Pat Waite, president of Citizens for Fiscal Responsibility, agrees with Mayor Liccardo that our pension crisis has abated, but continues to blow the klaxon about the dangers of the City straying beyond its core responsibilities.

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Critical Race Theory states that America’s very foundation is discriminatory oppression; and to rectify past injustices, a broad systemic affirmative action regime should intrude into almost every facet of gov’t activity. Local school advocates have been pushing back on this extremist movement. Consultant Timothy L. Coyle deconstructs CRT, the “anti-racist” worldview made vogue by the 1619 Project/Black Lives Matter.

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If Californian cities truly consider homeless citizens honored “guests,” wouldn’t they work to rehabilitate them instead of pushing short-term, accountability-free housing? The answer, says California Globe’s Katy Grimes, lies in pure politics: Costly development projects benefit legislators and their allies, while addiction and mental health treatment is challenging (and not as flashy) to implement.

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In this installment of Opportunity Now’s favorite political book series, Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association (HJTA) president Jon Coupal and Market Urbanism Report editor Scott Beyer highlight powerful reads that have both inspired and challenged them—depicting in fine lines the state of our nation, as well as possibilities of transformation through “ordinary citizens’” perseverance.

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California’s charter schools serve 600,000+ children/year, roughly 10% of our state’s K-12 students (and in SCC, over 11%). Yet since 2020, CA EC Section 47612.7 has prohibited petitioning to create new charter schools, which face even further restrictions from proposed federal rules. April Warren—Head of Schools at California Virtual Academies—describes the advantages of fully-online charter schools, and why local parents’ choice is an important consideration when developing policy.

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Edward Ring of the California Policy Center analyzes California’s 2022-2023 state budget, totaling a whopping $300 billion. Looking back ten years, 2012’s budget (adjusted for inflation) was less than half of this upcoming year’s budget. But are Californians better off for it, when we consider statewide/local spiked-up costs of living, crime and homelessness crises, and overregulated business markets?

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Since a memorable 1984 campaign linked the lottery and public schools, many local Californians believe their gambling contributes to the educational system. However, the lottery system funds under 2% of our state’s education revenue. Columnist Joe Mathews corrects this misconception, exhorting that public school funding must directly serve students in Fox & Hounds Daily.

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In its July 30 issue, SJ Merc pulls a curious sleight-of-hand trick to misdirect readers about a legitimate issue—the high cost of local housing. It’s an exaggeration that complicates and confuses the issue and potential solutions.

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After a fiscally devastating pandemic, businesses face rising pressure to spout progressive political jargon to retain investors? Bill Flaig of American Conservative Values ETF analyzes Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) investment options, which force businesses to align inauthentically and dogmatically to extremist ideals—when they should instead prioritize effective financial decisions.

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Speaking at SJSU Econ dept’s David S. Saurman Provocative Lecture Series, Dr. Phillip W. Magness—of the American Institute for Economic Research—examines a strange shift in higher education. While Economics departments mostly swear off Marxist principles (thanks to their “broad real world failure” in practical application), Humanities departments frequently assign Marx’s writings. Why? Magness points to academia’s data-backed “ideological tilt” towards leftism.

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Thoreau Institute scholar and longtime Opp Now contributor Randal O'Toole provides a critical perspective on the Silicon Valley Business Journal's recent interview with VTA's CEO Carolyn Gonot, and laments a lack of clear-eyed, businesslike perspective on the troubled agency's prospects.

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