Every week on So, Does It Matter? I sit down with a leader, strategist, or thinker shaping the future of California politics for a one-on-one conversation you won’t hear anywhere else. These aren’t lectures or soundbites—they’re candid exchanges that dig into the battles defining our state.
What happens when a teachers’ union stops caring about teaching?
This week, I sit down with Will Swaim, President of the California Policy Center, for a no-holds-barred conversation about what may be the most powerful—and destructive—political force in California: the California Teachers Association.
Will and I discuss how the CTA functions as a political machine—one that drains taxpayer dollars, shields incompetence, blocks reform, and even shapes classroom ideology. From watering down anti-Semitism legislation to pushing failed “whole-language” reading methods and opposing phonics, the union’s fingerprints are everywhere. And the price? Generations of students who can’t read, districts drowning in debt, and a culture of entitlement masquerading as “equity.”
It’s an episode equal parts serious and absurd—full of sharp insights, laughter, and a few jaw-dropping stories about how California’s classrooms became the front line in the state’s political wars.
If you’ve ever wondered why a state with the highest education spending ranks near the bottom in results, this conversation will connect the dots.
Of course, with Will in the hot seat, we subject him to a “lightning round” of questions! This interview took place midday yesterday.
Jon
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