Demographics

VIDEO: How Republicans can maintain relevance in California

In a conversation with CalWatchdog.com Editor Brian Calle, San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer tells us why Republicans aren’t an endangered species in California. Mayor Faulconer, arguably one of the highest ranking elected officials in California, outlines his take on the

Black Caucus brings its clout to CA school funding fight

Chris Reed March 18, 2015

The Local Control Funding Formula, enacted in 2013, is supposed to make sure more education dollars are used in ways that specifically help struggling students. Gov. Jerry Brown pushed for the education funding change because he said it was crucial

CalSTRS bailout cost: Pension tsunami laps at CA shores

Chris Reed February 24, 2015

Gov. Jerry Brown’s relative stinginess in seeking to hold the line on social services spending and in demanding an end to the practice of state education bonds paying for local districts’ construction dumbfounds some Democrats, who cite a healthier economy

Wired: Anti-vaccine parents common in Silicon Valley

Chris Reed February 13, 2015

The coverage of the measles outbreak in the U.S. often makes the point that opponents of compulsory vaccination for schoolchildren are split politically between affluent leftists with New Age-y views about modern medicine and conservatives who don’t like government telling

Gov. Brown thinks long with young CA high-court picks

Chris Reed November 28, 2014

Jerry Brown will be 80 when his fourth and final term as governor ends in 2018. But it’s plain that he hopes to leave a mark on California life for 40 years after he’s gone — not with the bullet

Think tank explained CA’s affordable housing debacles long ago

Chris Reed November 10, 2014

A weekend story about the gross failure of affordable housing policies in San Francisco contained plenty of public frustration and official consternation. But it also is one more example of the very shallow way this issue is almost always covered

Teachers win Torlakson battle, but does Brown want them to win war?

Chris Reed November 7, 2014

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson’s defeat of reformer and fellow Democrat Marshall Tuck on Tuesday prompted analysis pieces that outlined how California’s union-dominated education establishment had rang up another win. While Tuesday night was grim for liberals, embattled teachers

Silicon Valley firms, Asian voters edging away from Democrats

Chris Reed November 6, 2014

The 2014 midterms have already been dismissed by President Obama as irrelevant because of low turnout. This isn’t entirely self-serving sour grapes. Not just partisans but analysts who have little nice to say about the Obama administration wonder how a

CTA pours extra money into Torlakson-Tuck race

Chris Reed November 4, 2014

Polls have shown the race between Superintendent of Public Schools Tom Torlakson and fellow Democrat Marshall Tuck to be within the margin of error, but I’m hearing there was a big infusion of CTA funds to run attack ads Monday

Mercury-News report on mass CA poverty may change coverage

Chris Reed November 2, 2014

The pack mentality of the Sacramento beat reporters is striking. No one wants to point out that the Obama administration says fracking is safe. No one wants to point out that the Local Control Funding Formula turned out to be