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
Newsom’s big-spending, pro-union course will run into a fiscal iceberg
Newsom’s big-spending, pro-union course will run into a fiscal iceberg
Sacramento Gavin Newsom was inaugurated as California’s 40th governor on Monday, taking over a general-fund budget that is flush with cash, and a state government that is in remarkably good shape – at least superficially – from a fiscal perspective. For all his flaws, outgoing Gov. Jerry Brown left Newsom with a large surplus and...
By Steven Greenhut
Universal pre-k is not okay
Universal pre-k is not okay
New governor of the People’s Republic of California wants to expand a dubious universal preschool plan. California’s new Governor Gavin Newsom envisions a future where the state will be involved in your children’s lives from conception to adulthood. Newsom told EdSource in September, “Our role begins when babies are still in the womb and it...
By Larry Sand
California’s State and Local Liabilities Total $1.5 Trillion
California’s State and Local Liabilities Total $1.5 Trillion
We estimate that California’s total state and local government debt as of June 30, 2017 totaled just over $1.5 trillion. That total includes all outstanding bonds, loans, and other long-term liabilities, along with the officially reported unfunded liability for other post-employment benefits (primarily retiree healthcare), as well as unfunded pension liabilities. This represents a rise...
By Marc Joffe
California Fair Political Practices Commission Cracks Down on Illegal Political Expenditures
California Fair Political Practices Commission Cracks Down on Illegal Political Expenditures
Over the last several years, this column has exposed multiple instances of government entities using taxpayer dollars for political advocacy, a practice that is illegal under both state and federal law. Because progress in stopping these violations has been difficult, taxpayers will be pleased to hear that on December 20th, California’s campaign watchdog agency, the...
By Jon Coupal
Pension Funds, Meet the “Super Bubble”
Pension Funds, Meet the “Super Bubble”
Earlier this month, outgoing California Governor Jerry Brown predicted “fiscal oblivion” if California’s state and local agencies are not granted more flexibility to modify pension benefits. As if to help Governor Brown make his point, U.S. stock indexes took an obliging plunge. The Dow Jones average cratered in December, dropping nearly 16 percent in three...
By Edward Ring
New study confirms business flight from California accelerating
New study confirms business flight from California accelerating
The evidence is more than anecdotal. According to a recent study, business flight out of California has accelerated to an unprecedented level. In 2016, the year for which the most recent data is available, 1,800 businesses moved out or “disinvested” from California. This is the highest one-year total in the nine-year history of tracking by...
By Jon Coupal
Early Christmas for LAUSD teacher: a refund of his UTLA union dues – and an end to future deductions
Early Christmas for LAUSD teacher: a refund of his UTLA union dues – and an end to future deductions
Few: “Teachers shouldn’t have to make a federal case out of this.” This article first appeared on FlashReport.org. Just in time for Christmas, the Los Angeles teachers union gave Thomas Few some good news: a refund of $433.31 dues he paid and the union’s promise to stop taking $80 per month from his paycheck. Few...
By Will Swaim
Stock Market, Housing, Economy Signal State and Local Budget Woes in 2019-20
Stock Market, Housing, Economy Signal State and Local Budget Woes in 2019-20
The typical analysis of state and local government finances is that they are primarily a function of the economy. When the economy is growing well, and especially when it is growing faster than expected, local and state government finances prosper. When the economy grows, more people are employed and employees have larger paychecks. State income...
By Lanny Ebenstein
The Financial Context of the Imminent California Supreme Court Decision on the “California Rule”
The Financial Context of the Imminent California Supreme Court Decision on the “California Rule”
Any day now, the California Supreme Court will rule on what may be one of the most significant cases affecting pension reform in California history. The case, CalFire Local 2881 vs. CalPERS, challenges one of the provisions of PEPRA (Public Employee Pension Reform Act) Governor Brown’s 2013 pension reform legislation. The plaintiffs argue that PEPRA’s abolition...
By Edward Ring