We must fight the power that keeps Californias kids down

Some years ago, a reporter joined me in Sacramento to talk about California’s public schools.As we walked down 10th Street, we passed the governmental relations offices of the California Teachers Association (CTA).The reporter laughed.Given the CTA’s enormous influence over California politics, he said, he had expected something more imposing.

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By clicking above you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.Never miss a story I pointed across the street toward the State Capitol.“That’s the real estate they own,” I told him.You cannot understand California education policy without understanding the raw political power of the institutions that make their living from the system.California calls it a “public education system.” I have come to see it as a “public works system” — an enormous governmental enterprise organized around paychecks, pensions, contracts, bureaucracies and political power, while the people with the least power are the children sitting behind the desks.My mother had a sixth-grade level of education; I understood that education is the key to the American Dream.

That realization forged my commitment to fight on behalf of kids trapped in failing schools.When people ask, “But why did you walk away from the Democrat Party?”, the main reason I give is that I saw the cowardice of Democrats in failing to confront their donors and a system that traps too many low-income and minority children in schools that serve the adults, not the kids.\Teachers themselves are not the enemy.

I respect teachers’ right to organize and advocate for better pay, working conditions, and classrooms.Teaching is difficult, essential work.

But respecting teachers is not the same thing as surrendering education policy to a political organization representing adults employed by the system.With millions...