Children at a California public school respond to a teacher's question. (Photo: Monkey Business Images, via Shutterstock)OPINION: The new comprehensive analysis of California’s PreK-12 education system, Getting Down to Facts II, revealed that the state is moving in the right direction with reforms put in place over the last decade, but more importantly it showed much more must be done to support student success.
A worker spreads warning tape at a home being cleansed of lead paint. (Photo: D_Townsend, via Shutterstock)OPINION: The right of citizens to propose laws by ballot initiative is one of California’s great checks and balances. Often viewed as a last resort to express the will of the voters (see: Proposition 13), it can also be incorporated into the legislative process. At the end of June, the Legislature faced nine proposed initiatives that would likely qualify for a vote in November.
Photo illustration by Quentin Lueninghoener, FairWarning.Early on Feb. 2, 2016, a van carrying members of the California Conservation Corps paused at a stop sign on a country road near the Central Valley town of Reedley. Then the van rolled into the intersection, where it was broadsided by a 40-ton gravel truck and trailer, killing three corps members and leaving another with catastrophic brain and spinal injuries. The victims, 18 to 21 years old, all were recent recruits – two of them so new that they had yet to collect their first paycheck.
Two painters in protective suits remove lead paint from an old house. (Photo: Jaime Hooper)OPINION: Seeing no way to prevail in the courts, the Big Three filed a ballot initiative that would nullify the court judgment holding them responsible for lead paint cleanup in 10 counties, and effectively pardon them by preventing any future suits. Perhaps worst of all, the toxic paint producers’ initiative would force taxpayers to clean up the companies’ own toxic paint mess, draining nearly $4 billion dollars from our state budget.
Graduates at ceremonies at Santa Monica City College. (Photo: Joseph Sohm)From housing to college, Californians are complaining about affordability. As parents and students grapple with their future, many are looking towards alternatives to the typical four-year degree. Many are focusing more on careers, jobs, benefits, and steady careers that fulfill their interests.
Sather Tower at UC Berkeley, looking toward the bay. (Photo: Chao Kusollerschariya, via Shutterstock)OPINION: How can the state of California make intelligent public policy on higher education when it does not have the data to do so? This simple question underscores every governor’s and legislator’s dilemma when they annually establish funding levels for California’s postsecondary education system. There is no integrated statewide database for higher education.
A nurse practitioner, left, discusses care with a young girl and her mother.(Photo: Monkey Business Images)>OPINION: California is facing a crisis in our healthcare workforce. We lack enough primary care providers. This issue, combined with a wave of physicians getting set to retire and an expanding aging population, has created a perfect storm particularly in our rural and underserved communities.
A janitor mops the floor in a new school building. (Photo: Siyanight, via Shutterstock)If passion for children were enough to pay the rent, classified education workers would be some of the wealthiest people in the Golden State. Instead, the hard-working teaching assistants, janitors, special education aides and cafeteria workers who keep our K-12 schools running barely scrape by during the school year, only to face hunger in the summer months when their paychecks stop.
U.S. Sen. Lindsay Graham, R-South Carolina, following the defeat of the failed effort mounted by him and Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, to repeal Obamacare. (Image: CNN screen capture, via YouTube)In California, people shopping for 2018 coverage in the state’s exchange, Covered California, will still have the full three months they’ve had in recent years, starting on Nov. 1 and ending Jan. 31. And the state Legislature last week passed a bill, currently awaiting the signature of Gov. Jerry Brown, that would ensure a three-month enrollment window for consumers seeking coverage in 2019 and beyond.
A senior medical practitioner on the phone with hospital records. (Photo: sirtravelalot, via Shutterstock)OPINION: The California Assembly is currently considering a bill, Senate Bill 790, which would put in place severe restrictions around gifts or other financial benefits that pharmaceutical companies can give to medical professionals as part of marketing activities. Not only will the bill limit physician access to important information about new treatments, but it also insults the integrity of every physician practicing in California and is a threat to the patient-physician relationship.