A couple of weeks ago I had the privilege and pleasure of spending 45 minutes conversing with charter school champion and deep thinker Eric Premack. In addition to playing a central role in drafting California’s charter school law, funding system and policies, Mr. Premack has been a national education thought leader and front line…

There was a time, not long ago, when the arrival of new occupants in the house next door, across the street, or down the road would automatically trigger the baking of apple pies, peach cobblers and cherry turnovers. These edible tokens of greeting might be placed on the newcomers’ doorsteps with an accompanying note…

Last week, I submitted a one-sentence public comment in response to an obscure announcement buried within the California Department of Education’s website. At issue is a pending request from the CDE to the U.S. Department of Education to extend the period of time in which the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) may…

With so much attention focused on the balance of power in the U.S. Congress, Californians should be mindful that the rapidly approaching midterm elections will usher in a very different looking California Legislature. As a result of the redistricting that takes place once every ten years, a substantial number of Democrats have decided to…

Earlier this month the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), popularly known as “The Nation’s Report Card,” released results of reading and mathematics assessments administered to a nationally representative sample of 9-year-old students in Winter, 2022. The numbers were daunting. Reading scores registered their largest drop since 1990, while scores in math showed…