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
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
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
Will Anything Good Come Out of the LAUSD Strike? Probably Not
Will Anything Good Come Out of the LAUSD Strike? Probably Not
As the teachers strike in Los Angeles entered its second week, it appeared that it would be over soon. Yesterday, online reports declared an agreement had been “hammered out,” with union members ratifying the deal late last night. Union representatives have consistently stated that more pay is not the only reason they’re striking. That’s believable. The...
By Edward Ring
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
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
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
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
Jamming Janus – The Public Union Empire Strikes Back
Jamming Janus – The Public Union Empire Strikes Back
In June 2018 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on the Janus vs AFSCME case. The result of the decision is that public employees not only have the right to refuse membership in a union, but also the right to refuse to pay so-called “agency fees” to the union. Unions had been preparing for years for...
By Edward Ring
The Varieties and the Potential Impact of Post-Janus Litigation
The Varieties and the Potential Impact of Post-Janus Litigation
The landmark ruling by the US Supreme Court in the Janus vs AFSCME case has given government workers the right to not only refuse union membership, but to refuse to pay any dues or fees to that union. In the wake of this ruling, new lawsuits have been filed on behalf of plaintiffs who allege...
By Edward Ring
California Burning – How the Greens Turned the Golden State Brown
California Burning – How the Greens Turned the Golden State Brown
In October 2016, in a coordinated act of terrorism that received fleeting attention from the press, environmentalist activists broke into remote flow stations and turned off the valves on pipelines carrying crude oil from Canada into the United States. Working simultaneously in Washington, Montana, Minnesota, and North Dakota, the eco-terrorists disrupted pipelines that together transport 2.8 million...
By Edward Ring
Can Public Sector Union Power Ever Be Stopped?
Can Public Sector Union Power Ever Be Stopped?
Imagine you’re hoping to support a candidate for local office who will enact reforms that will improve your city, maybe even save it. Someone who will fight tirelessly to eliminate work rules that force agencies to hire more people than are actually necessary. Someone who will insist that incompetent public employees are fired. Someone who...
By Edward Ring
California’s Legislators Lack Private Sector Experience
California’s Legislators Lack Private Sector Experience
Back in the days of adding machines and manual ledgers, final election results in California were usually done by midnight on election day. Sometimes there would be a few precincts counting ballots into the wee hours of the morning, and you wouldn’t know a result till the next day. Fast forward to 2018, and the...
By Edward Ring
California’s Voters Approve New Taxes and Reject Tax Repeal
California’s Voters Approve New Taxes and Reject Tax Repeal
Although hundreds of election results remain to be decided across California, thanks to millions of vote-by-mail ballots still being counted, we can already project with reasonable accuracy the total amount voters approved in new taxes and borrowing. At the local level, new taxes nearly always are approved by voters. In 2016, out of 224 local...
By Edward Ring