A Success Story at an Orange County Charter

By California Policy Center
05/15/2023
By Michael Davis Dire were the predictions when our little charter school, Orange County Classical Academy, was approved over three years ago in a famously raucous Orange Unified School District board hearing.  The skepticism was forgivable then but not today. In its first year of operation, 50 percent of OCCA’s English Learners achieved English-language proficiency by the...

TAGS: California Charter School Association, california public schools, Charter schools, orange county, Orange County Board of Education, orange county classical academy, public schools

School Choice Tremors

By Larry Sand
12/01/2022
Election results show that parental freedom is on the move, but too many children are still stuck in government-run schools with few options. The election on November 8th was good for the school choice movement. As Corey DeAngelis, senior fellow at the American Federation for Children, explains, 76% of candidates supported by his organization won...

TAGS: california public schools, Elections, Local Elections, public schools, school boards, school choice

Student Achievement Disparities in California

By Sheridan Swanson
11/04/2022
California parents are understandably exasperated with the alarming achievement disparities among K-12 students in the state. State and national performance assessment rankings show that California’s traditional public schools are some of the worst performing in the nation. And while poor school performance affects students of all backgrounds, low-income and minority students are disproportionately impacted. The...

TAGS: California government unions, california public schools, public schools, standardized testing, teachers unions

Will California’s Schools Ever Fully Reopen? There’s Plenty of Money

By Edward Ring
03/18/2021
With a significant portion of the $1.9 trillion federal stimulus package earmarked for K-12 public schools, concerns have arisen over potential misuse of those funds. As Fox News recently reported, “Multiple California school districts have discussed using state and federal COVID relief money to hand out bonuses for teachers and staff, with one district’s union even...

TAGS: education, LAUSD, public schools, reopening schools

Governor Newsom Fails to Put Pressure on Teachers Unions to Reopen Public Schools

By Brandon Ristoff
01/25/2021
Late last month, Governor Newsom announced a $2 billion plan to support reopening K-6 public schools for in-person learning by providing districts money if they agree to a timetable for reopening starting in mid-February. But Newsom is playing both sides. He’s trying to support both families who want their kids back in school and the teachers...

TAGS: Bay Area, California Federation of Teachers, California Teacher Association, California teachers unions, Gavin, Gavin Newsom, Newsom, public schools, San Francisco, teachers unions

The student is father to the teacher

By Larry Sand
01/02/2018
Low teacher quality leads to low student quality, which, in turn, leads to uneducated teachers, which then leads to…. What qualities does a good teacher have? Opinions abound, but love of kids, great work ethic, organization, an engaging personality, clear objectives for lessons, and effective discipline techniques are often mentioned. But, as important as any,...

TAGS: Kate Walsh, Larry Sand, National Council on Teacher Quality, public schools, teachers union

Big Education’s bad month

By Larry Sand
12/05/2017
November saw a rash of stories about the troubled public school monolith. As I wrote last week, the public education brand is in trouble and as 2017 fades away, a wave of stories is sending the year out with not a bang or a whimper, but rather with an unceremonious thud. A Public Policy of...

TAGS: Bill Ayers, Chicago public schools, D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program, graduation rate, Larry Sand, public schools, school choice, student spending, teachers union, tenure

Wash, Rinse, Repeat

By Larry Sand
02/12/2013
The National Education Association is relentless in pushing for “reforms,” all the while engaging in world class duplicity. (While the themes I explore here have been covered before, they must be repeated because the National Education Association is dogged in its attempt to acquire even more power than it now has. It is incumbent that...

TAGS: American Federation of Teachers, California Teachers Association, Dennis Van Roekel, Larry Sand, National Education Association, poverty, public schools, teachers unions