A Success Story at an Orange County Charter
A Success Story at an Orange County Charter
By Michael Davis Dire were the predictions when our little charter school, Orange County Classical Academy, was approved over three years ago in a famously raucous Orange Unified School District board hearing. The skepticism was forgivable then but not today. In its first year of operation, 50 percent of OCCA’s English Learners achieved English-language proficiency by the...
By California Policy Center
Orange County Classical Academy Recognized as a California Distinguished School
Orange County Classical Academy Recognized as a California Distinguished School
The Orange County Classical Academy (OCCA) was recognized this week as a California Distinguished School, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond announced. OCCA, a high-performing public charter school, was the only school to receive the prestigious 2023 award in Orange Unified School District. “Orange County Classical Academy truly deserves to be recognized as a...
By California Policy Center
Divorce California-Style: Following “parents are terrorists” campaign, Cal school boards group says it’s going directly to Washington, DC
Divorce California-Style: Following “parents are terrorists” campaign, Cal school boards group says it’s going directly to Washington, DC
The organization behind some of California’s most out-there education initiatives announced it’s splitting from the national group that helped it promote the “parents are terrorists” campaign. In a low-profile statement, the California School Boards Association says its leadership approved the divorce from the National School Boards Association on March 26. In the press release, the...
By California Policy Center
California’s public school establishment to parents: We know best, so step aside
California’s public school establishment to parents: We know best, so step aside
California parents are at last in on the joke. They’re seeing (perhaps for the first time) that our public schools are failing our children – practicing invasive therapy as if that’s teaching, carrying out political indoctrination as if that’s education, insisting on vaccine mandates and masking for a population that’s hardly at risk (see the California...
By California Policy Center
6th Annual Parent Union School Choice Fair – Sat, Jan. 30
6th Annual Parent Union School Choice Fair – Sat, Jan. 30
Register for this free online Zoom event HERE. 10 am to 12 pm, Saturday, Jan. 30. Learn about quality school options that are available for K-12 students in California: Local Public Schools Charter Schools Homeschooling Private Schools Alternative Schools Learning Pods Speakers include: Mari Barke (emcee), California Policy Center Andrew Campanella, National School Choice Week...
By California Policy Center
Open Letter to Gov. Newsom: ‘Don’t Make it Easy to Leave the State We Love’
Open Letter to Gov. Newsom: ‘Don’t Make it Easy to Leave the State We Love’
Editor’s note: A Southern California businessman copied us on his open letter to Gov. Gavin Newsom. Given his reasonable fear of political retribution – from state tax investigators, for instance, or regulators – we honored his request to remain anonymous. Dear Gov. Newsom, I am writing as a lifelong resident of California. I was born...
By California Policy Center
Why I’m Driving my Kids from Pasadena to Orange to go to School
Why I’m Driving my Kids from Pasadena to Orange to go to School
By Michael Davis This school year, my family will be joining the throng of Southern Californians making long commutes, but for us it will be for the sake of our children’s education. We live in Pasadena, but our kids will be going to Orange County Classical Academy, a new charter school in the City of...
By California Policy Center
Distinguished Speaker Series: Will Swaim
Distinguished Speaker Series: Will Swaim
The Pacific Club hosts a distinguished speaker series each month for its members. August highlighted CPC’s President, Will Swaim. If you are having trouble playing the video, click here.
By California Policy Center
Inform Employees and Employers About Their Janus Rights
Inform Employees and Employers About Their Janus Rights
In 2018, the United States Supreme Court issued its landmark Janus decision, confirming that it’s unconstitutional for government employers to deduct union dues or fees from employee paychecks without the employee’s permission. In other words, no employee whose workplace is represented by a government union can be forced to pay any part of his or...
By California Policy Center
Back to Schools: Orange County Board of Education Recommendations on School Reopenings during Covid-19
Back to Schools: Orange County Board of Education Recommendations on School Reopenings during Covid-19
Until Gov. Gavin Newsom declared most California schools closed for the fall, he had left school re-openings to local officials. But before that declaration, Orange County Board of Education trustees had voted 4-1 to approve the reopening of schools in that county. California Policy Center helped draft an early version of those recommendations, and though the final...
By California Policy Center
A different kind of pandemic is stalking California’s cities
A different kind of pandemic is stalking California’s cities
Image: San Gabriel (Creative Commons) If you’re looking for dark entertainment, you could do worse than the reality show unfolding throughout California. First, state and local officials supported the nearly total shutdown of the state’s economy as a necessary response to Covid-19. That killed the sales and other tax revenues that are the life’s blood...
By California Policy Center