Thanks to California’s ridiculous policy of mailing ballots to voters a full month prior to election day, and allowing “early voting,” I had already completed and submitted my ballot when I realized that was a mistake. After voting for a local school board candidate who I had some familiarity with and thought might be a safe choice,...
High-profile California companies continue to join the wave of businesses fleeing a highly taxed, heavily regulated California for more business-friendly environments. You can add Colorado to the growing list of states that former California employers and employees now prefer to call home. Virta Health, a biotech company that specializes in diabetes treatment, announced in late...
In light of recent test scores and the proliferation of CRT, America’s future is not promising. The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) – known as The Nation’s Report Card – “gives us a window into the state of our K-12 education system.” The results provide educators, policymakers, elected officials, and parents across the country...
If you want to know where California’s headed, dragging the rest of America in its wake, consider the $1.7 million single public toilet San Francisco is going to install in the city’s Noe Valley neighborhood. Don’t hold your breath, by the way, because if we’re lucky, the toilet will be available to the public sometime in 2025....
California parents are understandably exasperated with the alarming achievement disparities among K-12 students in the state. State and national performance assessment rankings show that California’s traditional public schools are some of the worst performing in the nation. And while poor school performance affects students of all backgrounds, low-income and minority students are disproportionately impacted. The...
The disparity in fundraising in California between Democrats and Republicans is systemic. From statewide offices to local races, government unions — not corporations — make or break candidates, and it’s not even close. A survey of California’s Secretary of State website will debunk any suggestion that Democrats are protecting California’s citizens from the big bad corporations. If...
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. Published October 7, 2022 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...
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...