Borland Educational

Basics

Civics 101
Very concise rundown of the basic functions of American government at the federal and state levels to prepare immigrants to pass the citizenship test. More here.

Economics 101
Ultra-brief treatment of a few basic macro-economic concepts all citizens should know and understand. More here.

Congress.gov
The official site. All things Congress! Current legislation, legislative process, Congressional Record, glossary of legislative terms, U.S. founding documents.

Elected Officials and Governmental Agencies

Contact Your Elected Officials
Contact info for federal, state, and local governmental officials. To make a difference: store phone numbers, call often.

Congress Members and Legislative Activity
Find members' web sites, offices, and contact info, plus full information on their legislation in the Senate and House.

U.S. Senate and House Representatives
Official U.S. House and Senate pages. Info, biographies, legislative history, contact information for each U.S. senator and congressional rep.

Federal Departments and Agencies
A-Z index of departments and agencies of the U.S. federal government including websites, contact info, and more.

State and Local Governments
Find contact information for state and local governmental officials, departments, agencies, services, and more.

Capitol Switchboard
U.S. Senate page provides the essential phone number with which to contact your U.S. Senators and House reps about your concerns: 202-224-3121.

Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
Media licenses are public trusts. Theoretically, the FCC works to ensure mass media functions in the best interest of the pubic. Make your voice heard!

News and Commentary

Huffington Post
Far-left news aggregation site.

Salon
Left-leaning news and opinion site.

CNN
Centrist major media outlet.

Politico
Centrist news aggregation site.

The Hill
Centrist news and opinion site.

National Review
Right-leaning news and opinion site.

Newsmax
Far-right news aggregation site.

Jonathan Turley
Libertarian commentator.

Real Clear Politics
Mixed news aggregation site.

Fact Checkers

PolitiFact
By Tampa Bay Times, winner of the Pulitzer. Ratings, graphs, explanations make assessing veracity of statements by public figures easy. Best: Pants on Fire.

Snopes
Anonymous online posting ushered in trolling and questionable/spurious "alternative facts." Snopes was first to debunk urban legends and fake news.

FactCheck.org
Award-winning project of the Annenberg Public Policy center at UOP. Winner of four Webbies. Time called factcheck.org "one of the 25 sites we can't live without."

Washington Post Fact Checker Blog
"Pinocchio-themed" fact checking effort by pioneering fact checker and WaPo journalist Glenn Kessler.

Polls

FiveThirtyEight
Nate Silver's former statistical analysis site, now by CBS. Data-driven articles on politics, science, health, economics, culture, and sports.

RCP: Polls
The oft-cited polls section of Real Clear Politics. Use drop-down menu under "Polls" in upper-left corner under the banner.

PredictIt
Political betting markets take polling one step farther. Money talks, bloviating walks. Gives new meaning to the phrase "Money in Politics."

Activism

ACLU
Dedicated to protecting our constitutional rights, the American Civil Liberties Union was formed in 1920 and made famous during the 1925 Scopes Trial.

Common Cause
Non-partisan governmental reform/accountability, equal opportunity, public interest watchdog organization founded by Republican John Gardner in 1970.

Public Citizen
Consumer rights group formed by Ralph Nader in 1971. "Lobbyists for the People" work to counter the unfair political advantage of big $$ corporations.

Causes

Save The Internet
Democracy can't exist without a free press. Today, the Fourth Estate is digital and more accessible to ordinary voices than ever. But will the internet remain free and neutral?

Action on Climate Change
Greatest moral challenge of the 21st century. Will we think only of short-term benefits? Or also of future generations, and life as a whole?

$$ in Politics
The powerfully corrupting influence of money in American politics is widespread and well documented. It doesn't need to be this way. Money is power – not speech!

Amnesty International
Are all souls equal? Do certain human rights accrue to all simply because of our humanity? In a word, yes. Ignorance of these rights is an affront to humankind.

World Citizenship

Democracy Index
National ranks indicating levels of democracy in countries around the world. In 2022 the was 36th (top "Deficient Democracy"). Economist index here.

Reviews

“Standardized tests are a necessary step in applying to colleges, and, with his support, I was able to achieve the scores I needed to be competitive. I am currently finishing a degree in physics at the University of Chicago and am immensely grateful for his help four years ago. His test taking strategies have also been very useful on the GRE while applying to graduate school physics programs. Thank you again, Chris!”

Ben F. (Student: 2013)

"[Chris’s] methods are extremely effective and he is one of the kindest, most supportive men I have ever had the pleasure of knowing.

"Working with him has been one of my best academic experiences and I congratulate Chris on his hard work and dedication to the success of his pupils."

Harrison M. (Student: 2017)

“His competence, compassion and ethics as a tutor are exemplary.

"Chris is a wonderfully friendly, sincere and caring human being. His personality is delightful, making the sessions enjoyable.”

Judy S. (Client: 2006)

"The students benefited from [Chris's] assistance, and we found him very personable, helpful and eager to learn new teaching techniques and philosophies.

I feel he would be an excellent addition to any tutoring staff."

Linda N. (Employer: 1980)

"I enjoyed working with Chris because he could explain things I did not understand and make them clear to me. Chris was very patient when it took me a while to understand things."

Martha S. (Student: 1993)

“Chris is a phenomenal math, PSAT, and SAT tutor. I studied with him for over three years and am so grateful for all of his invaluable knowledge and the confidence that he instilled in me as a math student.

"Now, years later, the same standardized test-taking skills that he taught me for the PSAT and SAT are helping me immensely in my LSAT prep.

"Chris is patient and efficient in his teaching. I would highly recommend him to everyone!”

Gary C. (Client: 2016)

"Chris Borland tutored my son and did an excellent job. He obviously is a very well qualified teacher and I recommend him without reservation."

David C. (Client: 1980)

Chris is also incredibly supportive, and recognizes when confidence is lagging. He holds his students accountable by giving them specific work and challenges and also rewards their gains, and is able to pivot his teaching style if a certain way of explaining things isn't working.

"I highly recommend Chris to any student who is studying for a standardized test ..."

A.S.M. (Client: 2021)

Most importantly, you taught Joey to understand that hard work does reap its own rewards. Joey did well enough in school and on the SATs to gain acceptance to a number of UC Schools, of which he chose UC Davis to attend. Thanks Chris for you effort and diligent tutoring of Joey the last three years, we really appreciate all that you did for him.

Larry L. (Client: 2005)

"Chris tutored my son for the SSAT test and … it was worth every penny. My son responded very well to him and developed learning strategies that [he's] using to this day."

Michal V. (Client: 2014)

"[Chris] has a keen sense of the orderly nature of learning, and did a particularly good job of helping students with the organizational work needed to excel at math ... one of the best young teachers I've seen."

Bruce S. (Administrator: 1985)

"[Chris] is patient, understanding, enthusiastic and always guides Andrew in the learning process with a very positive attitude. If Andrew gets distracted, Chris is able to guide him back to the subject at hand by being assertive, yet respectful. His focus on Andrew's progress has resulted in a very noticeable improvement in Andrew's skill level in Algebra, his attention to detail, his neatness, and his self-esteem..."

Karen C. (Client: 1999)

"Chris Borland has provided test prep tutoring for two of our three children, one for the SSAT and then the ACT, and the other for the SSAT. They both dramatically improved their scores as a result of his tutoring and were accepted to their first-choice schools.

Jennifer C. (Client: 2020)

"Fantastic tutor. We set a goal for my SAT score, and with Chris's help I got there. Has years of experience and knows the test inside and out. Cannot recommend more highly."

Jack R. (Client: 2014)

Chris is patient, knowledgeable and was helpful in identifying my weaknesses and addressing them. My work with Chris on test prep also helped me in the classroom resulting in improved grades both my junior and senior years. He is easy to work with and never made me feel stupid. I highly recommend Chris Borland for test prep and math tutoring.”

T J (student: 2018)

"Chris Borland tutored my l4 year old twins for several weeks before they took the SSAT test for entrance into private schools. He has a very good rapport with kids and makes the sessions fun and interesting.

Chris's strategies about standardized test taking proved to be excellent. Both boys improved their scores significantly and openly attributed their success to their work with Chris..."

Anne C. (Client: 2003)

“Worth every penny!

"As the high school application process in SF is already stressful and time consuming, I was looking for an efficient strategy for my B/G twins to prepare for the SSAT. Chris has deep experience with test prep and presented a very clear, efficient, and effective strategy for the twins to follow. His approach resulted in a huge increase in test results.

"We would highly recommend him to anyone for standardized test prep!”

Irene L. (client: 2018)

Knowledge is Power