The World’s Largest Oligarchical Organization

By Larry Sand

10/25/2016

The WikiLeaks document dump exposes NEA’s manipulation of its purported democratic process. The WikiLeaks email release, unmasking the Hillary Clinton campaign, has become a daily ritual. A treasure trove of communiqués has exposed Hillary to be just about everything that the right (and even many on the left) has said she is. The emails from...

TAGS: Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton, James Sherk, John Stocks, Larry Sand, Lily Eskelsen Garcia, Mike Antonucci, NEA, teachers union

American Federation of Teachers Costly Staff Spending

By RiShawn Biddle

10/21/2016

Dropout Nation recently reported on the American Federation of Teachers’ 2015-2016 financial disclosure to the U.S. Department of Labor. As you would expect, the nation’s second-largest teachers’ union spent big on influencing Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and her apparatchiks, as well as pouring heavily into what should be like-minded advocacy and nonprofit groups. But AFT’s...

TAGS: AFT, American Federation of Teachers, RiShawn Biddle

Contra Costa needs more road capacity, but we don’t need new sales taxes to build it

By Marc Joffe

10/20/2016

Along with the grandeur of Yosemite and the beauty of the California coast, there’s our state’s epic rush hours. But sales taxes on the Nov. 8 ballot, like Contra Costa’s Measure X, aren’t the way to solve them. Measure X would add 0.5% to local sales tax rates to fund a variety of transportation projects...

Will the BART Bond Fund Pensions?

By Marc Joffe

10/19/2016

This fall, voters in San Francisco, Alameda and Contra Costa counties will consider a $3.5 billion BART bond measure. Proponents argue that the measure is required to ensure the system’s safety and reliability. Critics are concerned that bond proceeds will be used to support excessive employee salaries and benefits. BART management denies that claim. In...

TAGS: OPEB, pensions

Put Public Employees on Secure Choice and Social Security

By Edward Ring

10/18/2016

“The state shall not have any liability for the payment of the retirement savings benefit earned by program participants pursuant to this title.” – California State Senator Kevin De Leon, August 7, 2016, Sacramento Bee This quote from Senator De Leon, one of the main proponents of California’s new “Secure Choice” retirement program for private...

TAGS: CalPERS, pensions, Public sector pensions

Limiting Charter Growth by Any Means Necessary

By Larry Sand

10/18/2016

Teachers unions in Chicago and Massachusetts are doing their darndest to stop the spread of charter schools. Amazingly, the Chicago teachers’ strike didn’t come off. Less than 10 minutes before a midnight strike deadline on October 10th, the district and union cobbled together a deal, pending approval by the rank-and-file. One of the more contentious issues was...

TAGS: American Federation of Teachers, Chicago Teachers Union, Dark money, Larry Sand, Manhattan Institute, Massachusetts Teachers Association, Max Eden, National Education Association, teachers union, Thomas Kane

Just in Time for Halloween, City Manager Uses Official Letter to Scare Voters

By Andrew Heritage

10/17/2016

Faced with the potential repeal of a controversial one-percent local sales tax, Stanton City Manager James Box mailed voters two weeks ago to warn that passage of a sales tax repeal will “terminate funding approved by Stanton voters” and result “in cuts to essential city services.” The timing of Box’s letter, just weeks ahead of...

TAGS: Stanton

Is $288 Million the Right Price for Orange Unified High School Upgrades?

By Marc Joffe

10/17/2016

Given declining enrollment, Orange Unified School District’s $288 million bond measure may fund more school upgrades than students need. There is also a risk that the taxpayer cost of debt service for the bond issue will exceed the district’s forecast rate of $29 per $100,000 of assessed valuation. According to statistics from Ed Data, enrollment...

TAGS: Orange Unified School District

“Unsustainable” Pension Costs Are The Driving Force Behind Local Tax Increases

By David Kersten

10/17/2016

It is no secret that there are a record number of local tax increases on the November 2016 ballot, but the dirty little secret is that the strongest driving force behind these measures is “unsustainable” skyrocketing pension costs. The specifics of each case need to be evaluated on a case by case basis, which I...

$288 Million Orange USD Bond Measure Would Add to Large Pile of Existing Debt

By Marc Joffe

10/17/2016

If Orange Unified voters approve Measure S this November, newly authorized bonds will be added to an already large district debt. A California Policy Center review of OUSD financial reports finds that the district owed $120 million to bond investors as of June 30, 2016. The largest portion of OUSD’s bond obligations takes the form...

TAGS: bonds, Orange Unified School District

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