Budget and Finance
Back to homepageUC still funds pro-union think tank
AUGUST 16, 2010 By ANTHONY PIGNATARO Despite well-publicized tuition hikes and other various increases in student fees, the University of California somehow still manages to fund the Miguel Contreras Labor Program, a pro-union think tank with offices at the Los
Read MoreWill California repudiate its debt?
AUGUST 12, 2010 By JOHN SEILER California’s government soon could be paying its bills with IOUs, Controller John Chang announced this week. And a new report found that Californians’ personal income dropped 2.5 percent in 2009, the first decline since World
Read MoreSouth L.A.'s Charter Success
AUG. 7, 2010 By JOHN SEILER The goal is bold: To graduate 2,000 students from inner-city high schools in South Los Angeles — then have them all graduate from college. The method: put 40 charter schools within the 45 square
Read MoreOther People's Money
AUG. 6, 2010 After sitting through another week of state legislative sessions and committee hearings, the phrase “other people’s money” keeps running through my head. Last week I spoke with Senator Denise Moreno Ducheny, D-San Diego, and that started me
Read MoreAnother Look Inside CalWatchdog
The following conversation took place moments ago in the CalWatchdog newsroom: ANTHONY PIGNATARO: What?! LAURA SUCHESKI: What happened? ANTHONY PIGNATARO: University of California post-doctoral researchers just announced they’ve signed a union contract. LAURA SUCHESKI: What?!
Read MoreSenator: 'Incompetence' Plagues Vote Program
AUG. 4, 2010 By KATY GRIMES Heated discussion took place in the budget committee on Tuesday about a public health program for women. Specifically: how much to fund it this year, setting off the ire of Sen. Bob Dutton, R-Rancho
Read MoreFeds Quash Non-Profit Student Loan Money
AUG. 3, 2010 By EVELYN STACEY On July 30 the U.S. Department of Education quashed California’s plan to sell EdFund, the non-profit student-loan guarantor. Ed Fund was created in 1997 as the state loan guaranty agency under the Federal Family Education
Read MoreAssembly Takes on Free Speech in Charters
AUG. 3, 2010 By KATY GRIMES After passing several innocuous-sounding resolutions, Assembly members were back at work in the legislature yesterday after summer recess, but quickly found themselves voting on a surprisingly partisan charter school bill. The first resolution to
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