Budget Bloat and Blame Games: Inside Newsom’s May Revision

By Sheridan Karras
05/16/2025
On Wednesday, Gov. Gavin Newsom released his May budget revision, proposing $321.9 in total spending for the next fiscal year. Now he must work with the legislature to pass a budget bill by the June 15th deadline. In a press conference outlining his budget to reporters, Newsom focused on blaming the Trump administration for California’s...

TAGS: California budget, education, Governor Gavin Newsom, homelessness, May Revision, Medi-Cal

CLEO Director Mari Barke Testifies before Congress

By California Policy Center
06/07/2024
On June 4, 2024, the U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education held a hearing on “The Consequences of Biden’s Border Chaos for K-12 Schools.” Mari Barke, Director of CPC’s California Local Elected Officials, testified before the Subcommittee on the impact of illegal immigration on California’s K-12...

TAGS: capitol hill, education, Illegal Immigration, Mari Barke

AB 1955’s assault on parental rights and local school boards

By California Policy Center
05/24/2024
Just when you think California legislators can’t thumb their noses at parents any harder, Assemblyman Christopher Ward (D-San Diego) introduced a bill this week that aims to strip control from local school boards. Ward’s AB 1955 — the Orwellian-named SAFETY Act — is an attempt to override the parental notification policies passed by a growing number of...

TAGS: education, parental rights, Take Action

Three Wins for Common Sense

By California Policy Center
05/17/2024
In a significant win for parental rights this week, the Jurupa Unified School Board agreed to pay California teacher Jessica Tapia $360,000 to settle her lawsuit for wrongful termination. The case has drawn national attention to the plight of teachers being illegally directed by California education officials to keep secrets from parents when their child...

TAGS: Alliance Defending Freedom, California Department of Education, education, Spreckels Union

Parents—The Ultimate Education Reform

By Lance Christensen
03/05/2024
Grant Allen once lamented, “What a misfortune it is that we should thus be compelled to let our boys’ schooling interfere with their education!” These words, often attributed to Mark Twain, encapsulate a sentiment that education transcends the walls of a schoolhouse, echoing the belief that learning should not be confined to a classroom. Increasingly,...

TAGS: corey dangelis, education, mark twain, parental rights, Parents—The Ultimate Education Reform, school choice

Legal Update: Visalia Unified School District v. Public Employment Relations Board

By Julie Hamill
02/26/2024
Last month, the California Court of Appeal issued a decision in Visalia Unified School District v. Public Employees Relations Board, impacting personnel disputes in school districts throughout California. This is a must-read for all California school district HR directors. Overview: Despite finding that a school district’s decision to fire the union chapter president was retaliatory,...

TAGS: education, litigation, Unions, visalia

CPC’s Parental Rights Rally

By California Policy Center
09/19/2023
Parents and parent groups from across California joined together for CPC’s “A Line in the Sand — A Rally for Parental Rights” on September 26th. Nearly 400 people came out to Rancho Madera Community Park in Simi Valley the evening before the Republican Presidential Primary Debate to let the candidates know that parental rights is a...

TAGS: children, education, parental rights, Rally

Parents, where do you draw the line? 

By California Policy Center
07/21/2023
Parents, where do you draw the line? The state legislature is aggressively shepherding anti-parent bills through its chambers that erode parental authority in ways that would seem unimaginable only a few years ago. Under the banner of “affirming transgender children,” legislators are pushing bills that upend parental rights in frightening ways and pose serious risks...

TAGS: education, education reform, Parent Empowerment Act, Parent Revolution, parent union, parents

Uneducating America: Student Test Scores on U.S. History and Civics Hit All-Time Lows

By Larry Sand
06/02/2023
The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), also referred to as the Nation’s Report Card, is a test that measures the knowledge of American students in various areas. The results of the NAEP test in U.S. history and civics, taken in 2022, were released last month. They paint a grim picture: according to the data,...

TAGS: California public education, california public schools, education, NAEP, standardized testing

The War on Boys and Girls

By Larry Sand
05/15/2023
Over the years, a cause for teen angst, suicide, etc., has reportedly been the media. But there is no definitive evidence to corroborate that. In fact, every recent generation has traditionally pointed to the media or some other cultural factor as damaging to youth. In the 1920s, it was the Charleston, and in the 1940s,...

TAGS: education, family, Gay Lesbian Straight Education Network, transgender