First of all, Californians think that raising university tuition again is a really bad idea. A non-starter. Second, although the University of California is crying for more state money, it needs to get in line. Join the crowd of folks with their hands out. K-12 schools, the impoverished aged and disabled, highway users — among
Southern California job creation has grown rapidly over the last two years, but the recovery has been dominated by lower-paying service jobs in retail and food services, according to new research. That trend will continue without major shifts in education and workforce training, according to a series of recent reports by the Southern California Association
Kevin de León, president pro tem of the state Senate for just a few weeks, has already run up a remarkable string of political missteps and gaffes. And that’s why Capitol insiders are beginning to speculate on how long de León can last – especially since Democrats have a pro-tem-in-waiting named Bob Hertzberg, a former
California lawmakers, many elected by razor-thin margins in districts where the turnout was historically low, were formally sworn in Monday for the two-year session. Even on the first day, the battle lines were being drawn for the 2015-16 session: Assembly Speaker Toni Atkins, D-San Diego, demanded “zero-based budgeting with a thorough public discussion” for the
California lawmakers, many elected by razor-thin margins in districts where the turnout was historically low, were formally sworn in Monday for the two-year session. The Senate is poised to run light in the New Year – with three members heading to Congress. A fourth seat will be filled later this month when former Sen. Rod
State Controller John Chiang performed an admirable public service by publishing a detailed report on the finances of California’s public employee pension systems. The most eye-popping fact in the report is that the “unfunded liabilities” of those systems exploded from $6.3 billion in 2003 to $198.2 billion in 2013. Why? It was a perfect storm
The election is over, the Legislature reconvenes Dec. 1 and interest groups are starting to beat their drums – signals that the Capitol will soon begin its annual spasm of Darwinian combat known as the state budget. Gov. Jerry Brown, of course, is the main player and he and his fiscal advisers will soon finalize a
California Department of Food & Agriculture Secretary Karen Ross this week praised WHCC's "exciting" leadership of applied agriculture education and job creation in her customary opening statement to the Board of Food & Agriculture monthly meeting. She mentioned the college's leadership of a six-campus consortium of community colleges re-creating career technical education and its focus
A record number of graduating high schoolers achieved an academic standard known as "biliteracy," jumping from 19,000 students last year to more than 24,000 in 2014, according to the California Department of Education. Being biliterate is more than being bilingual. "Biliteracy means that a child or an adult would have the ability to speak, read,
California agricultural catastrophe could start with a single handkerchief. In the hands of a clever terrorist, the handkerchief could be contaminated with the foot-and-mouth disease virus, then dropped in a pen of livestock. Cattle, which are curious by nature, would soon start sniffing the handkerchief, potentially creating a ground zero for one of the most feared