Competitive teacher salaries: Free market-ifying public education
Public teacher compensation remains a hotly contested topic in California, several loud voices refraining that educators deserve a higher income. Under the proposed “Pay Teachers Act,” teachers would be guaranteed $60,000+/year, funded by local taxpayers. However, the average American teacher earns $68.85/hour (and in the SJUSD, $47/hr.), compared to the private sector’s $36/hr. Larry Sand proposes in Front Page Magazine that competitive, market-driven salaries are more logical than the current non-merit-based, across-the-board system.
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Despite signs of stabilization, SJ housing still grossly overpriced
It’s nothing new: San Joseans repeatedly cite housing costs as an impediment to staying in the Bay, which boasts the United States’ priciest homes. According to San Jose Inside, SJ’s housing market appears to be flattening out, with total Bay home sales having decreased from last year. However, the area still struggles to provide affordable housing offerings. Barry Holtzclaw reports.
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☆ Opinion: Less gov’t interference key to preventing further bank collapses
Economist Mike ter Maat spoke to SCC Libt voters this past November about his privatized approach to solving local concerns. In this Opp Now exclusive, ter Maat unpacks why government regulation contributed to the Silicon Valley Bank failure, and where the private sector can step in from here.
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☆ “More disappointed than shocked”: Stanford student org pres on Woke college takeovers
Last week, Stanford students/a DEI admin aggressively heckled controversial guest speaker Judge Kyle Duncan, disrupting and cutting short his prepared talk. Tim Rosenberger, Jr., president of Stanford Law’s Federalist Society chapter, sits down with Opp Now for an exclusive breakdown of Stanford’s dangerously “comfort”-driven student/faculty culture—and his proposed steps to restore diverse thought to the revered university.
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Bullying woke Stanford Law students and DEI dean beclown once-proud institution
Fifth Circuit Judge Kyle Duncan was shouted down last week at a Stanford Law School event sponsored by the Federalist Society chapter. The disruption of Judge Duncan’s remarks was supported at the event by Associate Dean of DEI Tirien Steinbach. The wild suppression of Free Speech prompted a high profile apology from Stanford's president, but is it enough? David Lat's exceptional Original Jurisdiction has the whole story; excerpts below.
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Analysis: Criminal leniency risks public safety
Frequently, those pushing for early prisoner release in the SCC cite dangers of “unnecessary incarceration.” However, says Rafael A. Mangual in Newsweek, most incarcerated individuals committed serious crimes (e.g., murder or armed burglary) to land them in jail — and 83% go on to commit more after being released. Rather than merely seeking to empty local prisons, Mangual suggests a more prudent approach to preserving public safety.
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Commentary: Expected local HSR users drops by 25%
California’s high-speed rail disaster remains on the slow track, its projected completion presently looming in the 2030s. Ralph Vartabedian discusses in CalMatters that despite an incessant wealth of funding and time, the HSR project now anticipates 25% less ridership than previously predicted. Who is this HSR really made for, and will the rail be fiscally self-sufficient?
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Judge blocks removal of Oakland tent camp, stalling solutions
California has long faced a homelessness epidemic nightmare, with plentiful encampments putting lives at risk in and outside of SJ; yet a federal judge has just prohibited Newsom’s planned removal of Oakland’s “tent city,” suggesting an anterior need for a resettlement plan. Debra J. Saunders analyzes in the American Spectator why enforcing existing homeless encampment laws will cultivate safer communities.
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“Magical thinking,” not a dearth of funding, feeds Bay’s homelessness
The Spectator’s Debra J. Saunders speaks with San Fransicko author Michael Shellenberger about the Bay Area’s hazardously “altruis[tic]” approach to homelessness. While ignoring true underlying factors like substance abuse, current governance hopes that throwing more money at Housing First and similar initiatives will solve unhoused people’s situations—to no avail.
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☆ Former CSD board candidate: Viable schools are run like businesses
This Opp Now exclusive features Monte Dauer, who ran for Cambrian School Board in November. Dauer argues that rather than regularly being bailed out with additional funds, local schools must be evaluated and compensated based on performance—how it works in the business world. His 2023 hopes and apprehensions for the CSD below.
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Analysis: Ex-Californians overwhelmingly pour into Texas
In 2021, San Jose lost residents five times faster than the rest of California did. Currently, SCC locals continue migrating to other states like Texas in the tens of thousands each year—and they aren’t slowing down. The California Globe’s Sheridan Swanson parses this mounting concern using YTexas, Hartman Income REIT, and UHaul data.
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Despite inadequate homeowner rebates, SJ staff weighs “Burn-Out Ordinance”
Advocates argue that a total ban on natural gas furnaces/water heaters, as the California Air Resources Board proposed last September, won’t empty residents’ wallets—because of existing rebate and incentive programs. Neighborhood group-based org Families & Homes SJ begs to differ. Existing programs will refund 10% max of residents’ expected costs, leaving $27,000+ out of pocket for locals already struggling with rent.
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