California’s largest school districts are underwater
California’s largest school districts are underwater
Massive debt raises questions about new spending proposals
More union-induced GPA inflation
More union-induced GPA inflation
It’s not everyday that a parent gets an email from their school district telling them that they can change their child’s grade if they didn’t like the last one. It’s even more surreal that the legislature thought that this was a good policy. With few exceptions, nearly every legislator voted to approve AB 104 by...
The annual teacher shortage canard
The annual teacher shortage canard
Despite our ever-changing world, there are some annual events we can all count on: the earth will circle the sun, Christmas will be celebrated December 25th, and the California legislature will raise taxes on its citizens. And we can now add that list – howling from the media and the teachers unions that America has...
Back to school?
Back to school?
I want to believe that California’s public schools will reopen this fall. I really do. When the Los Angeles Unified School District and United Teachers Los Angeles finally reached an agreement in late June to fully reopen schools this fall, I was cautiously optimistic. Los Angeles was the major holdout in the state, remaining more...
Defective bargaining
Defective bargaining
A challenger for governor of California could radically improve education with one executive order. In a recent opinion piece in The Epoch Times, veteran writer John Seiler put forth a set of strategies for a Republican to beat California Governor Gavin Newsom in the state’s September 14th recall election. Among other things, he suggests that...
Masking students and unmasking the radical agenda
Masking students and unmasking the radical agenda
The decision to mask and indoctrinate school children in California has been left to local school districts. The new school year is still weeks away in California, but summer break has hardly been a carefree romp on the beach. On July 12th, the California Department of Public Health, ignoring CDC guidance, announced that all students...
Fixing California- Part eight: Restoring quality education
Fixing California- Part eight: Restoring quality education
Editor’s note: This is the seventh article in a nine-part series on how to fix California. Read the first article in the series here, the second here, the third here, the fourth here, the fifth here, the sixth here, and the seventh here. Pragmatism. Abundance. Optimism. If these are the principles that should guide public policy...
Confronting Randi’s twaddle
Confronting Randi’s twaddle
After insisting that Critical Race Theory is not being taught in k-12 schools, Randi Weingarten – teacher union boss and gaslighter extraordinaire – has ceded any right to be taken seriously. Randi Weingarten, the gaffe-prone president of the American Federation of Teachers has outdone herself, and that isn’t easy. In a series of seven open...
Newsletter: A new day for school choice in California
Newsletter: A new day for school choice in California
United Teachers Los Angeles President Cecily Myart-Cruz has been talking for months about the “transformational change” she wants to bring to California schools through the COVID-19 pandemic. Golden State voters, according to a new poll commissioned by the California Policy Center, want changes, too. Unfortunately for Myart-Cruz, the changes voters want could dismantle the government...
How the people can fix California
How the people can fix California
The deadline to file citizens initiatives for the November 2022 state ballot is this August, and not nearly enough has been done so far. Active measures submitted to the California Attorney General include the highly necessary proposition to “prohibit slavery and involuntary servitude,” along with one to “require earth sustainability training in public schools.” Because apparently we’re...
New polling shows COVID-19 shifted California voters’ opinions on schools
New polling shows COVID-19 shifted California voters’ opinions on schools
Majority think public schools are failing minority students, want more choice June 2, 2021 – TUSTIN, Calif. – After more than a year of school closures, new polling suggests California voters – and importantly, parents – are ready for more choices in public education. Statewide polling commissioned by the California Policy Center (CPC) found that,...
Science with the union label
Science with the union label
Despite the reopening happy talk, more than half of all California’s k-12 students remain in distance learning. While schools in California have reopened, a study by EdSource reveals that 55 percent of all public school students in California have not returned to their physical classroom. And just 13 percent of all students in the Golden...
Oh, the irony
Oh, the irony
This week marked Teacher Appreciation Week – a time when, in normal years, students may have gifted their beloved instructors with apples or homemade cards of appreciation. But with many schools still locked down thanks to union intransigence, some took their celebratory messages to Twitter. And boy, were they ironic. “We celebrate and thank you,”...
Analysis: California’s Charter School Renaissance Continues, While Public Non-Charter School Enrollment Continues to Shrink
Analysis: California’s Charter School Renaissance Continues, While Public Non-Charter School Enrollment Continues to Shrink
Recent news has not been favorable to public schools in California. More and more students are leaving these institutions, according to data from the California Department of Education. Over the past six years, California public school enrollment fell by 4%. This is part of a continual decline in K-12 enrollment that began in the 2004-05...