Is Minnesota’s desire to keep black and American Indian children out of foster care actually putting them in increased danger? Just last week, a task force convened by Gov. Mark Dayton to tackle problems in the state’s child protection system met for the first time. The executive order creating that group called for recommendations on “pre-court child protection protocols, including screening decisions and the family assessment process.” As reported by Brandon Stahl…

GSPP recently hosted a panel discussion, "FOOD+LABOR: Forging a Truly Sustainable Food Policy Agenda for California in 2015," which examined what a joint food and labor policy agenda might look like in 2015. The reason the panel was held is that these two movements have generally worked separately but are, in fact, deeply connected.  How can we fight for a sustainable and ethical food system without fighting for fair wages and working conditions for those that grow, prepare, and…

Berkeley is taking on big soda and Josh Daniels (MPP/JD '08) is leading the charge. He co-chairs the campaign for Berkeley's Measure D, which proposes a penny-per-ounce tax on the distribution of sodas and sugary drinks. “One in three kids in America is predicted to get diabetes in their lifetime,” says Josh, who is the president of the board of the Berkeley Unified School District. “Measure D isn’t a panacea, but I believe that…

The United Nations Climate Summit taking place here in New York is, of course, a venue for important scientific releases highlighting the now well-established consensus on both the economic and social severity of inaction on global warming.  These statements will bolster thoughtful proposals to move nations to a common ground on a framework for action. (See related post: “The Gathering Storm: U.S. Must Lead Action on Climate Change.”) While these efforts are critically needed, they are…

FACULTY OPENING AT ANY LEVEL The Richard & Rhoda Goldman School of Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley invites applications for a tenured or tenure-track appointment to the faculty at any rank with an expected start date of July 1, 2015. The level of appointment will be commensurate with the candidate’s record of scholarship. The Goldman School seeks applications from those who study public policies concerned with “Redesigning Economic, Social and Political Sectors to…

Even after the unrest in Ferguson has subsided, we’re left with questions about the tension that built up and exploded in the small St. Louis suburb. Among those questions: How did a city where two-thirds of the residents are black elect an almost entirely white city government?  The answer is simple:  Ferguson holds its city elections off-cycle, entirely separate from state and national elections, and that can make all the difference. People rarely think…

We are a long way from knowing precisely what happened in Ferguson, two weeks ago, but one thing is clear: The town’s name has become yet another synonym for the chasm of experience dividing white and black America. Time and again, young African-American men have been fatally shot by police under ambiguous circumstances: Amadou Diallo, Oscar Grant, Sean Bell … the list goes on. Yet public opinion polls show that a majority of whites consistently fail to see…

TODAY’S education reformers believe that schools are broken and that business can supply the remedy. Some place their faith in the idea of competition. Others embrace disruptive innovation, mainly through online learning. Both camps share the belief that the solution resides in the impersonal, whether it’s the invisible hand of the market or the transformative power of technology. Neither strategy has lived up to its hype, and with good reason. It’s impossible to improve…

Young African Leaders Initiative Washington Fellows gathered at GSPP with Berkeley and Stanford scholars from the MasterCard Foundation Scholars Program, a global initiative aimed at helping youth – particularly young African students – access valuable educational institutions, networks, and opportunities around the world. YALI Fellows can serve as mentors to these MasterCard Fellows, who are in the first few weeks of their transition to the U.S. Together with friends of GSPP, YALI Fellows met and welcomed the incoming MCF…

This summer, GSPP student Corey Matthews is posted at the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation, which works to create jobs and attract new businesses to Los Angeles' 88 counties. He has been working closely with the Director of Public Policy to align stakeholders around the growth of the aerospace and defense industry. "A week after I started, LA County was designated one of twelve manufacturing destination areas from the Federal Government," says Corey. "Since then, we have been moving…