A view of Malibu, one of California's wealthiest enclaves, looking southward from the pier. (photo: Atomazul, via Shutterstock)For the third time in a decade, voters have a chance to raise taxes on the rich, but this time the money would pay for electric vehicles and charging stations instead of schools and community colleges, a distinction that has drawn opposition from key supporters of those previous tax hikes.
The COVID-19 pandemic has presented heretofore-unseen challenges to students and teachers who have suddenly found themselves the “guinea pigs” in a massive distance learning experiment. California Teachers Association President E. Toby Boyd joins Capitol Weekly’s Tim Foster and John Howard to give an update on expectations for the upcoming school year and discusses another big CTA priority: passing Prop. 15, the “Split Roll” initiative that would decouple large commercial properties from Prop. 13.
Joe Nuñez , former executive director of the California Teachers Association. (Image: Screen capture from CTA video)California’s education and political worlds are abuzz with speculation about three recent developments, little of which has to do with schools. What led to the abrupt firing of Joe Nuñez as executive director of the 325,000-member California Teachers Association, one of the biggest and most powerful labor groups in California?
Political consultant Gale Kaufman at her Sacramento office. (Photo: Scott Duncan, Capitol Weekly)Gale Kaufman was campaigning in California before Arnold Schwarzenegger was Conan the Barbarian. Kaufman, a bare-knuckled Democratic strategist, is as little known to the public as she is famous among political pros. When talk in the political world turns to “Gale,” everyone knows it’s a reference to Kaufman.
Photo illustration: Africa Studio, via Shutterstock.OPINION: Imagine enjoying your summer holiday vacation only to learn that special interest lawmakers beholden to the California Teachers Association are voting to close down your child’s school. As a parent, you’ve never received any school closure information or a single news report.
A Californian casts a ballot. (Photo: Vepar5 via Shutterstock)Democrats are traversing the 4th Assembly District, seeking support in the sprawling district that stretches from the Bay Area to Sacramento and even further north into the Sacramento Valley and North Coast mountains. The big money from Sacramento hasn’t dropped in yet and might not, depending on whether special interests feel they have a candidate they really want.
Voter Ben Rich casts his ballot at the Venice Beach lifeguard headquarters. (Photo: AP/Jae C. Hong)Though the final chapter is still unwritten on Election 2014, we know this much: Republicans took advantage of a traditional dip in midterm turnout and some big spending in targeted races to pick up enough legislative seats to end Democrats’ supermajorities in both houses. The GOP picked off two Democratic Assembly incumbents – Steve Fox, D-Palmdale, and Sharon Quirk-Silva, D-Fullerton — and were headed to unseat a third – Freshman Assemblyman Al Marutsuchi, D-Torrance.