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Modest Strike Settlement Nonetheless Puts LAUSD in Even Worse Financial Shape

Modest Strike Settlement Nonetheless Puts LAUSD in Even Worse Financial Shape

One of the grievances expressed by the union during their recent strike against Los Angeles Unified School District was that, according to them, charter schools are draining funds from public schools. This assertion, repeated uncritically by major news reports on the strike, does not stand up to reason. Public schools in California receive government funding based on...

By Edward Ring

Officials meddle in nursing market and exacerbate growing shortage

Officials meddle in nursing market and exacerbate growing shortage

Sacramento — The California Board of Registered Nursing, the state agency that regulates nursing licenses and degrees, appears to be imposing caps on the number of nursing students that some private universities can enroll. Such caps go beyond the agency’s apparent statutory authority, but make little sense given California’s growing nursing shortage. Federal data suggests...

By Steven Greenhut

Membership in California’s government unions plummeted in 2018, federal report shows

Membership in California’s government unions plummeted in 2018, federal report shows

“Walk out on the union, not the kids”: A California Policy Center social media advertisement delivered during the Los Angeles teachers strike. Memo to anyone still wondering about the impact of the Supreme Court’s landmark 2018 decision in Janus v AFSCME: Wonder no more. Despite a surging economy, union membership in California dropped by 86,000...

By Editorial Staff

California’s Nursing Schools Need to Up Enrollment by 60 percent to Avoid Shortage

California’s Nursing Schools Need to Up Enrollment by 60 percent to Avoid Shortage

Los Angeles recently endured a teachers strike, lasting seven days and affecting over 30,000 employees of Los Angeles Unified School District. In the time leading up to the LAUSD teachers strike, 7,000 Los Angeles County nurses narrowly avoided a strike, an event that did not make headlines. As reported by ABC’s local Los Angeles affiliate, the...

By Edward Ring

More evidence school employees left their unions in late 2018

More evidence school employees left their unions in late 2018

“Union members now have a choice”: CPC email, one of 13.9 million communications with California government employees. Union membership in yet another California school district is down dramatically, providing new evidence of a broader statewide decline in government unions following last summer’s Supreme Court decision in Janus, the landmark labor case. In 2018, Orange Unified...

By Editorial Staff

Marching for a Better Education

Marching for a Better Education

Members of the Inland Empire Parent Union march on MLK Day in Murietta, CA. There was a new twist in Riverside County’s annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration. This year’s parade through the streets of Murietta included members of the Inland Empire Parent Union (IEPU). IEPU President Christina Laster is fighting to get parents more...

By Koppany Jordan

The Destruction of Venice Beach Epitomizes California’s Idiocracy

The Destruction of Venice Beach Epitomizes California’s Idiocracy

Venice Beach used to be one of California’s great places. A Bohemian gem, nestled against the sand between big city Los Angeles and the vast Pacific Ocean, one encountered locals mingling with surfers, artists, street performers and tourists. People from suburbs further inland migrated to Venice’s beaches on sunny weekends year-round. Rents used to be...

By Edward Ring

L.A. teachers in open rebellion – this time against their own union leaders

L.A. teachers in open rebellion – this time against their own union leaders

Union chief Caputo-Pearl: “This agreement is horrible,” a teacher wrote on UTL:A’s Facebook page. “It was not worth striking 7 minutes let alone 7 days!!! Our union has let us down once again.” (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes) LOS ANGELES — L.A. teachers on Tuesday voted on a deal their union calls “historic.” But by then, the...

By Mark Bucher

Newsom’s healthcare promises limited by a nursing shortage

Newsom’s healthcare promises limited by a nursing shortage

Sacramento Based on his inaugural promises, early administrative appointments and first budget, California Gov. Gavin Newsom is preparing to make some type of universal healthcare coverage the centerpiece of his administration. It is unclear if he will take the single-payer route or focus mainly on expanding access for the state’s residents – including those living...

By Steven Greenhut

Disunion: Union membership in key school district fell dramatically after Janus

Disunion: Union membership in key school district fell dramatically after Janus

CLASS WAR: Teachers union activists and supporters surround Santa Ana school district candidate Angie Cano, April 2018. Cano, a school choice activist, was attempting to speak at a district board meeting. Police escorted her into the building. Union membership in California’s sixth-largest school district fell rapidly in 2018, perhaps signaling a broader statewide decline following...

By Editorial Staff

Are LAUSD Teachers Underpaid, or Does it Cost Too Much to Live in California?

Are LAUSD Teachers Underpaid, or Does it Cost Too Much to Live in California?

In California, public sector unions pretty much run the state government. Government unions collect and spend over $800 million per year in California. There is no special interest in California both willing and able to mount a sustained challenge to public sector union power. They simply have too much money, too many people on their...

By Edward Ring

CPC teaming up with NAACP for equitable education

CPC teaming up with NAACP for equitable education

Everybody knows that the California education system is broken. Marred by a decline in educational standards, a misuse of public funds and racial discrimination, most parents would have surrendered. One parent in Riverside County decided to fight back. Christina Laster Christina Laster, a mother of four, is anything but apathetic. She has been involved in...

By Koppany Jordan

As L.A. strike begins, eye-catching billboards tell teachers they don’t have to strike – they can quit the union

As L.A. strike begins, eye-catching billboards tell teachers they don’t have to strike – they can quit the union

SHOUTING FROM THE ROOFTOPS: Billboard at 6th and Beaudry, near LA Unified HQ. LOS ANGELES—As 30,000 teachers walked out of Los Angeles classrooms, a coalition of education reform groups is offering teachers an alternative: leave the teachers union. Billboards around the Los Angeles Unified School District encourage teachers to learn their rights – including the...

By Editorial Staff

California’s Budget “Surplus” Ignores Crushing Debt Burden

California’s Budget “Surplus” Ignores Crushing Debt Burden

California’s new governor, Gavin Newsom, delivered an inaugural address earlier this week that accurately reflected the mentality of his supporters. Triumphalist, defiant, and filled with grand plans. But are these plans grand, or grandiose? Will Governor Newsom try to deliver everything he promised during his campaign, and if so, can California’s state government really deliver...

By Edward Ring