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Back to homepageSchool Funding Reform Skewered by CTA
JULY 11, 2011 By WAYNE LUSVARDI In California, all good ideas for school reform seem to end up in the corner wearing a dunce cap. Back on May 3, I reported on promising development in state Assembly Bill 18, a proposal by Assemblywoman Julia
Read MoreCalderon Pushing Hinky 'Gut-Amend' Bill
JULY 11, 2011 By KATY GRIMES A bill just signed into law by Gov. Jerry Brown is apparently being reincarnated — but for what purpose is known only to the bill’s author and perhaps Democratic Party leadership. AB 155, by
Read MoreNew Stem Cell Boss Grabs $400K Salary
JULY 11, 2011 By WAYNE LUSVARDI People are upset. The Los Angeles Times reported that the new chairman California stem cell research center, Jonathan Thomas — an investment banker — will draw a salary of more than $400,000 per year. Current Chairman
Read MoreSpectacular waste in redwood forests
JULY 11, 2011 As I took the nearly six-hour drive recently from the Sacramento area, past Ukiah and up to Eureka, through the heart of California’s redwood-forested North Coast, I was reminded of the spectacular beauty of California. Driving through
Read MoreAmazon Tax Already Killing CA Biz
John Seiler: The “Amazon” tax imposed Gov. Jerry “Jobs Killer” Brown and the Democratic Legislature, at the behest of the government unions that control them, already is killing scores of California businesses. Reports Jan Norman of the Orange County Register:
Read MoreUnions Might Seek 43% Tax Increase
JULY 10, 2011 By JOHN SEILER California’s government unions could seek a 43 percent tax increase on wealthy Californians. The Contra Costa Times reported on the action, but missed the magnitude of the tax increase. The Times: SACRAMENTO — Labor leaders were
Read MoreSmaller Classrooms Hurt Kids
John Seiler: I’ve been fighting for at least 15 years the bad idea that smaller classrooms necessarily are better. California enacted class-size reductions in the mid-1990s. With budget problems, that “reform” now is being reviewed. The class-size reductions were advanced
Read MoreVoters Might Get to Kill Death Penalty
Editor’s Note: Some corrections to this article were added after comments from Natasha Minsker, Death Penalty Policy Director of the ACLU of Northern California. JULY 9, 2011 By ALI MEYER If SB 490 becomes law, voters could have a chance to kill the death penalty.
Read MoreWill Salaries Sink CIRM?
Lloyd Billingsley: The Los Angeles Times is editorializing that outlandish salaries at the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, will “will go a long way toward assuring the institute’s extinction.” But the Times is leaving out another factor that could sink the state stem cell institute, created
Read MoreU.S., Calif. Economies Crashing?
John Seiler: Californians should thank the ghost of Hiram Johnson that taxes weren’t raised in the new budget, and that we got a little tax cut on July 1. Gov. Jerry Brown, the Democratic Legislature and the government unions that
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