We are excited to launch a new project about California’s pension debt crisis that is a collaboration between CALmatters, the Los Angeles Times and Capital Public Radio.    In print, online and over the airwaves, this series will explore the consequences of a historic expansion of retirement benefits for California public employees. A series of […]

Parents have a right to know how their particular local schools are performing, but California’s new accountability system fails to provide that information, former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa charged Wednesday. Villaraigosa, who is eyeing a 2018 gubernatorial bid, made his comments during a wide-ranging panel discussion about the new assessments, which backers described as […]

California has more billionaires than any other state, and an abundance of direct democracy. Those two facts intersect during election season, when spending by wealthy donors helps determine which initiatives make it on the ballot, and how many TV commercials and mailers campaigns can buy. Their donations carry the potential to influence state policy for […]

Six years after Citizens United—the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision that says corporations and unions have a 1st Amendment right to unlimited campaign spending—presidential candidates across the spectrum have condemned the campaign finance system it shaped. “Corrupt,” says Bernie Sanders. “Pernicious,” says Hillary Clinton. “A broken system,” says Donald Trump.The issue is getting extra attention […]

Affordable homes with ample lots lure many families to the town of Apple Valley in the Mojave Desert. But amenities are limited—no department stores, no Costco and, more importantly, few affordable medical care options for pregnant women. For Cassandra Lindstrom, that meant scheduling the birth of her second baby at a hospital at least an […]

CALmatters, Long Beach State University & Southern California News Group invite you to attend an exciting panel discussion "A for Accountability: A Report Card on California's New Public-School Assessments."

The sound of applause has scarcely died down in the Capitol after last week’s vote to significantly expand California’s requirements to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Proponents who steered the groundbreaking legislation are still basking in the afterglow of an effort that—after seeming on the brink of defeat—deftly mustered unexpected support and reaffirmed the state’s international […]

In civil liberties circles, she is known by the pseudonym of Elizabeth James—a retiree from the phone company who was contemplating a cross-country trip with her machinist husband. The two had worked for decades, raising two children and caring for her developmentally disabled sister, who lived in a home the couple had bought and remodeled […]

For decades, the standardized test scores of California students have shown that achievement gaps based on race, ethnicity and class—while troubling—tended to narrow over time. And an alarming gender discrepancy that once showed girls testing significantly behind boys in math has actually vanished. But while the state’s newly released 2016 scores show small improvements overall compared to […]