Massachusetts Municipal Profiles


Book Description

Massachusetts Municipal Profiles contains a one-page profile of every incorporated municipality in the state, alphabetically arranged. The profile pages are laid out in an easy-to-use, three column format, presenting over 100 facts. Categories of information about each municipality include:General Information: including address and phone number of municipal offices; year municipality incorporated; land and water area; and moreVoters & Government Information: including number of Democrats, Republicans and total registered voters; legislative districts; names of local officials; and moreDemographics & Housing: including total population; population by race, gender and age; educational attainment; unemployment and occupation; number of households; number of housing units; number of building permits; and moreSchool System: including School District address and phone; name of Superintendent; grade plan; total enrollment; per pupil expenditure; assessment test results; and moreMunicipal Finance & Taxation: revenues and expenditures for selected items, plus totals; property tax rate and valuation; average tax bill; and morePublic Library: including main library address and phone; name of Librarian; and selected library dataPublic Safety: including names of Police Chief and Emergency Official; number of sworn officers; and selected crime dataAppendices: including comparative tables for municipalities and counties, commonwealth of Massachusetts overview, additional school district information, and state and federal legislators. This title is updated annually from the most recently available government data sources, and contains a complete introduction and explanation of the categories.













Health and Sexuality Education in Schools


Book Description

Recently there has been much debate over the adoption, implementation, and maintenance of comprehensive health and sexuality education programs in Massachusetts public schools. Advocates of school-based comprehensive health education programs often use a public health approach to substantiate their position. They cite national and statewide statistics about adolescent sexual activity and unsafe sexual practice as a basis for providing students with the facts and the skills to make decisions to prevent pregnancy and the transmission of sexually-transmitted diseases. Opponents often speak about the parents' role in educating their sons and daughters and object to public school instruction that regards homosexuality and safe sex as acceptable choices. In the literature, many models of community organization focus on the decision-making structure within the community, rather than on the process of social change. Therefore, we often know who makes community decisions, without knowing much about how and why these decisions are made. In this study the process of social change is explored by conducting comparative case studies of two Massachusetts communities.










The Economics of Residential Solid Waste Management


Book Description

The market of municipal solid waste (MSW) collection and disposal has changed substantially over the past thirty years. This study will help guide both newcomers and past contributors through the fundamental aspects of policies designed to reduce the external costs of MSW collection, and the important empirical relationships that, in the end, govern the selection of MSW policies. The International Library of Environmental Economics and Policy explores the influence of economics on the development of environmental and natural resource policy. In a series of twenty-five volumes, the most significant journal essays in key areas of contemporary environmental and resource policy are collected. Scholars who are recognized for their expertise and contribution to the literature in the various research areas serve as volume editors and write essays that provides the context for the collection. Volumes in the series reflect three broad strands of economic research including 1) Natural and Environmental Resources, 2) Policy Instruments and Institutions and 3) Methodology. The editors, in their introduction to each volume, provide a state-of-the-art overview of the topic and explain the influence and relevance of the collected papers on the development of policy. This reference series provides access to the economic literature that has shaped contemporary perspectives on land use analysis and policy.