Blog

Did use of school bonds for iPads deceive bond buyers?

When California voters passed Proposition 39 in 2000, they thought they were simply making it easier to pass school bonds for construction of facilities by lowering the approval threshold from two-thirds of the vote to 55 percent. But a provision

Hardball pays off with 2-year, 10% hike for L.A. teachers

Chris Reed April 20, 2015

Hardball paid off for the United Teachers Los Angeles late Friday when negotiators reached tentative agreement on a three-year deal that provides L.A. Unified teachers with a 10 percent pay raise in the first two years. That’s far more than

Bill to end high school exit exam advances

Chris Reed April 17, 2015

Gov. Jerry Brown and state schools chief Tom Torlakson have made plain for years they want no part of the education reform agenda touted by President Obama and think tanks backed by Bill Gates. The state has not pursued federal

‘Anti-science policies’ seen as factor in CA water crisis

Chris Reed April 16, 2015

Gov. Jerry Brown’s recent executive order mandating decreased water use prompted national and international attention. All coverage understandably emphasized the state’s 4-year-old drought; some linked the problem to climate change. But a California-based journalist who specializes in science reporting based

L.A. mayor’s State of City address skips economic woes

Chris Reed April 15, 2015

In January 2014, a blue-ribbon commission created at the behest of Los Angeles City Council President Herb Wesson presented the council with a report titled “A Time for Truth” — a hugely downbeat account of the economic decline of the

Leading liberal policy wonk: “Snob zoning” drives inequality

Chris Reed April 13, 2015

The fact that California has by far the nation’s highest effective poverty rate finally sank in with the California political and media establishments in recent months. The Census Bureau’s 2012 decision to issue a separate ranking that factored in the

Pension funds’ goal: High returns or symbolic stands?

Chris Reed April 11, 2015

Government pension funds around America have for years been pressured to take stands on political issues by investing or not investing in particular companies or industries. Pension fund managers bent on maximizing returns typically push back, especially in an era

Tech giant provides twist in San Diego stadium saga

Chris Reed April 8, 2015

A San Diego task force continues to prepare a report on how a $1 billion-plus stadium could be built without direct public funding in Mission Valley in the space now occupied by Qualcomm Stadium, the Chargers’ home under various names

Brown needn’t have worried about Washington Post’s bullet-train story

Chris Reed April 4, 2015

The most interesting part of the Sacramento Bee story Friday about Gov. Jerry Brown releasing 113 pages of emails from his private account was his apparent anxiety over what a Washington Post story had to say about the state’s bullet-train

Rising CA Democratic stars want no part of bullet train

Chris Reed April 2, 2015

State Attorney General Kamala Harris’ refusal to support Gov. Jerry Brown’s bullet-train project in her recent New York Times interview led to some surprised reactions on social media. It shouldn’t have. Multiple indicators have suggested both Harris and Lt. Gov.