Mass. Governor Interview Series: Charlie Baker

This is the second installment of the Harvard Political Review‘s interview series with Massachusetts’s candidates for governor. Charlie Baker, the likely Republican nominee, previously served as the CEO of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care.
Harvard Political Review: How do you think your business experience would serve you in office?
Charlie Baker: As you probably know, I spent some time as Secretary of Health in the Weld Administration. I think of my career as a career spent in both the public and the private sectors … I think, to some extent, having a pretty good understanding of how the government works and a pretty good understanding of how to run and manage a business in Massachusetts is a nice combination for somebody who wants to be the chief executive of the government. I think the second thing I would say is that I spent most of my career in healthcare, and healthcare is a big issue in Massachusetts from a lot of different points of view and I think it’s one of those things that I have a pretty deep background in and a very thorough understanding of.
HPR: You’ve mentioned before that there are some places in the budget where cuts might be necessary or helpful. What areas do you believe are ripest for spending cuts?
CB: I don’t think about it quite like that. Over the course of the past six-to-seven years, state spending has grown by about $6 billion, while the wages that we tax have gone down by about $500 million … One of the things I’ve said since the beginning of the race is I believe that if state tax revenue should grow, then state funding for cities and towns should grow along with it. From my way of thinking, I think job number one is we need to do a better job of [negotiating with] the commonwealth cities and towns to make sure that as state tax revenues grow, that we pass an appropriate piece of that back to the commonwealth cities and towns so that they get funds for public safety and so that the commonwealth ensures that there’s funds available in the places where citizens live. But my overall view on state spending generally is I think that everything deserves a look, always. I don’t know why we would necessarily single one thing or another at all. I think we should always be looking for ways to get things done smarter, faster, and cheaper, and I don’t think we should limit it to one thing in particular. And I think that’s a way we should always approach it.
HPR: Massachusetts as a whole, and Boston in particular, have a ton of universities. Do you think that there are any issues with public universities in the state that need to be addressed? Additionally, do you think that dealing with universities and university issues will play a big part in your administration?
CB: As governor, one of the things I would like to see is the public university system to try to come up with a three-year degree program for people: if someone’s willing to get their degree in three years, [colleges] should accommodate them and help them figure out how to get it done. That would certainly reduce the costs of their education in a pretty big way.
I also think that we should do more with co-op programs; they’re enormously successful in other places where they’re used, and other states dabble a little bit, but I really think the state ought to think about making that a fundamental part of the way we think about educating kids. The co-op program is a great way to help reduce the debt cost of college for a kid who’s trying to figure out a way to make it all happen.
The third thing I talked about was that the state government and state public higher-ed really need to embrace the move to online classes. I think for some kids there’s a great way to work that into a program that involves a co-op with a program that involves trying to get a three year degree because you can take the classes when you have the time. You don’t have to take them when they’re being taught, but whatever time would work on your calendar. I think it’s a complement to an in-classroom experience. There are big opportunities there to help all kinds of kids who are trying to reduce the amount they have to spend on higher education. And let’s face it, the public higher-ed system is kind of the crown jewel of Massachusetts, and we should remember that and understand it, but there are plenty of opportunities for people to take a little risk and see about what the best way to move into the heart of the next century with this stuff is. And there’s a lot of activity going on in schools in Massachusetts, things like the edX program with Harvard and MIT, and I really think we should be proactive about it.
HPR: As this is a Harvard publication, and you went to Harvard as an undergraduate, we have to ask you about that. In your fifth college reunion book, you wrote “With a few exceptions … those four years are ones I would rather forget.” What made you say that, and what were those exceptions?
CB: Well, obviously I had a lot of friends and teaching fellows that I enjoyed and learned a lot from. I really enjoyed the time that I spent playing basketball at Harvard and serving as assistant coach for the junior varsity team my Senior year, who were essentially the freshmen [players]. I have plenty of positive experiences of being at Harvard.
I did find the experience overall to be a little messy, particularly … a lot of the professors there. It could be completely different now, remember we’re talking many, many moons ago here. For the most part the people I learned from were my fellow classmates, my friends, and my teaching fellows that I worked with. The lectures were very interesting and all the rest, but I had anticipated that there would be more face time, more one-on-one with my professors, but it didn’t come to pass.
HPR: Is there anything else you would like to tell Massachusetts students?
CB: I think that the other thing we should talk a little bit about is K-12 education. I think Massachusetts has seen a lot of progress there on a bipartisan basis over the last 20 years, but we still have a pretty significant achievement gap, not completely between the cities and the suburbs, but that’s certainly one way of thinking about it, and I think you need to be a lot more aggressive about making sure that the education program that we develop works, not just in the suburbs but that it also works in the cities and that there’s opportunity there, because every city in Massachusetts has at least a couple pretty good schools and we should be learning from what those folks are doing.
I don’t think we [currently] are leveraging, in the way that we could, what we hear from the principals, what the leaders in those schools are doing, and bringing it more broadly across the spectrum in a lot of our urban communities. If the kids can’t get a good education from the K-12 level in this day and age, that’s going to be a problem for them. I want parents to think when they’re sending their kids out the door that they’re sending them someplace where they can get a better education to help build their future.
One more thing I guess I would say, in conclusion, for those folks who are voters in Massachusetts and, I guess, in elections all over the country: I just hope I’d urge the followers of the Harvard Political Review to get involved in the process. It’s your government, right?
This interview has been edited and condensed.
Image credit: Boston Magazine