With $10 million in funding, an ambitious timeline and a champion in Gov. Gavin Newsom behind it, the Legislature this week passed legislation for a statewide education data system that will follow children from infancy through the workplace. The marching order for what Newsom is calling a Cradle to Career Data System is included in […]
Everyone agrees there is a humanitarian crisis on the streets of California. But the homelessness population is not a monolith. It is a diverse set of individuals and families who ended up without a roof over their head for myriad reasons. Yet politicians across the state continue to point to the state’s housing crisis as […]
The dust has settled on Measure EE, the 16-cent per square foot property tax rushed onto a June 4 ballot by the LAUSD board and its union. Following last week’s election results, politicians, pundits and school boards across the state are pondering EE’s meaning – trying to determine whether the parcel tax’s defeat was a […]
Let me start with an admission: government officials—at all levels—don’t do a good job of engaging the public as we grapple with big, complex challenges. Hearings only go so far. Videos and social posts get into only so much detail and nuance. And, most importantly, most of what we do is based on how we […]
Buoyed by a flush state surplus, California lawmakers agreed Thursday on a state budget that will expand enrollment at the state’s higher education systems, keep tuition flat and particularly help older college students with tuition and living costs. In addition, $4 million will be available to study the possible construction of two new campuses in […]
Throughout college, Atticus Reyes traveled an hour each way from his upper valley home in Ojai to Cal State Channel Islands a few miles off Ventura County’s expansive coastline. Reyes arranged his first two years of classes so he would only be on campus two days a week—a strategy that allowed him to avoid hundreds […]
In looking for a new name for California’s fledgling Online Community College, officials wanted something that would attract potential students to the promise of a better future in the Golden State. They also wanted a more widely encompassing moniker for an institution that won’t be only online, despite its original title. The somewhat surprising and […]
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposal to generously bolster state financial aid to California college students who are parents of dependent children – one of the most important pieces of his higher education plan – is facing strong opposition in the state Legislature. The governor’s plan would have cost an estimated $96.7 million a year and provided […]
Is a student loan bill of rights coming to California? Here’s what you need to know. Student Borrower Bill of Rights On Tuesday, the California Assembly passed a first-in-the-nation “Student Borrower Bill of Rights,” which aims to protect borrowers with student loans. Sponsored by Assemblyman Mark Stone, the bill, AB 376, primarily targets student loan […]
It’s not your grandparents’—or even your parents’—higher-ed system. A young Californian of the Baby Boomer generation, bolstered by the post-war economic boom and the state’s investment in public higher education, could often emerge from college with little to no debt and a clear path to a living wage and homeownership. Today’s California students, by contrast, […]
A report from the California Business Roundtable says the state’s working poor are finding it harder than ever to move up the economic ladder toward the middle class. The roundtable’s president, Robert Lapsley, says the cost of living is the biggest barrier to upward mobility in the state. Lapsley says that’s in addition to cumbersome […]
The expanding gig economy in California is often praised for giving workers flexibility and independence. Be your own boss, set your own schedule, companies tout, and these companies would like us to think that drivers, cleaners and personal shoppers actually prefer the gig economy to traditional employment. The rosy spin ignores the reality for California’s […]
As California ramps up efforts to improve air quality and reduce greenhouse gas emissions statewide, one polluting industry, in particular, is fighting to maintain relevance. In the face of local governments, state regulators, health professionals, and environmental groups calling for clean energy homes and buildings that can be powered with renewable electricity instead of gas, […]
The initiative would make dramatic changes to the tax system established four decades ago by Proposition 13, which capped how much property tax bills could increase every year. The proposed measure would boost property tax revenues from commercial and industrial properties by assessing them at their current market value. Property tax protections would remain unchanged […]
California’s poor students performed worse on a national exam than needy kids from all but one other state, according to results released this week by the National Center for Education Statistics. Congratulations, folks. We beat Alaska. These students’ lackluster scores on the most recent National Assessment of Educational Progress come despite the state’s $31.2 billion […]