To ease the misery in LA and California, start here

Is it any wonder Angelenos are despondent? In LA and California, the cost of living is stifling.Traffic is suffocating.

The public schools are ill-serving kids. And state and local government, from the governor and legislature on down to the mayor, city council and school board, are out to lunch.A UCLA survey has found that LA County residents’ quality-of-life satisfaction has reached its lowest point in more than a decade. The 2026 Los Angeles County Quality of Life Index blames a range of  issues for the sentiment, including COVID, upticks in the cost of living, immigration sweeps, and the Altadena and Palisades fires.But the bottom line is this: Government at all levels is failing to lead, course-correct, and address –– with even minimal efficacy –– a range of issues that increasingly degrade life here.In fact, elected officials, driven by cronyism, interest-group pressure and out-of-touch far-left ideology, mostly make the crises worse.None of this will change until residents, and voters, demand better performance from those who purport to represent them.Consider but a few examples.This week, the LA Unified School District, ceding to unions, agreed to a lavish $1.2 billion package of raises for district employees –– even as the district faces multibillion-dollar budget deficits, declining enrollment, and dismal student test scores.Meanwhile, LAUSD’s superintendent remains on leave amid a federal probe and the district faces ongoing litigation over a wave of sexual abuse claims for which the district has already earmarked more than $1 billion.California's top news, sports and entertainment delivered to your inbox every day.

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Never miss a story It’s a giant mess for which taxpayers will now shell out another $1.2 billion for … no discernible improvement whatsoever.And then there are the traff...