California is one of the richest states in the nation but spends about the same on its students as states like Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana and South Carolina, where the cost of living is far less than in California.
On Saturday Assemblymember Tony Thurmond declared victory in his campaign to become California’s next Superintendent of Public Instruction.
The record-shattering spending on candidate Marshall Tuck mirrors the threat level that a Sacramento without Jerry Brown represents to the charter school lobby.
Hastings’ preferred school reforms, such as heavy use of streaming technologies and data collection, resemble the way he built Netflix. And his critics say that could be part of the problem.
Bill Bloomfield has become one of the charter movement’s biggest supporters and has also played a pivotal role in the rise of a new breed of California Democrats who frequently align themselves with big business.