March 22, 2019

Highlighting all of CALmatters' work over the past week

Two months into the new job, Tony Thurmond seems to be exactly the man that his most loyal backers hoped (and his opponents feared) he would be. In a Commonwealth Club discussion with CALmatters' education reporter Ricardo Cano, the state’s public schools superintendent didn’t hold back in a wide-ranging discussion Thursday night: He raised doubts about the value of charter schools, criticized school districts for the state’s wave of teacher strikes, questioned the severity of public pension debt and insisted the state must spend more to educate its students.

California's new toxics warning rules apply to something that didn’t even exist when Prop. 65 first took effect: online markets for products, including wine. It's the latest expansion for the measure, whose signs are ubiquitous at gas stations, retailers and even Disneyland. But after pushback, coffee is getting a pass.

A collection of commentaries by Dan Walters over the past week.

Newsom on death. Trump on oil. San Francisco on youth crime. Thurmond on charter schools. Athletes on gender equity. And good fences make good neighbors in Santa Rosa.

Some charter parents assert their children’s charter school experience is positive. I can believe it. But sincere charter parents need to understand that while for some students charters can be beneficial, their overall impact on public education is destructive.