During this season of giving, imagine if California taxpayers could give the gift of a better education to thousands — even tens of thousands — of deserving children.

As the budget wars unfold, federal employees complain of being targeted as overpaid bureaucrats. A better target would be redundant and counterproductive federal agencies, which seem off-limits to the media.

SACRAMENTO – The response by pundits to the latest WikiLeaks classified-document dump has reminded me of a preacher who decries pornography, but who also insists on reading the dirty magazines page by page so that he can better understand the depth of the world's depravity. If WikiLeaks' actions were so wrong, why is there such widespread interest in these cables, often by the same people vociferously criticizing their release?

California's new superintendent of public instruction is Tom Torlakson, whose election locks in a status quo that short-circuits California students on high-tech delivery of educational services.

California's new superintendent of public instruction is Tom Torlakson, whose election locks in a status quo that short-circuits California students on high-tech delivery of educational services.