Seize the Moment to Change Your Kid’s School!

For a Few More Weeks, California Educators Are Required to Listen to Parents As Districts Plan for the Future

If you’ve ever wanted a chance to tell the people running your local school district how to do their jobs better, now is your moment.

The state of California has a new Local Control Funding Formula. Under the formula, districts are required to develop a Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP), a summary of spending priorities and goals for student achievement for the next three years. For the plan to be approved, the district must demonstrate that parents had the opportunity to weigh in (“meaningful stakeholder input” is the key phrase), …

The Clucking Hens of My Altadena Home

My Backyard Chickens Give Me Eggs—and Lessons in Life, Death, and the Pecking Order

Raising backyard chickens isn’t anything new for my wife, Anne, and me. We have lived in Altadena for 16 years and have had flocks for almost as long. Let me …

Even Halloween Has Become Aspirational

Why Get To Know the Neighbors When the Trick-or-Treat Experience Is So Much Classier In Another Part of Town?

Last Halloween, I felt like the victim in a horror film. I was the guy ignoring the wise warning of my older next-door neighbor.

You’ll need at least 15 bags to …

Hospitalizing Asian Gamblers and Scratching My Car

The Casino Buses of San Gabriel Are Dangerous Nuisances. They’re Also a Reminder Of How Unaware We’re Becoming Of Our Own Communities.

I was in the city of San Gabriel parking on Valley Boulevard, the 42nd Street of Chinese-American commerce, when a man missing a lot of teeth walked over to me. …

What Money For Education?

California Schools Are Gutted. Sacramento Hasn’t Changed That.

While Governor Jerry Brown and his fellow Democrats are arguing about a new funding formula for dividing up some school dollars, parents like me are still scratching our heads over …

Good People of El Monte: Please Un-Fire Me

Everyone Loved Our Aquatic Center’s ‘Gangnam Style’ Video. Well, Almost Everyone.

Thank you, South Korean rapper Psy, for asking the mayor of El Monte to give me back my job. I never expected that getting fired from a municipal swimming pool …