Yesterday in the Chronicle, there was an article about how the head of the United Educators of San Francisco had a discussion with Gavin Newsom disagreeing with his decision to have a poll on the website asking if people thought the Mayor should have the authority to open charter schools.  Full article here.  With all due respect to Mr. Kelly, the union leader, it’s exactly that kind of thinking that makes education in the United States one of the poorest systems in the developed world.  Frequently, it seems like the teacher’s union would rather maintain the status quo (which Read more »

In his article, America's Car Culture: Almost Out of Gas Robert Puentes discusses the link between how America's cities are designed and America's addiction to cars. Our urban centers are planned with cars rather than people in mind, making the use of a car mandatory for many people to get to the grocery store, post office, church, school or work.  Not only does this contribute greatly to global warming, (America, with only five percent of the world's population, currently emits 22 percent of the world's greenhouse gases, a fact in part attributable to our over-reliance on cars), it has Read more »