An Open Letter to Assemblymember Kevin McCarty

By Lance Christensen
04/25/2023
RE: Assembly Constitutional Amendment 9 – OPPOSE, UNLESS AMENDED Dear Assemblyman McCarty, I write in respectful opposition to Assembly Constitutional Amendment 9 (ACA 9) as it is presently constituted. Full disclosure – I was the runner-up candidate for the constitutional office of Superintendent of Public Instruction on the November 2022 general election ballot. While considering the following comments...

TAGS: California Legislature, education, education reform, Kevin McCarty, Lance Christensen

Chartering an Alternate Path

By Koppany Jordan
04/03/2019
Charter school leaders and supporters took aim at Assemblymember Kevin McCarty during a March 13 protest on the steps of the state capitol in Sacramento. McCarty, a Sacramento Democrat, found himself under fire for sponsoring a bill to cap the number of public charter schools in California. Public charter schools, which are privately operated public...

TAGS: CCSA, Charter schools, CTA, Democrats, education reform, Kevin McCarty, Sacramento, Shirley Weber

Universal pre-k is not okay

By Larry Sand
01/08/2019
New governor of the People’s Republic of California wants to expand a dubious universal preschool plan. California’s new Governor Gavin Newsom envisions a future where the state will be involved in your children’s lives from conception to adulthood. Newsom told EdSource in September, “Our role begins when babies are still in the womb and it...

TAGS: Gavin Newsom, Head Start, Kerry McDonald, Kevin McCarty, Lance Izumi, Larry Sand, Rahm Emanuel, Taxifornia, Transitional Kindergarten

Profits of doom

By Larry Sand
06/27/2017
From California to Africa, teachers unions fight the “for-profit” bogeyman. Well, I guess we can all rest just a bit easier now that California is on the verge of banning for-profit charter schools. Sponsored by the California Federation of Teachers, AB 406 is making its way through the California State Senate, having glided through the...

TAGS: American Federation of Teachers, California Teachers Association, Eric Hanushek, James Tooley, Josh Pechthalt, Kevin McCarty, Larry Sand, Lily Eskelsen Garcia, National Education Association, Neal McCluskey, teachers union, The Beautiful Tree

The Literacy Crisis

By Larry Sand
04/18/2017
Our illiteracy rate is alarming, but the ed establishment doesn’t seem to be concerned. The biggest problem in the country today? Some may say that it’s healthcare, while others will insist that it’s the economy. A third group maintains that it’s ISIS. While a good a case can be made for any of the above,...

TAGS: Alex Caputo-Pearl, American Federation of Teachers, California Teachers Association, Great Public Schools Now, Kevin McCarty, Larry Sand, merit pay, Randi Weingarten, remediation, teachers union, Tony Mendoza, United Teachers Los Angeles