While there is no shortage of issues to consider when marking ballots on Election Day, education matters should be high on the list. All citizens, taxpayers, and parents, of course, have a stake in righting our wayward educational ship. Fortunately, the political angle has been front and center since parent-friendly Republican Glenn Youngkin beat out establishment Democrat...
James “The Amazing” Randi, who died at age 92 in 2020, began his career in the 1940s as an illusionist and escape artist. But eventually he became a “disillusionist” who traveled the country “exposing seers who did not see, healers who did not heal, and many others.” Then there is the head of the American...
In August, it was reported that over the past two school years, children whose public schools were shuttered during the Covid panic were much less likely to return when they reopened. According to the American Enterprise Institute, k-12 enrollment in the 2020-2021 school year had declined by 2.7%, or about 1.2 million students nationwide. But...
Boosted by Covid emergency funding, California governments have gone on a hiring frenzy, but membership in California’s government unions has hit a 20-year low, documents obtained by California Policy Center show. State and local government payroll records, obtained by CPC under the state’s Public Records Act, reveal that governments have added some 200,000 new employees after four...
Here’s what you should know about school bonds before you go to the ballot box. Toolkit: Understanding School Bonds Every election cycle, school districts throughout California put school bond measures on the local ballot. These bonds are often promoted as necessary to repair dilapidated and unsafe schools, but in reality, the funds are used as...
Among the most diabolical innovations of late-twentieth century newspapering was the so-called “factcheck.” The flagship of these projects, Politifact, goes to war against falsehood under a simple banner: “Our only agenda is to publish the truth so you can be an informed participant in democracy.” Factchecking pretends that reporters are godlike – objective, neutral, free...
The number of children in the classroom has no effect on educational achievement. The perennial, “We have a teacher shortage!” canard has a younger and equally bogus sibling known as, “Children do better in a small class setting!” In fact, lower class size is very often on the list of demands when teachers go out...
If ever there were a case of Chicken Little, it’s the endless squawking over the imminent implosion of public employee pension funds. In California, ever since pension benefits were enhanced, retroactively, starting in 1999, critics have been claiming a pension apocalypse was imminent. But so far, no matter what happens, pension funds muddle through. The...
In January, a Gallup poll found that Americans’ belief in grade-school teachers’ honesty and ethics had dropped to 64%, an all-time low. Then in July, another Gallup poll showed that just 28 percent of Americans have “a great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in public schools – the second-lowest this figure has been...
Even by national standards, state ballot initiative campaigns in California are big time politics. You can run a campaign for U.S. Senator in most states in America for less than it costs to qualify and successfully campaign to pass a statewide ballot initiative in California. Political insiders in Sacramento describe any controversial initiative with well...
On every major issue affecting cost-of-living in California, unions supported political agenda of self-serving ruling elite. If you go to the “what we do” page of the California Labor Federation, the lead paragraph starts with this sentence: “The California Labor Federation is dedicated to promoting and defending the interests of working people and their...
There is only one answer to this question: Public sector unions. Anyone who argues otherwise is either misinformed or has a personal or professional motivation to delude themselves and others. Before offering evidence of the financial power of public sector unions, consider the power these unions wield that is not explicitly financial. These unions operate...
Zeroing in on “unelected tyrants” in a state as dysfunctional and regressive as California is not easy. There are too many targets. Even California’s elected state legislators, as they cook up and pass countless tyrannical intrusions into our lives and livelihoods, are themselves “elected” only so long as they pledge obeisance to a powerful coalition of special interests...