CALmatters is looking into the complex topic of making California’s houses, schools, hospitals, offices and other buildings more energy-efficient — part of Governor Jerry Brown’s strategy for battling climate change. Beginning next year, new rules will determine how millions of structures throughout the state use less energy so that consumption is cut in half by […]
Posted inPolitics
Photo gallery: #WinLikeAGirl reception for women in California politics
Women who work in California politics gathered in the historic Governor’s Mansion in Sacramento for a #WinLikeAGirl networking event paid for by the state Democratic party on February 11, 2016. All photos by Max Whittaker for CALmatters. Cynthia Bryant (holding microphone, executive director of the California Republican Party) and Shawnda Westly (at right, senior strategist […]
Posted inPolitics
Female lobbying firm thrives in male-dominated Capitol
#WinLikeAGirl at the Governor’s Mansion Click here to see more photos from the bipartisan networking event for women in California politics. Photos decorating the Political Solutions lobbying firm look like those inside many similar businesses in Sacramento. One shows a firm partner on the golf course with a former assembly speaker. In another, three […]
Posted inEducation, K-12 Education
How to follow Vergara v. California
This week, a state appellate court will be asked to overturn a closely watched legal decision that said poor and minority school students in California have been denied their right to a proper education because of laws that prevent the dismissal of bad teachers. The case, Vergara v. California, was filed on behalf of nine […]
Posted inPolitics
How did Eric Linder win the left and the right?
Several times in the last year, Assemblyman Eric Linder (R-Corona) pushed the green “Yes” button on his desk when most of his Republican colleagues pressed “No.” He broke from his party to vote for labor-backed bills requiring more disclosure of health care rates, new layoff protections for civil servants and a system for workers to […]
Posted inPolitics
Legislators lock up bills to limit solitary confinement of juveniles
When President Barack Obama announced last month that he is taking executive action to ban the solitary confinement of juveniles in federal prisons, it was a rare case of Washington setting policy more liberal than what comes out of Sacramento. In California’s Democratic-controlled Legislature, bills to restrict the use of solitary confinement on youth have […]
Posted inHealth
The other ‘high-cost’ drugs: What specialty drugs mean for California
NOTE: Somebody redirected this to medium.com version. Doing the same here. What’s behind the jaw-dropping cost of new “specialty drugs” like Orkambi, which has a sticker price of $259,000 per year for cystic fibrosis patients? Orkambi, which was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration last July, is expected to take almost $36 million […]
Posted inEducation, K-12 Education
How much are teachers in your district paid?
The searchable database below shows how teacher and staff salaries have grown since the Great Recession in more than 650 of California’s 1,022 school districts. As it illustrates, California education funding is finally booming. The $71.6 billion budget that Gov. Jerry Brown proposed in January would be the fifth consecutive year of growth since the […]
Posted inEducation, K-12 Education
Champion of California schools advises conservative approach on state funds
When former state Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell was termed out five years ago, the popular politician could only watch as a state budget deficit eroded his signature priorities to reduce class size and improve the performance of Latino and African-American students. These days, O’Connell, 64, spends his time hopscotching the state advising school […]