FIXING AMERICA’S EDUCATION SYSTEM. Craig Barrett, Intel’s CEO and co-chairman of the Business Coalition for Excellence in Education, writes that business and government must work together to graduate a more highly skilled workforce needed by Intel and others to compete in a global marketplace.

RE-ENGINEERING STATE GOVERNMENT: SEE THE TELECOM INDUSTRY FOR A SUCCESSFUL MODEL. Robin MacGillivray, president of Business Communications for SBC in the Western Region, provides insight from one spinoff, two mergers and three major re-engineering of core processes at one of the largest companies operating in California.

GETTING BACK ON TRACK AT CSU. Chancellor Charles B. Reed of the 23-campus California State University system, noting several years of budget reductions, writes that it is time to get higher education back on track with slow but steady funding increases promised in compact funding with the Schwarzenegger Administration.

REDISTRICTING REFORM: REALITY OR A PIPEDREAM? The co-editor of the California Target Book, political pundit Tony Quinn discusses the potential for reform of the reapportionment process.

CAL-TAX RESEARCH

ERA OF REFORM MEANS END TO RECKLESS SPENDING. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's proposed budget and spending control strategy launch an "era of reform" that will force government to live within its means and curb reckless use of tax dollars, writes Cal-Tax President Larry McCarthy.

BALLOT BOX TAX THREATS. As the governor considers a special election later this year to put his government reforms before voters, his public employee union foes counter with ballot box tax threats. The Cal-Tax staff rounds up the ballot initiative proposals pending with the attorney general for title and summary.

PUBLIC PENSION REFORM: A MUST IN 2005. Cal-Tax President Larry McCarthy writes that state and local government pension costs have shot through the roof and are threatening funding of essential programs. It is time for action to stanch the bleeding.

FRAUD AND WASTE: ROUNDUP OF REPORTS IN 2004 OF MISUSED AND ABUSE TAX DOLLARS. The Cal-Tax staff offers some of the more stunning examples of your tax dollars (not) at work in the past year, based on news media reporting and government auditing.

MOST LOCAL TAX HIKES ARE TURNED DOWN, BUT SEVEN OF 10 COUNTYWIDE TRANSPORTATION SALES TAX MEASURES ARE WINNERS. A Cal-Tax survey of November election returns found nearly six in 10 local tax