Corruption
School intervention specialist works to impede drug use
September 17, 2010
Brittany Levine, The Orange County Register
A frantic parent shot off
an e-mail laced with exclamation marks to Mike Darnold. Her son was
losing weight and told her he was smoking marijuana. She was
concerned that he may be doing harder drugs. She asked, "Don't you
get the munchies when you smoke pot?" Another parent called Darnold
as the parent was running down the street after his stepdaughter,
who had been caught having parties involving alcohol. What should
he do?…
Update: Sac school district asks CSBA executive board to resign
September 16, 2010
Melody Guiterrez, The Sacramento Bee
The California School
Boards Association (CSBA) has come under fire since it was revealed
in July that its executive director Scott Plotkin was paid $516,517
in 2008 and $403,955 in 2009 after receiving sizable bonuses and
other compensation. Plotkin also admitted to using the group's
credit cards to withdraw cash at area casinos. He said he repaid
that money … CSBA is not a government agency, but receives the bulk
of its funding from taxpayer funded public school districts through
membership dues and other fees … Sacramento City Unified is not the
first district to recently drop out of CSBA. Capistrano Unified
School District trustees voted Tuesday to sever ties with CSBA,
citing the recent scandal…
The Beholden State, How public-sector unions broke California
April 23, 2010
Column: Steve Malanga, City Journal, Spring 2010, Vol. 20,
No, 2 How public
employees became members of the elite class in a declining
California offers a cautionary tale to the rest of the country,
where the same process is happening in slower motion. The story
starts half a century ago, when California public workers won
bargaining rights and quickly learned how to elect their own
bosses—that is, sympathetic politicians who would grant them
outsize pay and benefits in exchange for their support. Over time,
the unions have turned the state’s politics completely in their
favor. The result: unaffordable benefits for civil servants; fiscal
chaos in Sacramento and in cities and towns across the state; and
angry taxpayers finally confronting the unionized masters of
California’s unsustainable government...
It’s the principle of the thing, principal
October 09, 2005
Editorial, The Orange County Register
There is something
inappropriate, even sleazy, about government agencies and those who
work for government agencies using their posts to lobby for more
government dollars. We’re seeing the latest in this legal but
unethical practice as Dana Hills High principal Carolyn Williams
sent a recorded message to voters arguing against a recall of the
Capistrano Unified School District Board of Trustees. The board
supports the current school administration, and it’s no secret that
officials fear a change of power…
A turf battle in Capistrano
September 23, 2001
Column: Steven Greenhut, The Orange County
Register Given
the choice between helping its students and pursuing a grudge match
against local Catholic school boosters, the Capistrano Unified
School District chose the grudge match. It's a shameful chapter in
an ongoing story that includes disparate elements - from
last-minute legislative deal-making to the likely use of eminent
domain to attempts to reform a school system burdened by excessive
red tape. Here goes…