The Bullet Train Epitomizes Golden State Corruption

By Edward Ring
04/25/2023
It sounded too good to be true, and it was. Travel from downtown San Francisco to downtown Los Angeles in two hours via high-speed rail. California voters in 2008 approved Proposition 1A, authorizing $9.95 billion in general obligation bonds to build this so-called “bullet train.” They were told not only that the total cost would...

TAGS: California High School Exit Examination, California high speed rail, California High-Speed Rail Authority, Edward Ring, high speed rail

Grad rates have become the education establishment’s Potemkin village

By Larry Sand
02/13/2018
Too many schools are failing, and parents need a way for their kids to escape from them. A couple of months ago, the education establishment told us that “U.S. Graduation Rate Hits New All-Time High, With Gains in All Student Groups.” But in the real world this is nothing more than a façade – a...

TAGS: American Federation of Teachers, California High School Exit Examination, credit recovery classes, dropouts, EdChoice, graduation rate, Larry Sand, Randi Weingarten, school choice, teachers union

Too many kids are failing in California, and so is the education establishment

By Larry Sand
01/24/2018
High school graduation rates have traditionally been a barometer of student success, as well as a measure of the quality of school systems. The members of California’s education establishment have been high-fiving each other over the state’s on-time high school graduation rate reaching 83.2 percent in 2016. But a peak behind the curtain reveals some...

TAGS: California High School Exit Examination, dropouts, graduation rate, Larry Sand, National School Choice Week, Patrick Wolf, vouchers

More unaccountability from the education establishment

By Larry Sand
11/15/2017
Too many kids in California are failing, and the powers-that-be are doing nothing effective about it.  As I wrote recently, the Big Education mandarins are forever pointing fingers at charter and private schools, claiming they’re “unaccountable.” But in reality, there is no entity in America that is less accountable than a unionized, government-run school system....

TAGS: accountability, California High School Exit Examination, credit recovery classes, graduation rate, Larry Sand, remediation, Speak Up, teachers union

Union Kingpin Threatens California

By Larry Sand
08/16/2016
In a blatant power-play, UTLA president targets health benefits and charter schools, calling for a “state crisis” if he doesn’t get his way. United Teachers of Los Angeles president Alex Caputo-Pearl gave a speech for the ages a couple of weeks ago, securing a wing in the pantheon-of-vile, a place which includes such memorable outbursts...

TAGS: Alex Caputo-Pearl, Bob Chanin, CAHSEE, California Charter Schools Association, California High School Exit Examination, Karen Lewis, Larry Sand, Los Angeles Unified School District, Mike Antonucci, National Education Association, remediation, teachers union, Terry Moe, United Teachers of Los Angeles

Los Angeles Department of Monopoly and Power

By Larry Sand
02/23/2016
Educating students is far from the #1 priority of the school board and the teachers union in LA. On February 11th, LA School Report released an internal Los Angeles Unified School District document which stated that just 54 percent of seniors in LA are on track to graduate. The drop off from 74 percent last...

TAGS: Alex Caputo-Pearl, CAHSEE, California Charter Schools Association, California High School Exit Examination, Eli Broad, graduation rate, LA School Report, Larry Sand, Los Angeles Unified School District, school choice, teachers union, United Teachers of Los Angeles, Vergara lawsuit