2022 State Per Capita UNP Rankings
2022 State Per Capita UNP Rankings
Race Preferential College Admissions
Race Preferential College Admissions
And how they ultimately hurt minority students and expose a glaring hypocrisy in the California education system. State-funded universities in California are pushing to use race as a metric for college admissions, a practice many Californians believe should stay in the past. But while claiming to champion educational opportunity for low-income and minority students,...
Our Devastating Education Schemes
Our Devastating Education Schemes
We need to get back to educational basics. Little did I know that when I was teaching in the 1990s and “multicultural education” became all the rage, that it was just the beginning of an onslaught of radical endeavors that shows no sign of abating. As 2022 winds down, let’s take a glimpse at...
Looming Deficits Present Another Opportunity to Offer Solutions for California
Looming Deficits Present Another Opportunity to Offer Solutions for California
Just a few months ago, Gov. Gavin Newsom was bragging about California’s “$100 billion budget surplus.” At the same time, the California Policy Center was pointing out that the governor’s “surplus” was fantasy – that state and local governments owed about $1.6 trillion. In those heady days, however, with obliging media cheering him on, Newsom...
Pension Costs Are Still Eating Government Budgets
Pension Costs Are Still Eating Government Budgets
About 20 years ago, I read an ad in a local Sacramento newspaper that said “Get a government job and become an instant millionaire.” The ad went on to describe how public bureaucrats in California enjoyed benefits private sector employees can only dream of, including a guaranteed retirement pension worth the equivalent of millions of...
School Choice Tremors
School Choice Tremors
Election results show that parental freedom is on the move, but too many children are still stuck in government-run schools with few options. The election on November 8th was good for the school choice movement. As Corey DeAngelis, senior fellow at the American Federation for Children, explains, 76% of candidates supported by his organization won...
Solar Farms Should Not Displace Prime Farmland
Solar Farms Should Not Displace Prime Farmland
Successfully coping with severe droughts in California and the Southwest requires tough choices, all of them expensive and none of them perfect. But taking millions of acres out of cultivation and replacing them with solar farms is not the answer. California produces over one-third of America’s vegetables and three quarters of the country’s fruits and nuts –...
School Board Battles Are Raging
School Board Battles Are Raging
Teachers unions finally have some competition in all-important school board races. It’s no secret that the teachers unions have control over most aspects of public education in the U.S. The school boards, which negotiate with unions over salary, work rules, etc. are particularly important for the unions to dominate. To that end, Michael Hartney, a...
The Systemic Racism of Teachers Unions
The Systemic Racism of Teachers Unions
NEA & AFT back race-based admission policies. Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a case that could reverse the 2003 Grutter v. Bollinger decision, in which SCOTUS asserted that the use of an applicant’s race as a factor in an admissions policy of a public educational institution does not violate...
How the Government Union Machine Conquered California
How the Government Union Machine Conquered California
With the November 8 election already ten days ago, we are now conditioned to accept that some final results will not be known until December 16, five weeks later. Counting proceeds at a crawl in counties up and down the state, and those among us with housebroken political sentiments are expected to be impressed at...
Tracking Political Spending by Government Unions
Tracking Political Spending by Government Unions
With a rough top-down analysis, it’s easy enough to estimate how much government unions collect and spend every year in California. They have roughly a million members, paying roughly $1,000 per year in dues. That would be one billion dollars per year. They spend about a third of that to fund political campaigns for candidates and ballot...
How to Be a Successful Politician in California
How to Be a Successful Politician in California
The following conversation never happened. It is for the reader to decide to what extent, however, this conversation reflects political reality in California today. Candidate (C): It’s a surprise that you contacted me. I never thought I would run for office, I don’t know how to run a campaign, and I’m not well informed...
The Bureaucratic Erasure of Culture, Identity, and Freedom
The Bureaucratic Erasure of Culture, Identity, and Freedom
Exploring the roadways of California yields scenery evoking two distinct worlds. On the big freeways, surrounding every major interchange, the 21st century asserts itself in an agglomeration of concrete and glass boxes surrounded by lakes of asphalt, each festooned with a recognizable corporate logo. Food. Fuel. Lodging. The corporate power they represent is reflected in...
Forgotten Local Elections, Unforgettable Consequences
Forgotten Local Elections, Unforgettable Consequences
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,...