California parents and voters wait too long for vital data
California parents and voters wait too long for vital data
As the 2024-25 school year is underway, Californians await the results for last school year’s CAASPP testing. CAASPP (California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress) assessments measure student achievement in the areas of English, math, and science, and are taken in the spring; Results are then publicly released the following fall. The release date for...
By Sheridan Karras
Business Unfriendly: The Regulatory Burden Crushing California Enterprises
Business Unfriendly: The Regulatory Burden Crushing California Enterprises
Last month, Rubio’s Coastal Grill announced the permanent shutdown of 48 of their California locations. Ralph Rubio opened his first restaurant in 1983 in San Diego with a loan from his dad. After years of effort, Rubio’s expanded to approximately 200 locations throughout several states. Traditionally, this anecdote would serve as an example of the...
By Timothy Belev, Sheridan Karras
Baby Bumps and Teacher Benefits: Dispelling CTA Myths About Maternity Leave
Baby Bumps and Teacher Benefits: Dispelling CTA Myths About Maternity Leave
Last month, the California Teachers Association posted on Instagram: “This #WomensHistoryMonth, let’s fix a broken system that leaves educators without any paid disability related to pregnancy!” The fix, California’s largest teachers union asserts, is Assembly Bill 2901, authored by Assembly Majority Leader Cecilia Aguiar-Curry (D-Winters). If passed, the state would require school districts and community...
By Sheridan Karras
Newsom’s education budget lacks tangible targets
Newsom’s education budget lacks tangible targets
This month, Governor Newsom released his proposed state budget for 2024-25. The $291.5 billion budget proposal sets aside $76.5 billion in state funds for K-12 education. This amount exceeds the proposed budgeted costs for transportation ($19.55 billion); corrections and rehabilitation ($18.12 billion); general government ($10.68 billion); legislative, judicial, and executive agencies ($10.72 billion); natural resources...
By Sheridan Karras
The Disastrous Insurance Landscape in California
The Disastrous Insurance Landscape in California
Late last month, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed an executive order in an attempt to address the insurance crisis in California that’s leaving scores of homeowners without coverage. The executive order comes after State Farm and Allstate, the first and fourth largest home insurers in California, announced this year they would no longer sell new home...
By Sheridan Karras
California’s Literacy Crisis
California’s Literacy Crisis
Published August 3, 2023 For decades, teachers, parents, academics, scientists, and curriculum developers have been engaged in a pitched battle over the best methods to implement effective, comprehensive and practical reading instruction. This controversy, dubbed the “reading wars,” has had lifelong consequences for a generation of students who have been hostages and unwitting casualties of...
By Sheridan Karras
More Companies Flee to Texas
More Companies Flee to Texas
The Lone Star State continues to profit from the corporate exodus from California as the list of big-name businesses moving to Texas grows. Fleeing California’s highly-regulated environment, a number of companies have announced they’re moving to Texas for the state’s dynamic, growth-friendly economy. Last week, the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce released a study...
By Sheridan Karras
Bay Area Financial Crisis: Oakland
Bay Area Financial Crisis: Oakland
Like San Francisco, the Bay Area City of Oakland is facing major budget woes. Mayor Sheng Thao’s proposed budget for 2023-25 released last month reveals the city is facing a $360 million shortfall, the largest budget deficit in Oakland’s history. The proposed budget for FY 2023-24 and 2024-25 plans for total expenditures of over $2.1...
By Sheridan Karras
San Francisco’s Financial Crisis
San Francisco’s Financial Crisis
The State of California isn’t the only one scrambling to prepare a budget while staring down a deficit. Several Bay Area municipalities are also struggling with their own budget problems, San Francisco chief among them. San Francisco’s 2022-23 budget and next year’s 2023-24 budget total approximately $14 billion each. On March 31, the San Francisco...
By Sheridan Karras
Sacramento’s Mismanagement of Taxpayer Dollars
Sacramento’s Mismanagement of Taxpayer Dollars
Leaders in Sacramento are grappling with the state budget this month as California faces a budget deficit of nearly $32 billion. Senate leaders claim they can address the deficit without cutting spending on state programs, but the reality is that a fiscal reckoning is long overdue. According to a survey released by the Public Policy...
By Sheridan Karras
Capistrano Unified: A Case Study in Opposing Bad Bonds
Capistrano Unified: A Case Study in Opposing Bad Bonds
A practical way for citizens to fight ill-conceived school bond measures View our full School Bonds Toolkit here for additional resources. School bonds are designed to fund the building and maintenance of school facilities, but there have been increasing concerns about bond oversight and how districts utilize bonds. Too often, school districts put bond measures on...
By Sheridan Karras
School Choice Wins Across the Nation
School Choice Wins Across the Nation
The school choice movement is accelerating across the nation as more state legislatures pass laws that empower parents to use tax dollars to send their child to the best school for them. Support for school choice is also skyrocketing among voters across demographics. Among likely voters, a survey by the Invest in Education Coalition found...
By Sheridan Karras
Lone Star Bound
Lone Star Bound
Frisco, Texas — nestled in the north Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex — has been making headlines for the number of companies flocking to the city to take advantage of its business-friendly environment and rapid growth. This month, the Frisco Economic Development Corporation (FEDC) released a statement highlighting the city’s impressive 2022 track record, having welcomed sixteen...
By Sheridan Karras