education

For the past few months, many of my colleagues have been college students from Southern Hemisphere countries such as Argentina, Brazil, Chile, New Zealand and Australia.  They are here on temporary visas working in the ski industry during their summer breaks.  And they are smart, industrious kids.

The 550,000 students enrolled at the University of California and the California State University system have been served a steady diet of tuition and fee increases over the past few years.  In part to cope with a $350 million net cut in state support to both systems this year, a 32 percent increase for UC students -- $1,929 -- is scheduled to take effect in September – on the heels of a 9

Mandates, funded or unfunded, aren’t unique to the federal government -- the state imposes 51 on school districts and community colleges, with one requirement costing as much as $200 million annually.  California’s constitution says schools must be reimbursed for any actions the state commands them to perform –everything from scoliosis screening to truancy notifications – but to save money

This Sunday, the Los Angeles Times released an article confirming precisely what election and budget analysts have known for ages – that most voters know very little about the budget, and that this fact has absolutely no bearing on their confidence that they could do a better job managing it than the politicians in Sacramento.