Education

VIDEO: Teachers unions, Common Core and other roadblocks to reform

Cal Watchdog’s James Poulos interviews filmmaker Bob Bowdon about the national trends in school choice and bottom-up solutions for education reform.

Will severe school lunch policies eventually cost Dems? Maybe

Chris Reed November 13, 2014

The news this week that UC San Francisco had “unveiled a repository of sugar science, designed to collect the evidence against sweetened foods and disseminate that information to the public — and persuade people to boot fructose and most other

Modest-seeming CalSTRS pension estimate lacks key context

Chris Reed November 11, 2014

The California Teachers Association and the California Federation of Teachers do a good job of promoting the narrative that state teacher pensions are very modest at best. It’s true that there aren’t the same type of outrageous stories that we see in

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

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

Izumi study sparks law promoting online learning

John Seiler October 31, 2014

Maybe things actually are starting to change for the better in California’s embattled public schools. The latest: Kids who enroll in virtual or online charter schools now can continue their studies even if they move out of their original school

After 13 months on job, UC President Napolitano already seems restless

Chris Reed October 28, 2014

It has been 13 months since Janet Napolitano took over as president of University of California system. The former homeland security chief for the Obama administration has just dropped her second big hint in as many months that she’s ready

Deasy resignation continues LAUSD turmoil

James Poulos October 24, 2014

John Deasy’s recent resignation as the superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District ends three years of controversy. But a cloud of chalk dust remains over the mammoth district’s future. Deasy conceded his policies sowed sharp disagreements. And a conciliatory statement by

Fiasco at all-minority L.A. high school validates Vergara argument

Chris Reed October 16, 2014

The immense fiasco at 100 percent minority Jefferson High School in Los Angeles underscores the findings of Judge Rolf Treu in the Vergara case that minority students are treated awfully in the L.A. Unified School District. This is from the

Biden due in L.A. to tout minimum-wage hike — commuters, beware

Chris Reed October 7, 2014

Monday, Joe Biden was in Nevada touting a hike in the minimum wage as the key to fighting income inequality. Today, the vice president will be in Los Angeles with Mayor Eric Garcetti offering the same spiel before heading to