BURLINGTON – Two local teenagers face charges in connection with damage to a mosque in an early Sunday incident that an Islamic group decried as an example of a rising tide of hate crimes targeting Muslims and their places of worship.
Responding to a 1:45 a.m. call Sunday, police saw that the exterior of the Islamic Center of Burlington had "USA" spray painted on it in multiple places and the remains of several smashed eggs that apparently were thrown at the building, according to a statement from police Chief Michael R. Kent.
BOSTON – Some of the state's largest teachers' unions, allied with community groups that back their opposition to increasing the number of charter schools in Massachusetts, have asked lawmakers to set aside pending compromise measures and let the fight be decided at the ballot box next year.
Should they retain current limits on charter schools, lawmakers will likely toss the question to voters, as an advocacy group that favors an expansion of the publicly funded, privately run schools is pursuing plans for a ballot initiative to raise the caps. In an Oct. 27 letter to legislators signed by 22 groups, including the American Federation of Teachers' Massachusetts branch and the Massachusetts Teachers Association, the Massachusetts Education Justice Alliance acknowledges that risk.
