Nothing’s Going On Up There
Nothing’s Going On Up There
Every kid who grew up in a Boston three‑decker knows that answer by heart. So does every NGO collecting state checks.
My brother and I had four full levels of mischief to work with: attic, second floor, main floor, basement. Easy‑Bake Oven became a mad‑scientist’s lab. Slot cars and model trains met in a demolition derby that would’ve made the MBTA blush. Lincoln Logs were pushed well past their engineering limits. And just as the chaos peaked, the question would come up the stairs — WHAT’S GOING ON UP THERE? — and we’d answer in perfect harmony: NOTHING’S GOING ON.
Same Answer. Different Floor.
A Sprawling Network of State‑Selected NGOs
All these years later, the same scene plays out across Massachusetts. Each NGO on its own floor. Each one funded by taxpayers. Each one insisting nothing’s going on whenever someone asks what they’re actually doing.
They weren’t elected. They weren’t hired by voters. Most residents couldn’t name a single one of them. But they now perform duties that used to belong squarely to government — housing services, education support, “community engagement” programs that sound noble and rarely show measurable results. Across the country, cases keep surfacing of NGOs misusing or outright stealing millions while taxpayers are told to stop asking questions.
The Education Floor
World‑Class Reputation. Declining Results.
Massachusetts loves to brag about its “world‑class education system.” The 2026 NAEP scoreboard tells a different story: reading and math proficiency are lower than they were in 2019. Not flat. Not recovering. Declining every single year since.
While parents, teachers, and local districts struggle to get kids back on track, the state keeps funneling more taxpayer money into a maze of education‑adjacent NGOs — literacy nonprofits, curriculum consultants, “equity partners,” social‑emotional vendors, data‑tracking contractors. Names so vague they could be selling vitamins on late‑night TV.
Ask for outcomes and you get jargon. Ask for accountability and you get silence. Ask what’s going on, and you get the same answer we gave my mother.
Stop Accepting the Answer
If the Kids Have to Show Their Work, So Do the Contractors
Eventually my mother stopped accepting “nothing’s going on.” She came up the stairs. The chaos got cleaned up. The lamp got glued back together.
If Massachusetts wants its children to thrive — and its taxpayers to stop subsidizing a fog of unaccountable contractors — it has to do the same thing. Walk up the stairs. Ask the question. Refuse the easy answer. And on Day 544 of waiting for the audit, that walk is overdue.