Posts Tagged: private

Opinion

For education, adults should have financial aid opportunities, too

An older student online, reviewing tests and instructional materials. (Photo: Milan Ilic, via Shutterstock)

OPINION: It’s been my dream to earn my MBA and this year, I did it. During my journey, I learned there are millions of people who don’t follow a traditional path to college after high school and want to return to school as an adult, but face too many barriers such as high costs, limited availability, and scheduling restrictions at brick-and-mortar schools.

Recent News

State stormwater permit would stall housing, infrastructure

A stormwater runoff system under construction. (Photo: Maksim Safaniuk, via Shutterstock)

OPINION: Gov. Gavin Newsom has boldly promoted the goal of building more than 3 million new homes by 2025 to address the significant supply/demand imbalance and bring down the cost of housing. Given California’s challenging regulatory processes, we’re already falling woefully short of those ambitious goals. In spite of this, an excessive new proposal by the State Water Resources Control Board (Water Board) – comprised of gubernatorial appointees — will further stall new housing production.

Recent News

Perils of the political world include the ‘hot mic’

A close-up of a retro microphone, a type sometimes used at public events. (Photo: vectorfusionart, via Shutterstock)

It isn’t something that politicians and other public figures worry about very much, although perhaps they should. It’s embarrassing, of course, but most of all, it’s revealing. We’re talking about the dreaded ‘hot mic’ menace. 

News

Under ‘realignment,’ private prison firms look to the counties

Prison inmates at a California institution, many of whom were "realigned" to counties' custody.(Photo: Pubic Policy Institute of California)

In 2019, California outlawed private prisons. By the time the ban went live in January 2020, the world’s biggest private prison contractor, the Florida-based GEO Group, lost $223 million in contracts with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR).

News

Private prison firms make big money in California

A facility run by CoreCivic, a private-prison company. The photo was taken in November 2019, shortly before private prisons were outlawed in California. (Photo: Shuttertstock)

In January 2020, Californians thought they were getting out of the private prison business. They are, but under a new law, AB 32, which went into effect at the first of the year, the state remains heavily invested in backing for-profit correctional services — including facilities that resemble detention centers run by the same companies who operate private prisons.

News

Survey: Eight in 10 say children falling behind academically

A student in class during the pandemic. (Photo: Siday Productions, via Shutterstock)

PPIC: One year after the state’s schools halted in-person learning due to COVID-19, more than eight in ten Californians think children are falling behind academically during the pandemic. Most Californians approve of how Gov. Newsom is handling the state’s K–12 public education system, though six in ten are concerned that California’s K–12 schools will not be open for full-time in-person instruction this fall.

Opinion

Telehealth: Keep it robust after the pandemic

A photo illustration of a doctor using telehealth to provide care to a patient via the internet. (Image: Agenturfotografin, via Shutterstock)

OPINION: The need for infection prevention opened the door for telehealth, and we cannot let that door slam shut after the pandemic. Telehealth is essential to expanding people’s access to health care and the health system’s capacity.

News

The census: ‘Don’t let anyone count you out’

The 2020 census form, international edition. (Photo: Tada Images, via Shutterstock)

Amid the piles of bills and other notices in the mail, a special invitation to complete the national census is coming to Californians beginning this week. The census, which happens once every 10 years, is a mammoth effort to get a snapshot of who is living here as of April 1. The results will be used to determine everything from Congressional representation to federal funding for health, education, child care and transportation.

Opinion

A key move to address California’s wildfire crisis

A resident watches smoke billowing from the Woolsey Fire, November, 2018, in Southern California. (Photo: BrittanyNY, via Shutterstock)

OPINION: California is facing a wildfire crisis of epic proportions, and with the 2019 fire season already upon us, the immediate threat of yet another highly destructive and costly wildfire looms over communities all across the state. Everyone agrees that something must be done to address this crisis, and yet legislators still have not taken definitive action.

News

State Dem Party shuns private-prison donations*

Headquarters of the California Democratic Party in Sacramento. (Photo: cadem.org)

The head of the California Democratic Party says the CDP will no longer accept political contributions from private prison corporations. Party Chair Eric Bauman said any contributions received since May 21, 2017 would be “donated to organizations doing critical work to protect immigrants from the Trump administration or to support and rehabilitate recently incarcerated folks.”

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