School choice options are supported by many Californian families from a variety of political affiliations. In light of the CA Senate's education committee recently rejecting an educational savings account (ESA) bill, Jeffrey Carter explains on his Substack blog why supply side economics are, indeed, effective when applied to education.
Read MoreSeveral SF Democrats including long-loyal activist Cyn Wang were just denied charter for the new Westside Family Dem Club. Why? The Dems fear club leaders are Republicans in camouflage, as “family” is really code for “right wing.” This isn't the first time local Dem Central Committees have hastily ousted allies who behave slightly contra the hive mind. The SF Chronicle's analysis below.
Read MoreSan Jose’s Director of Housing will retire this July, with the City still in crisis mode regarding affordability and homelessness. According to Scott Beyer, head of the Market Urbanism Report, the City should look for a replacement with a dramatically different approach—one that rejects a hyper-regulated land-use and rental management regime, and embraces instead a deregulatory approach. Simply put: How about working with—not against—the market? An Opp Now exclusive.
Read MoreExperienced researcher of CA community colleges Christopher Jepsen breaks down Calbright: the emergent virtual-only CC institution making waves across the Golden State. Jepsen argues that despite online learning's benefits, local Bay Area brick-and-mortar CCs shouldn't be too concerned about "stolen" enrollment. An Opp Now exclusive.
Read MoreMRCTV gives the details on what shouldn't be surprising to anyone, given how many high-profile companies are high-tailing it out of the SF Bay Area: A nationwide survey of CEOs reveals that California is considered the worst state for business. Not #25, not even #49, but dead last at #50.
Read MoreSometimes the local news cycle feels like a never-ending winter. Upright free speech is penalized for being offensive (as with the aggressive censureship of college district Trustee Reynoso), while discriminatory remarks are forgiven for being free speech (think: Los Gatos's walkback from disciplining Planning Commissioner Clark's anti-white remark). Negativity reigns, while hope appears to shy away. In Commentary, Bari Weiss exhorts free thinkers to retain courage and loudly reject untruths. To demand gov't transparency across the board. To push back against injustices with the heat of a bold, unstoppable, unyielding summer.
Read MoreIf it's Tuesday, it must be racism. Labor/left politicians and their stenographers in local media trotted out ridiculous charges of SJPD racism regarding successful traffic management over the 5.5 weekend. Neighborhood downtown leaders dismantle politicos' false claims in emails to State Senator Cortese, Assemblymember Ash Kalra, and CMs Torres & Ortiz.
Read MoreMetric fixation much? Many CA'n lawmakers believe anything—even freeing serious criminals—is worth it to reduce jail occupancy. Over in LA County, a decarceration proposal (via releasing offenders with $50k-or-less bails) was recently tabled as being hasty. Nonetheless, the OC Register points out that other liberal CA'n counties might succeed with similar laws, especially considering Supervisor Ellenberg's tenacity in pushing decarceration plan... after decarceration plan.
Read MoreFollowing an incident that overwhelmingly united people nationwide in favor of free speech, some still believe Stanford Law Dean Martinez's apt apology wasn't worth the squeeze. The Washington Free Beacon explains how Stanford's Black Law Students Association will now boycott college events for, in their words, scapegoating DEI Dean Steinbach and marginalizing Black students.
Read MoreOne of the narratives that's been repeated over and over by local media since Mahan's mayoral win is this: He won't be able to lead a Labor/Left-aligned council. That narrative crashed at the end of April when the moderate council bloc won a 9–2 vote to reject COPA—one of the nonprofit Left's most sought-after policy wishes. Former councilmember and current Planning Commissioner Pierluigi Oliverio breaks down the politics of it all in an Opp Now exclusive interview.
Read MoreIt's easy to mentally switch off when it comes to radicalism on local college campuses (it's like reading on the news that water is, indeed, still wet). Amid recent student-led stunts in schools like Stanford and SF State, Bari Weiss of the Free Press elucidates why we should keep paying attention: Young people, even those we'd call on the fringes, are powerfully shaping our institutions—and our collective future.
Read MoreDays ago, Annie Corbett, formerly the owner of SJ's Corbett Group Homes, Inc., was sentenced to prison for a laundry list of fiscal chicanery: $752,000 unpaid taxes. Org funds funneled to her personal checking account. Lying to bookkeepers that tax obligations had been taken care of. The Merc breaks down the nonprofit's disheartening—but not all that shocking—legal scandal.
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