View this email in your browser ([link removed])
** Congressman Kevin Kiley joins CPC’s
------------------------------------------------------------
** Parents Not Partisans Summit in Sacramento
------------------------------------------------------------
Dear John,
We're thrilled to announce that Congressman Kevin Kiley (CA-03) will be joining us for California Policy Center's Parents Not Partisans Summit — California at the Crossroads of Education — March 18-19 in Sacramento!
Rep. Kiley was one of our featured speakers at the inaugural summit four years ago as a state assemblyman. Now, as a rising star on the national stage, he's been relentless in holding California’s state lawmakers accountable for their failed policies. He’s also a standout leader on education.
Last month, Kiley was appointed Chairman of the House Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education Subcommittee, which oversees education from early learning through high school.
“As a former educator and the son of a teacher, I am committed to supporting policies and programs that allow every student to thrive by empowering parents and ensuring world-class outcomes,” Kiley said in a press release ([link removed]) .
“Empowering parents and providing educational choice are powerful remedies to what ails our education system…,” said Congressman Tim Walberg, Chairman of the Education and Workforce Committee, who appointed Kiley to chair the subcommittee. “Efforts to give students more choice and parents more say will be the cornerstone of this subcommittee’s work.”
That’s music to our ears.
At the Summit, Rep. Kiley will break down what Californians can expect from the major shifts in federal education policy driven by President Donald Trump’s education agenda, and share his insights on how these changes may impact schools, students and families across the state.
What follows is a preview of what to expect at this year’s Summit — but there’s plenty more you won’t want to miss!
** 2025 SPEAKERS
------------------------------------------------------------
The Battle for Parental Rights
The Summit will also feature a powerhouse panel on parental rights. Assemblyman Bill Essayli (R-Corona) and Liberty Justice Center attorney Emily Rae will join moderator Julie Hamill, president of the California Justice Center, for an in-depth discussion on the fight for parents’ rights in our state.
Essayli has been one of the fiercest defenders of parental rights in the legislature. In 2023, he authored Assembly Bill 1314 to require schools to notify parents if their child changes their name or gender at school. When the Democrat majority party refused to bring the bill to the floor for a vote, Essayli didn’t back down. Working alongside CPC’s Lance Christensen and other advocates, he helped take the fight to local school boards — where parental notification policies were adopted in over a dozen districts.
One of the first school board trustees to take up this fight was Sonja Shaw, president of Chino Valley Unified School District. Thanks to her leadership, the district adopted a parental notification policy and set off a movement. Attorney General Rob Bonta then sued the district in a desperate attempt to stop the policy from spreading to more districts.
That’s when Emily Rae and Liberty Justice Center (LCJ) stepped in and successfully defended Chino Valley. And when Democrats passed Assembly Bill 1955 last year to circumvent the court process and ban school districts from adopting parental notification policies, Rae and LJC sued to defend the rights of parents and local school boards in a case that’s still pending.
Don’t miss this discussion on the latest legislative and legal developments on parental rights!
The Future of School Choice
Earlier this month, President Trump signed an Executive Order ([link removed]) directing the Department of Education to issue guidance on how states can use federal funding formulas and discretionary grant programs to support K-12 scholarship and school choice programs.
The question is, if federal funding to expand school choice becomes available, will California be ready to embrace the opportunity?
At this year’s Summit, we’ll talk about the future of school choice in California with State Senator Shannon Grove (R-Bakersfield), author of Senate Bill 64, the School Choice Flex Account Act of 2025 ([link removed]) . The legislation would allow parents to access their child’s share of Proposition 98 education funding—$8,000 per student or $16,000 for students with special needs—and use it for the school or educational program that best fits their child’s needs.
One thing is certain: California teachers unions will come out swinging against any effort that would empower families to leave California’s failing union-run schools.
California’s Math and Reading Crisis
Enrollment in California’s K-12 public schools has plummeted since the COVID-19 pandemic, and it’s no mystery why. Despite the state spending over $23,000 per student annually, less than half (47%) of students meet state reading standards and only 36% meet grade-level math standards.
California students need help — and fast.
One of the biggest barriers to progress? Experimental education policies pushed by liberal educators and teachers unions. For years, they forced “whole language” reading strategies into classrooms — an approach that taught students to guess words based on “cueing” instead of using phonics to sound them out.
The result? A literacy crisis and a generation of students utterly failed by government schools.
During this year’s Summit, we’ll explore ways to bring the science of reading back into classrooms with Lance Izumi, Senior Director for Education at the Pacific Research Institute and author of The Great Classroom Collapse (2024).
Just as reading instruction has been derailed by flawed education policies, math education has been under attack too. California’s new Math Framework originally proposed to stop kids from learning algebra in middle school to promote math “equity.” In response to the outcry from parents, educators and mathematicians, that proposal was scrapped, but that’s not the end of the story.
Summit attendees will hear from Michael Malione, founder of Save Math and Piedmont City Unified School Board Trustee, as he unpacks what the new Math Framework really means for California’s students.
Join Us in Sacramento!
Register today for this year’s Parents, Not Partisans Summit. You’ll leave informed, connected and ready to take on the challenges ahead!
Space is limited — so be sure to secure your spot today! Conference registration is free when you use the promo code “PARENTUNION” at checkout. The deadline to register is March 13th.
REGISTER FOR THE SUMMIT ([link removed])
** NEW PODCAST
------------------------------------------------------------
[link removed]
** Episode 379: What’s the Matter with California?
------------------------------------------------------------
On this week’s podcast with CPC President Will Swaim and CPC board member David Bahnsen: Historian Victor Davis Hanson joins the show to help Will and David think through the reasons for California’s collapse — and why he’s (somewhat) hopeful anyhow. Bonus: Julie Hamill talks with attorney Paul Jonna to explain the dramatic turn in his legal battle to determine who has ultimate authority over California school kids — parents or state officials? Listen now. ([link removed])
SUPPORT CPC ([link removed])
[link removed]
Copyright (C) 2025 California Policy Center. All rights reserved.
We send periodic updates to those who opted in on californiapolicycenter.org
You can update your preferences ([link removed]) or unsubscribe ([link removed])
