Reassessing Life in California
Back in 2019, my family made a big decision to leave California, the state we had called home for most of our lives. Part of the reason was the high taxes, sure. But a bigger concern was wanting to protect our then-10-year-old daughter from a system that we felt had lost its meaning and safety.
There was one particular moment that really stands out. We were waiting at the pediatrician’s office when we found out that when my daughter turns 12, we’d no longer have access to her medical records without her consent. It felt strange, like a state intrusion—not parental empowerment. That was just the beginning of our concerns.
The decline of California isn’t just about finances or policy overreach; it’s also about how the government has seemingly forgotten the safety, dignity, and happiness of children in favor of a progressive agenda.
Take Assembly Bill 90, for example. This law requires community colleges and state universities to create overnight parking programs for 4.2% of homeless students. On the surface, it seems like a compassionate measure. But in reality, it reflects a failure of policy. California adopted the “home first” model in 2016, but it was implemented over a system that already ranks poorly in terms of available residential units. It’s just built about 40% of the necessary affordable housing each year.
Instead of addressing these systemic issues, AB 90 has effectively turned parking lots into student housing, putting students at risk of crime and instability. Assembly member Darshana Patel was nearly alone in voicing concerns about student safety, but the bill still passed the committee with a 6-2 party-line vote.
And then there’s Congressional Bill 379, aimed at increasing penalties for child traffickers. Unfortunately, a version of the bill that would have protected 16- and 17-year-olds was stripped down by progressive lawmakers. It’s troubling that the majority in California couldn’t bring themselves to safeguard minors from sexual exploitation.
A similar pattern can be seen in school sports, where two reasonable bills aimed at ensuring fairness for female athletes were effectively killed in committee. Those bills sought to ban biological males from competing against girls, following decades of research highlighting the physical advantages biological males retain even after hormonal treatment.
What’s truly perplexing is how California continues to funnel billions into climate initiatives and green infrastructure. Meanwhile, it ranks 41st in K-12 education and 39th in school safety. Youth depression and self-harm rates are alarmingly high, according to the CDC, and during the COVID-19 pandemic, California kept students out of classrooms longer than many states, causing severe learning losses, especially for low-income children.
So, what’s wrong with California? To sum it up, parents can’t access their children’s medical records without their consent, student housing has become makeshift parking arrangements, vulnerable teens lack protection from trafficking, and female athletes are at risk.
These aren’t just minor issues—they’re symptoms of a deeper systemic failure, reflecting a reluctance to prioritize the well-being of children over ideological concerns.
California used to be a leader in education, innovation, and opportunity. Now, despite its natural beauty and economic strength, it serves as a cautionary tale of what happens when government responsibility gets replaced by extremism. This is why my family joined many others in relocating to different states in recent years.
Unless leaders make a conscious effort to put kids first and politics second, California will continue to fail its children and set troubling precedents elsewhere in the country.
