Don’t Scapegoat Charter Schools For School Districts’ Fiscal Woes
Governor Gavin Newsom’s move to have State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond create an expert panel to review the financial impact of charter schools on regular public schools, and put out a report by July, smells like an attempt to scapegoat charter schools. First, comments by the governor’s office plainly showed Newsom’s bias. A […]
Legislators Need Courage to Avert School Funding Crisis
In 2012 the California Legislature and Governor Jerry Brown asked voters to approve a big sales and income tax increase to better fund schools. Voters approved the measure and per-pupil spending has risen 60 percent since then to $17,160 per student. One would expect schools to be faring well. They aren’t. Despite the spending increase, school […]
California’s Opportunity to encourage more Investments in Education
To facilitate the financing of your students’ education, the Federal government has set up the 529 plan for each State to implement. The “529″ refers to the section of the Internal Revenue Code that created these college savings plans. A 529 College Savings Plan is a tax-advantaged way for families to save money for education-related […]
A Tale of Two Cities and Blocked Pension Reforms
A San Diego city attorney urged an appeals court last week to order talks with unions on repaying 4,000 employees for pensions illegally replaced by 401(k)-style plans under an initiative, a cost some estimate could reach $100 million. If the talks result in agreement, the city attorney suggested the pact could go back to voters […]