Education
Commentary
WikiLeaks no threat to free society
SACRAMENTO – The response by pundits to the latest WikiLeaks classified-document dump has reminded me of a preacher who decries pornography, but who also insists on reading the dirty magazines page by page so that he can better understand the depth of the world’s depravity. If WikiLeaks’ actions were so ...
Commentary
California fails at giving kids a quality high-tech education
California’s new superintendent of public instruction is Tom Torlakson, whose election locks in a status quo that short-circuits California students on high-tech delivery of educational services. Countries such as Indonesia, Mexico, Singapore, Turkey, India and China, along with the European Union, are taking full advantage of online education. California, home ...
Commentary
Demography Is Still Not Destiny
Florida ’s low-income, Hispanic, and black fourth graders now outperform all California fourth graders on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) reading assessment according to a policy brief released today by the Pacific Research Institute (PRI), a California-based think tank. Demography is Still Not Destiny attributes this striking gap ...
Agriculture
Is Our Food Hazardous To The Planet?
Enough with blaming agriculture for the world’s environmental woes! According to a new report released by the San Francisco, Calif.-based Pacific Research Institute, the environmental impact of raising crops and livestock is often misconstrued. The report, “Is Your Food Making the Planet Sick?” can be downloaded at www.pacificresearch.org/publications/is-your-food-making-the-planet-sick. “Modern agriculture ...
Commentary
Paulson: It’s time for school choice
Take time to watch Academy Award-winning director Davis Guggenheim’s Waiting for Superman, voted best U.S. documentary at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival, and you’ll be confronted with the sorry state of America’s school system. How can America invent a more innovative and profitable future without a quality education system? In ...
Commentary
State’s new legislators should take cue from Florida on schools
California’s new education boss, Tom Torlakson, has his work cut out for him. He might start by explaining to parents why Florida, a demographically similar state, continues to outpace California in student achievement. On that score, the Golden State still sputters around the bottom of national rankings. California apologists of ...
Commentary
Who’s Qualified to Run New York City Schools? Pitfalls From a Lack of Knowledge
Lacking an official background in public education is different than a lack of knowledge of critical educational issues. An education leader can succeed without the former, but not the latter. As a business executive, Joel Klein brought useful management ideas to the job of chancellor. He knew that employees have ...
Education
Lessons from Florida for California’s New Legislators
California’s new state education boss, Tom Torlakson, has his work cut out for him. He might start by explaining to parents why Florida, a demographically similar state, continues to outpace California in student achievement. On that score the Golden State still sputters around the bottom of national rankings. California apologists ...
Commentary
School Choice on Trial
School choice plans are proliferating around the nation, and today the Supreme Court will hear a case that could stop them cold on dubious legal grounds. In Arizona Christian School Tuition Organization v. Winn, the question is whether a scholarship tax credit program that has operated in Arizona since 1997 ...
Commentary
Economc Study Funded by Prop. 23 backers questioned
The report had a tantalizing hook: “Proposition 23 will create 1.3 million jobs by 2020,” including 150,000 jobs next year. Proponents of the campaign to roll back the state’s landmark greenhouse gas reduction law touted the nonprofit Pacific Research Institute’s study in an Oct. 5 news release as “good news ...
WikiLeaks no threat to free society
SACRAMENTO – The response by pundits to the latest WikiLeaks classified-document dump has reminded me of a preacher who decries pornography, but who also insists on reading the dirty magazines page by page so that he can better understand the depth of the world’s depravity. If WikiLeaks’ actions were so ...
California fails at giving kids a quality high-tech education
California’s new superintendent of public instruction is Tom Torlakson, whose election locks in a status quo that short-circuits California students on high-tech delivery of educational services. Countries such as Indonesia, Mexico, Singapore, Turkey, India and China, along with the European Union, are taking full advantage of online education. California, home ...
Demography Is Still Not Destiny
Florida ’s low-income, Hispanic, and black fourth graders now outperform all California fourth graders on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) reading assessment according to a policy brief released today by the Pacific Research Institute (PRI), a California-based think tank. Demography is Still Not Destiny attributes this striking gap ...
Is Our Food Hazardous To The Planet?
Enough with blaming agriculture for the world’s environmental woes! According to a new report released by the San Francisco, Calif.-based Pacific Research Institute, the environmental impact of raising crops and livestock is often misconstrued. The report, “Is Your Food Making the Planet Sick?” can be downloaded at www.pacificresearch.org/publications/is-your-food-making-the-planet-sick. “Modern agriculture ...
Paulson: It’s time for school choice
Take time to watch Academy Award-winning director Davis Guggenheim’s Waiting for Superman, voted best U.S. documentary at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival, and you’ll be confronted with the sorry state of America’s school system. How can America invent a more innovative and profitable future without a quality education system? In ...
State’s new legislators should take cue from Florida on schools
California’s new education boss, Tom Torlakson, has his work cut out for him. He might start by explaining to parents why Florida, a demographically similar state, continues to outpace California in student achievement. On that score, the Golden State still sputters around the bottom of national rankings. California apologists of ...
Who’s Qualified to Run New York City Schools? Pitfalls From a Lack of Knowledge
Lacking an official background in public education is different than a lack of knowledge of critical educational issues. An education leader can succeed without the former, but not the latter. As a business executive, Joel Klein brought useful management ideas to the job of chancellor. He knew that employees have ...
Lessons from Florida for California’s New Legislators
California’s new state education boss, Tom Torlakson, has his work cut out for him. He might start by explaining to parents why Florida, a demographically similar state, continues to outpace California in student achievement. On that score the Golden State still sputters around the bottom of national rankings. California apologists ...
School Choice on Trial
School choice plans are proliferating around the nation, and today the Supreme Court will hear a case that could stop them cold on dubious legal grounds. In Arizona Christian School Tuition Organization v. Winn, the question is whether a scholarship tax credit program that has operated in Arizona since 1997 ...
Economc Study Funded by Prop. 23 backers questioned
The report had a tantalizing hook: “Proposition 23 will create 1.3 million jobs by 2020,” including 150,000 jobs next year. Proponents of the campaign to roll back the state’s landmark greenhouse gas reduction law touted the nonprofit Pacific Research Institute’s study in an Oct. 5 news release as “good news ...
