A student grapples with the timed SAT. (Photo: Have a nice day photo, via Shutterstock)The University of California, grappling with the coronavirus pandemic, will make academic testing — such as the SAT and ACT — optional for the Fall 2020 admissions cycle. But that policy may be short-lived: Next month, the Board of Regents will meet to decide the future of standardized tests in UC admissions beyond 2020.
The top of Sather Tower at UC Berkeley. (Photo: Guangli, via Shutterstock)The University of California is facing court challenges over its use of the SAT and ACT tests to decide student admissions.This comes as a special UC faculty group, the Standardized Testing Task Force, prepares to release its own report on the tests in early 2020.
The life-size bronze statue of Tommy Trojan on the campus of the University of Southern California. (Photo: Kit Leonjg, via Shutterstock)It’s pretty much all there: money, celebrity, scandal, more money, cheating, coaches being bribed — advantage layered over advantage. In what federal law enforcement officials say is the “largest college admissions scam ever prosecuted by the Department of Justice,” federal prosecutors have accused dozens of wealthy parents of making at least $25 million in illegal payments in one form or another to get their unqualified children into select colleges.
A depressed man sits alone on a park bench. (Photo: Mikael Damkier)OPINION: Nearly two decades ago, California raised the bar for our state’s wellness by requiring insurers to equally cover services for both physical and mental health conditions. Now a national standard, California’s groundbreaking Mental Health Parity law was among the first to recognize how grave inequities in the form of higher co-pays or fewer allowable visits diminish wellness and productivity.
Storm clouds over Mt. Baldy, east of Los Angeles. (Photo: Joel Shawn)Even if this El Niño brings California an unusually wet winter, continuing to invest in science-based drought-related policy is essential to California’s continued success as a global innovation economy, a leader in environmental and public health, and being a darn nice place to live.
A blind-folded Ben Franklin on the $100 bill. (Photo: Ricardo Reitmeyer, Shutterstock)Spawned by a midnight burglary, California’s campaign ethics law propelled a young politician to the governorship and tapped into voters’ desire to rid political campaigns of secret cash. That voter-approved law, the Political Reform Act of 1974, has been largely untouchable for more than 40 years. But now it may get a rewrite.
Chilldren at play with assorted toys. (Photo: Iakov Filimonov, Shutterstock)Californians are inundated with consumer labels. Some of these labels communicate valuable information, others do not. The sheer number of required labels almost guarantees that most of us will be overwhelmed by the fine print and the labels never read. This week, California policymakers are considering a bill (SB 763) that would add yet another label – this time to children’s products.
Also known as the Health for All Act, the legislation aims to provide access to health care coverage to undocumented individuals who are not covered under the Affordable Care Act. SB 4 would expand Medi-Cal to low-income undocumented individuals and create a private insurance exchange option for those with higher incomes.
An attempt by journalists to force the disclosure of appointment records, calendars, schedules and related material of two former lawmakers facing corruption charges in an FBI undercover probe was put on hold Friday. Superior Court Judge Michael Kenny heard oral arguments and is expected to make a final ruling within 90 days. The day before, Kenny issued a tentative ruling that favored the reporters in a lawsuit against the Legislature seeking access to the records.
Michael Peevey at a December meeting of the state Public Utilities Commission. (Photo: Jeff Chiu/Associated Press)It’s almost impossible these days to see the name Michael Peevey without the word “embattled” attached to it. Peevey stepped down last December after serving two six-year terms on the California Public Utilities Commission, almost all of them as PUC president. He has been subjected to withering public criticism up and down the state for fostering a too-cozy relationship between the PUC and the utility firms he was charged with regulating, most recently Pacific Gas & Electric. “Don’t shoot, I surrender,” Peevey wryly told the commission at its December meeting, a comment that drew laughs.