With warmer, drier weather on the way, California public school districts worried about safely reopening classrooms could offer in-person classes outdoors, using tents or other temporary structures to ward off some of the elements. If restaurants and gyms have been able to serve customers outdoors under tents, why can’t public schools serve at least some...
Resistance mounts to teacher union orchestrated lockdowns in Los Angeles. As has been well documented, pandemic-related school reopenings are based mostly on politics and union strength. In union-lite, politically-sensible Florida, the state resumed in-person instruction in August, and Covid case rates remained lower than those in the general community. According to Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran,...
The Recall Gavin campaign appears on track to gather just over 2.0 million signed recall petitions before their March 17 deadline. If there is a special election, the recall ballot will have two questions. The first will be “do you support removing Newsom from office, yes or no?” The second question, on the same ballot,...
As California is slowly reopening, this is an excellent opportunity to review the Blueprint for a Safer Economy, the framework that allows for businesses and schools to reopen in California. With the new update from the California Department of Public Health on Tuesday, forty-seven counties have reached the red tier, covering 89.7% of Californians. Five...
With a significant portion of the $1.9 trillion federal stimulus package earmarked for K-12 public schools, concerns have arisen over potential misuse of those funds. As Fox News recently reported, “Multiple California school districts have discussed using state and federal COVID relief money to hand out bonuses for teachers and staff, with one district’s union even...
(Note: This piece, co-written with Lia Rensin, first appeared in various Southern California News Group newspapers.) On March 5th, the California Department of Education released a fourth draft of its Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum. Not surprisingly, letters opposing Critical Race Theory and Critical Ethnic Studies comprised the #1 concern about the ESMC. And yet, more...
BY LEA STEELE Fresno County — Even though it happened 25 years ago, I remember it as though it were today. Sean, a 11-year-old boy, walked in my classroom and changed both of our lives forever. Although I was a young, inexperienced adult and new teacher, my “Spidey” senses alerted me whenever Sean’s stepmother was...
Testimony by our Chief Operations Officer, Lance Christensen to the Idaho Senate Commerce and Human Resources Committee (March 4, 2021) Chair Patrick and honorable members of the committee, My name is Lance Christensen of the California Policy Center. Though I’m coming to you virtually from Sacramento, I’m a product of 3 generations of dry farmers...
Depending on who you ask, California’s K-12 system of public education would be doing just fine if taxpayers threw another $30 billion (or more) per year into its insatiable maw, or, it is a failed model mostly because the teachers’ union agenda has ruined everything, from a crippling administrative overhead to mandating a curricula more...
CLICK HERE to see which benchmarks your county has passed this week. New updates to COVID-19 restrictions has led to more questions when it comes to reopening schools. Recently it was announced that theme parks and outdoor entertainment venues can reopen at limited capacity. Previously, large theme parks like Disneyland could only reopen once they...
Here is our fact check of Governor Newsom’s 2021 State of the State Address, which was held at Dodger Stadium. “All of which is why California’s death rate has remained one of the lowest per capita in the nation: 134 deaths per 100,000, compared to 158 nationally, 153 in Texas and 247 in New York.”...
To access The California Book of Exoduses: CLICK HERE Sorry California Data Lab- #TheCalExodusIsHappening Recently, there was a well-publicized report by the California Data Lab suggesting the “CalExodus” that has been a major news headline over the last year, was not actually happening. While a longer critique of the article is needed (which I hope...
As a result of their insistence on school closings, the unions are inadvertently leading the charge to educational freedom. As I wrote last week, opposition to teacher union-mandated lockdowns is growing. Parent groups are springing up all over the country, demanding that schools reopen. They see the irreparable harm being done to their kids on...
Forgive my typos – but by all means send in your favorite Stories from Weird California, samples of which we offer you here. Newsom announces reopening plan to union criticism: In his latest analysis of that King of Covidial Concern, Governor Gavin Newsom, CPC policy analyst Brandon Ristoff notes that Newsom keeps moving the goalposts...