America’s schools won’t recover through more spending or slogans, but through a return to proven basics—clear instruction, firm discipline, accountable teaching, and classrooms focused on learning. As someone who attended public school in the 1950s and 1960s, taught in elementary and middle schools in the early 1970s, and then from 1984 until I retired in...

Most parents assume the greatest threats to student learning are budget shortfalls or outdated curricula. Yet, the real danger may be hiding in plain sight: politically entrenched teachers’ unions.  Cloaked in promises of social justice and equity, these influential groups have quietly seized control of K–12 classrooms, steering education toward radical ideologies with deliberately deceiving...

While California faces a significant decline in educational outcomes, student enrollment, and a fiscal crisis, progressives in the state legislature are more concerned with targeting parents than improving schools. Assembly Bill 1955, introduced by Assemblyman Chris Ward (D-San Diego), aims to ban parental notification policies passed by a growing number of California school districts over...

Many teachers in California are fed up with the political activism of their teachers’ union that is not aligned with the interests of educators and students — and often disrupts and derails classroom instruction in favor of political agendas. A case in point is the United Educators of San Francisco, which recently issued statements calling...

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...

School violence rises, mental health days proliferate, and thousands of kids are leaving government schools nationwide. Recently, a report compiled by Mike Antonucci for the Defense of Freedom Institute confirmed that the teachers unions had a heavy-handed role in the Covid-related shutdowns that consumed much of the country starting in March 2020. And the “never...

There was a time when California Democrats worried about money in politics. But that anxiety has eased with the rising tide of money — lots of money — flowing into Democrat political campaigns from government unions. It’s important to note that campaign donations do not work in a recall as they do in a traditional...

A challenger for governor of California could radically improve education with one executive order. In a recent opinion piece in The Epoch Times, veteran writer John Seiler put forth a set of strategies for a Republican to beat California Governor Gavin Newsom in the state’s September 14th recall election. Among other things, he suggests that...