Explainers

An explanation of the state’s water development, as well as the challenges, of providing water for California’s people, places and things.

Sweeping reforms have pumped billions of dollars into high-needs school districts. So why has the needle been so slow to move?

President Trump really seems to have it in for California, which he describes as a Democratic dystopia. We fact-check his claims and California's record.

Many policies proposed by Democratic White House contenders already are law in California, which has become a lab for big blue ideas. How are they working?

California's new data privacy law is the nation's toughest. Here's what it will and won't do to help you control the use of your data online.

California's most vexing issue is also its most shameful: the large and rising number of residents who lack a safe place to call home. Here's what you need to know about the problem — and possible solutions.

The nationwide Varsity Blues scandal posed an important question about college admissions: As California Assemblyman Kevin McCarty put it, “How do we reassure the public that the system is not totally rigged?” State legislators sought to address this challenge with two new laws increasing oversight of the admissions process, both of which take effect in […]

Are robots coming for your job? Why is pay falling behind as productivity rises? What about college? And could unions save California's middle class?

The modern American gun debate began in 1967 in California's Capitol. In the years since, California has enacted more gun control laws than any other state.

The cost of a college degree is soaring in California, where public universities were once free. What happened? And what can be done for students and families?