In 1979, a year after California voters adopted Proposition 13 and tightly limited local property taxes, they decreed in another ballot measure that the state should reimburse schools and local governments for state-mandated costs they incur. That seemingly straightforward decree, however, has evolved into a chronically convoluted wrangle over what is and what is not a reimbursable cost and how much money should flow from Sacramento into local coffers. Thousands of school dist Read More

California’s evolution into one of the planet’s most economically, culturally and ethnically diverse societies sparks ceaseless political debate, touching everything from illegal immigration to the plight of public education. We Californians have been less willing to discuss a particularly sensitive aspect of that diversity — the emergence of what can only be called segregation. Although the state long ago abolished legal segregation, we nevertheless tend to collect ourselves Read More

Could California’s noble experiment in redrawing legislative and congressional districts be collapsing? It’s the obvious question because the new Citizens Redistricting Commission has decided to skip publication of a second draft of redistricting maps and, in effect, take the process behind semiclosed doors as it nears a deadline for final maps. The first set of draft maps drew sharp criticism from Hispanic rights groups for sidestepping the federal Voting Rights Act requiring Read More