Education

Cal State University system hikes fees to offset tuition freeze

What a difference five years makes. In 2010, the California State University system issued $352 million in revenue bonds. Earlier this month, it issued $1.1 billion of the same thing. The debt issuance is standard, generally considered to be part of the

UCs use Brown agreement for salary boost

James Poulos August 12, 2015

Its budgetary outlook finally clear, the University of California system has pivoted quickly from planning to spending. With negotiations concluded between UC president Janet Napolitano and Gov. Jerry Brown, the board of regents has ushered in a substantial salary hike for

Fresno Unified has big, related legal headaches

Chris Reed July 27, 2015

Fresno Unified — California’s fourth-largest school district — is reeling from a state appeals court ruling that imperils the way it’s been doing bidding for school construction projects. At the same, the $37 million deal that led to the court

Former Long Beach superintendent: Break up LAUSD

Chris Reed July 26, 2015

Carl Cohn, the former Long Beach and San Diego superintendent who is considered one of the wise men of California public education, has a radical idea: Break up the Los Angeles Unified School District. Since he left the State Board of

Vergara case backer files new lawsuit

Chris Reed July 20, 2015

The education reform group founded by a Silicon Valley billionaire entrepreneur that won a landmark 2014 lawsuit — Vergara v. California — over teacher job protections has opened a second front in its battle with the state’s education establishment. Student

Lawsuit filed over use of LCFF dollars in L.A. Unified

Chris Reed July 7, 2015

The Local Control Funding Formula enacted by the Legislature in 2013 at Gov. Jerry Brown’s behest was billed as a great way to get additional help to English-learners and foster children in California public schools. It changed the formula under

Special contracts allow ‘full-time’ teachers to work for both union and district

Steve Miller July 7, 2015

It’s been called “ghost teaching,” and it thrives in California. Full-time teachers are paid six-figure salaries to work for their union while keeping their school district seniority and pensions afloat. The dual work arrangements are built into union contracts. “This

CalSTRS pension fix harder on taxpayers than UC fix

Chris Reed June 30, 2015

In the newly enacted 2015-16 state budget, the University of California has agreed to major pension changes, building on revisions already made under Gov. Jerry Brown since 2011. This account is from the Sacramento Bee: As part of an arrangement

Supreme Court ruling appears to help Vergara plaintiffs

Chris Reed June 29, 2015

A landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision last week that Texas programs implementing the federal Fair Housing Act have had a discriminatory “disparate impact” on minorities — even if there is no evidence of intent to discriminate in the execution of

CA Board of Education sides with teachers union on school funding

Chris Reed June 22, 2015

The State Board of Education, led by Gov. Jerry Brown’s longtime ally Michael Kirst (right), has decided to back up state Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson’s interpretation of a key state education reform, the 2013 Local Control Funding Formula