SCOTUS Delivers Major Wins for Parents and Kids

SCOTUS Delivers Major Wins for Parents and Kids

CPC Calls for Immediate Policy Reforms in California SACRAMENTO — California Policy Center applauds today’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Mahmoud v. Taylor as a decisive victory for parental rights. The High Court has made it clear: parents cannot be sidelined in their child’s education. In a 6–3 ruling, the Court upheld the right of...

By California Policy Center

Systems of Power and Oppression: Ethnic Studies and The Dark Side of Teachers’ Unions

Systems of Power and Oppression: Ethnic Studies and The Dark Side of Teachers’ Unions

Most parents assume the greatest threats to student learning are budget shortfalls or outdated curricula. Yet, the real danger may be hiding in plain sight: politically entrenched teachers’ unions.  Cloaked in promises of social justice and equity, these influential groups have quietly seized control of K–12 classrooms, steering education toward radical ideologies with deliberately deceiving...

By Nicole Bernstein

The Grand Water Bargain

The Grand Water Bargain

For the last few decades in California, the conventional wisdom has been that farmers and urban water consumers have to improve efficiency and reduce consumption. To the fullest extent possible, rain and snow falling on watersheds must proceed unimpaired from the mountains to the ocean, and if water is reserved in reservoirs, releases of the...

By Edward Ring

California accepts billions in federal funds for education while defying federal law

California accepts billions in federal funds for education while defying federal law

The California legislature passed the 2025-26 budget bill earlier this month and sent it to Governor Gavin Newsom for his signature. The bill amounts to $325 billion, marking a spending increase of 51 percent since Newsom first took office in 2019. Spending on education has similarly ballooned, despite the fact that enrollment in traditional public...

By Sheridan Karras

Budget Resources are Limited—Even in California

Budget Resources are Limited—Even in California

Compared to their counterparts in other states, California political and thought leaders seem much less concerned about wasteful government spending. While there are explanations, these aren’t excuses: California state and local governments need to adjust to the reality of resource limitations. Supermajority control by the party less concerned with fiscal discipline is an obvious driver,...

By Marc Joffe

The Hypocrisy of San Francisco’s Hetch Hetchy Reservoir

The Hypocrisy of San Francisco’s Hetch Hetchy Reservoir

When it comes to self-congratulatory, performative environmentalism, San Franciscans probably lead the pack. They declared a “climate emergency,” and then, in defiance of a court ruling, they banned natural gas hookups in new buildings. To further their war on personal automotive transportation, they closed Highway One to traffic, a vital north/south thoroughfare. And they’re creating “urban biodiversity” by planting trees and “restoring natural...

By Edward Ring

Next Generation Batteries Are Imminent

Next Generation Batteries Are Imminent

When we talk about EVs, it is reasonable to suggest that at their current level of price and performance, whoever wants to use one has already made the purchase. After a decade of rapid year-over-year growth, EV sales in California in 2024 were actually a bit lower than they were in 2023. There aren’t enough...

By Edward Ring

The Public-Sector Union Behind L.A. Immigration Agitation

The Public-Sector Union Behind L.A. Immigration Agitation

SEIU California expands its membership and its coffers by trying to bring open borders. The week’s riots in Los Angeles kicked off with the June 6 arrest of David Huerta, president of the Service Employees International Union’s California chapter. You might expect a union boss to favor immigration enforcement in the name of protecting his members’...

By Will Swaim

High-Speed Rail Authority’s Rebuttal to Trump Administration is Well Argued but Makes Questionable Claims

High-Speed Rail Authority’s Rebuttal to Trump Administration is Well Argued but Makes Questionable Claims

On June 12, the California High-Speed Rail Authority (CHRSA) released a 14-page letter rebutting the Federal Railroad Administration’s (FRA’s) case for rescinding $4 billion in grant funding. The Authority plans to provide a more detailed response in July, but the initial letter contains a lot to chew on. Some of CHSRA’s claims are not unreasonable....

By Marc Joffe

Valley Transportation Authority: A textbook case of “Special Interests” prevailing over public good

Valley Transportation Authority: A textbook case of “Special Interests” prevailing over public good

In the heart of Silicon Valley, where innovation is supposed to reign supreme, the Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) has become a textbook example of government waste, mismanagement, and the creep of crony politics that prioritize insiders over the public good. The agency’s latest draft budget for Fiscal Year 2027 (FY27) projects a staggering $14.9 million...

By Athan Joshi

Don’t Overlook the Union Factor in California’s Chaos

Don’t Overlook the Union Factor in California’s Chaos

All social movements require a patron saint. Californians who support illegal immigration believe they have theirs: David Huerta, president of the state’s Service Employees International Union, or SEIU. Federal officers in Los Angeles arrested Huerta during a protest outside a business where ICE was executing a search warrant Friday — just one skirmish in what...

By Will Swaim

The Economics of the Delta Tunnel

The Economics of the Delta Tunnel

One of the most controversial water issues in California is the proposed Delta Conveyance. The 45-mile-long tunnel will have the capacity to move up to 4 million acre feet per year from the Sacramento River safely under the fragile delta ecosystem, delivering water to southbound aqueducts. That’s not bad. But the reservoir storage necessary to allow the...

By Edward Ring