Early this week I was in Menlo Park, “The Capital of Venture Capital.” It’s a place so lovely, leafy and wealthy, so obviously preserved in amber by anti-growth regulation, that it might have been created by Walt Disney. It’s America’s real California Adventure. Coming down the elevator of my jewel-box hotel in the city’s Tiffany...
Gavin Newsom delivered his State of the State address Tuesday in just under 18 minutes. It was weird optics for a governor facing a deluge of crises, especially coming from a guy known for his Fidel Castro-style multi-hour oratories when presenting his annual budget — just as long, but without the cigars, magnificent beard and...
If there’s a silver lining to be found in the way teachers’ unions robbed a year-and-a-half of learning from students, it’s that parents across the country have become more engaged in their children’s education. For months, we’ve seen parents band together to ask more of their school districts, and not a week goes by without...
When reflecting on Governor Gavin Newsom’s recent recall victory, a friend of the California Policy Center reminded me of a scene in the film Indecent Proposal. Woody Harrelson’s character had just been left by the love of his life, who’d run off with another man. Before handing divorce papers over to his soon-to-be ex, played...
Testing for thee, but not for me. That’s the message sent to parents by the United Teachers Los Angeles. In its latest demonstration of epic irony, the union is demanding all 600,000 students subject to its reign be tested weekly for COVID-19 in order to return to the classroom, while simultaneously lobbying the district to...
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...
Forty-some-odd candidates have officially thrown their hats into the ring to replace Governor Gavin Newsom if voters recall him September 14. The list is a mere fraction of the 135 who faced off during the 2003 Gray Davis recall election, and, dare I say, a generally saner, though less well-known, bunch. There are a handful...
In a true testament to the impact engaged parents can have, California officials chose in two separate instances this week to put kids and their education before woke politics. It’s something not seen enough these days, and certainly worth celebrating when it happens. The first student-centric victory came on Tuesday, when the Los Angeles Unified...
Randi Weingarten is once again trying to gaslight the American public. First, she ludicrously claimed teachers unions had actually been fighting to reopen schools – not keep them closed – since April 2020. Now, she’s trying to fool parents into thinking assignments titled “Why I’m a racist” and “White savior complex” aren’t critical race theory....
For lovers of freedom, living in California can sometimes feel like a losing battle. Teachers unions run the schools (or, more recently, ensure they don’t run), Sacramento politicians refuse to grant hearings to minority bills, and high taxes and excessive regulations are forcing more and more of our neighbors and family members to pack up...
California officially reopened this week to much media and gubernatorial fanfare. But something major was missing: the many job creators and residents who were forced to flee the state over the past 15 months that were marked by lockdowns, school closures, and onerous restrictions that frequently left businesses reeling and shelling out tens of thousands...
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...
CPC’s work to reduce the corrupt influence of government unions in state politics achieved a historic win with the announcement that one of the state’s most powerful unions will end political spending. Elected last week as president of Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 1000, Richard Louis Brown said he’ll end the union’s political spending,...
For the first time since its founding, population shifts resulted in California losing a House seat this week, while more free states like Texas and Florida increased their voice in Washington. And is it any wonder? This week alone, we saw union-funded politicians in Sacramento try to gut charter schools with Assembly Bill 1316, and...