Independent Leadership Group's Irene Smith and Citizens for Fiscal Responsibility's Pat Waite examine SJ Unified's $1.15 bn bond measure for “facility repairs” and housing. Considering SJUSD's lack of accountability with past bond funds (punctuated by a scathing Civil Grand Jury report this June), as well as how much Measure R raises property taxes, should voters really sign away another billion?
Read MoreLiterary references. Obscure mythological art. Thought pieces from complex, varied viewpoints. We're often asked by new Opp Now readers why we bother, in an age of fast, bite-sized, self-affirming journalism. In the NY Times, David Brooks discusses the dangers of media posing as entertainment (instead of art), and how we can return to our “higher desires.”
Read MoreMany CA'n parents (8.6%, compared to U.S. avg 5.4%) are opting to educate their kids at home or through small-group cooperatives. Below, a study recapped in the NY Times highlights a key benefit: having the same teacher for 2+ years—called “looping,” where teachers advance a grade alongside their classes—is correlated with higher math/reading performance.
Read MoreAs Bay Areans scrutinize Prop 5—which lets gov't spike taxes with lower public approval—we turn to a beloved Opp Now figurehead in Austrian economist Friedrich Hayek. Researchers Bejaković and Luburić summarize Hayek's illuminating idea that the market's spontaneous, dynamic consolidation of billions of hopes, dreams, and aspirations produces far better decisions than could the political "elite."
Read MoreThis November’s Proposition 5 would lower the approval threshold for local infrastructure and housing bonds from 66.6% to 55%. The result, says Midcoast Community Council Vice Chair Gregg Dieguez, will be more local government bonds; and that is harmful to us all. An Opp Now exclusive op-ed by Dieguez, here expressing his own opinions.
Read MoreOur readers will recall anthropology professor Dr. Elizabeth Weiss, ousted from SJSU last year for her view against reburying bones. This month, the Nat Review discusses Weiss's new book “On the Warpath: My Battles with Indians, Pretendians, and Woke Warriors”—and how a celebrated researcher was condemned to career-threatening censure, just for (you guessed it) standing up to the Woke elite.
Read MoreBusinesspeople from a wide range of categories were disconcerted to find that the SJ Chamber of Commerce had endorsed Proposition 5, which would make it easier for gov't to raise taxes on local merchants. Concerns, disappointments, and lived experiences voiced below. An Opp Now exclusive.
Read MoreIn this Opp Now exclusive, California Policy Center's Lance Christensen introduces their new Local Fiscal Health Dashboard. This tool tracks and grades every CA'n city, county, and school district on fiscal strength. Here's a hint on what grade letter both SJ and SCC earned (and see below for answer): it's, um, barely a passing grade.
Read MoreCalifornia Policy Center's Education Policy VP Lance Christensen breaks down questions to ask re: SJ Unified's $1.15 bn “facility repairs” bond measure: Where's our money going, exactly? What should be prioritized? And (as many Opp Now readers echo) can we trust SJUSD's fiscal discipline? An Opp Now exclusive.
Read MoreSince SF's Mayor London Breed launched a plan in August to bus more homeless people out of San Francisco, many unhoused are taking cross-country overnights to states as far away as Texas and Florida. SF Standard, as always, is on the story.
Read MoreAs Californians consider hundreds of local ballot measures, they hear (and mostly believe) an underlying narrative: elected officials and staff are doing their best to provide essential services with insufficient resources. It is this narrative that not only entreats for "yes" votes on local taxes and bonds, but also for state Proposition 5, which will make it much easier for cities and counties to borrow. But is this narrative true? An Opp Now exclusive from Cato Institute's Marc Joffe.
Read MoreBlimey. After many years of avoiding political endorsements, the ostensibly pro-business San Jose Chamber of Commerce earlier this month came out in favor of (no typo) the Make It Easier To Raise Taxes Proposition 5. In this, they are aligned with the Democratic Socialists of America, California chapter (CA DSA), which also supports Prop. 5. The CA DSA's Prop 5 and 33 endorsement argument, below.
Read More
