 2020-2021 winter. The good news is the state's ICU rate is way, way lower than it was the last two winters. [Scroll through the nifty charts in this article]( by WBUR's Priyanka Dayal McCluskey to see the comparisons. - Call it Connec-toke-cut: Today is the first day of recreational marijuana sales in the Nutmeg State. Connecticut Public [reports]( that seven dispensaries — previously only open to medical marijuana patients — will launch adult-use sales today. And officials in the state say as many as 40 adult-use pot shops could open by the end of this year. - This means individuals over the age of 21 can now legally purchase marijuana in every New England state except New Hampshire. Connecticut Public [has all the deets](. P.S.— It's never too early to start thinking about summer plans. The Steamship Authority is [opening up summer season reservations for trips to Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard this morning at 7:30 a.m.]( — but only for members of its Head Start program. For the rest of us, summer reservations open next week. Nik DeCosta-Klipa Editor, Newsletters [Follow](  Support the news  The Rundown [Mass General tries performance reports to cut greenhouse gas use in anesthesia]( “You see these numbers that are just astounding,” said Sam Smith, an anesthesiologist at Massachusetts General Hospital. “There’s probably no other speciality that can make such a dramatic impact with so little change or effort.” [Read more.]( [Mass General tries performance reports to cut greenhouse gas use in anesthesia]( “You see these numbers that are just astounding,” said Sam Smith, an anesthesiologist at Massachusetts General Hospital. “There’s probably no other speciality that can make such a dramatic impact with so little change or effort.” [Read more.]( [Harvard rescinds fellowship offer to leading rights activist]( Kenneth Roth, who headed Human Rights Watch until recently, was recruited last year by the schoool to become a fellow. He accepted. But a few weeks later, Roth said the center called and told him that the school's dean had vetoed the fellowship. Roth believes it was due to his and his group's criticism of Israel. [Read more.]( [Harvard rescinds fellowship offer to leading rights activist]( Kenneth Roth, who headed Human Rights Watch until recently, was recruited last year by the schoool to become a fellow. He accepted. But a few weeks later, Roth said the center called and told him that the school's dean had vetoed the fellowship. Roth believes it was due to his and his group's criticism of Israel. [Read more.]( [House rules changes breeze through the chamber following a bitter speaker fight]( The House voted Monday on a new rules package that contains key concessions to the most conservative wing of the party. [Read more.]( [House rules changes breeze through the chamber following a bitter speaker fight]( The House voted Monday on a new rules package that contains key concessions to the most conservative wing of the party. [Read more.]( [Exclusive: New Biden student loan plan unveiled amid agency funding crisis]( The Office of Federal Student Aid has a lot on its plate in 2023, including implementation of an ambitious new student loan repayment plan. Now it just needs money to pay for it. [Read more.]( [Exclusive: New Biden student loan plan unveiled amid agency funding crisis]( The Office of Federal Student Aid has a lot on its plate in 2023, including implementation of an ambitious new student loan repayment plan. Now it just needs money to pay for it. [Read more.]( [Husband of missing Cohasset woman bought cleaning supplies, prosecutors say]( Prosecutors say the husband of a missing woman was seen on surveillance video buying $450 worth of cleaning supplies the day after his wife was last seen. [Read more.]( [Husband of missing Cohasset woman bought cleaning supplies, prosecutors say]( Prosecutors say the husband of a missing woman was seen on surveillance video buying $450 worth of cleaning supplies the day after his wife was last seen. [Read more.]( Anything Else? - Frog fans, look away. The Georgia Bulldogs [became the first team in the college football playoff era to win back-to-back national championships last night]( capping off their undefeated year with a 65-7 thrashing of the Texas Christian University Horned Frogs. Georgia's 65 points also set a college football championship record. - We are officially in hibernation season here in New England. [Here are seven books from critic Christian Burno to keep you from going stir crazy]( during the long winter months ahead. - No less than four major dance presenters will delight Boston audiences this season with performances from the hometown troupes to the highly praised, out-of-town companies. Check out the full lineup in [our arts and culture team's 2023 winter dance guide](. - Resolutions are hard. But in [this Cognoscenti commentary]( Rich Barlow writes that you can find pleasure — and relief — in the space between reaching for your best and reaching for the impossible.  What We're Reading 📚 - ‘I feel really, really lucky.’ Meet Maura Healey’s partner. ([The Boston Globe]( - The return of the going-out top ([Washington Post]( - Taking Back the Mountains ([The New York Times](  Tell Me Something Good [Damar Hamlin has been released from a Cincinnati hospital and is back in Buffalo]( Doctors say they are still unsure what caused Hamlin’s collapse during the Monday Night Football game against the Cincinnati Bengals a week ago. But the 24-year-old is said to be "doing well" and in "the beginning of the next stage of his recovery." [Read more.]( [Damar Hamlin has been released from a Cincinnati hospital and is back in Buffalo]( Doctors say they are still unsure what caused Hamlin’s collapse during the Monday Night Football game against the Cincinnati Bengals a week ago. But the 24-year-old is said to be "doing well" and in "the beginning of the next stage of his recovery." [Read more.]( Listen: The Common has [a rundown of all the new laws that are taking effect in 2023]( and how they will impact life in Massachusetts. Before you go: And the [Nobel Prize for parenting]( goes to... 😎 Forward to a friend. They can sign up [here](. 📣 Give us your feedback: newsletters@wbur.org 📧 Get more WBUR stories sent to your inbox. [Check out all of our newsletter offerings.]( Support the news   Want to change how you receive these emails? Stop getting this newsletter by [updating your preferences.](  I don't want to hear from WBUR anymore. Unsubscribe from all WBUR editorial newsletters [here](.  Interested in learning more about corporate sponsorship? [Click here.]( Copyright © 2022 WBUR-FM, All rights reserved.