Charles Taylor Kerchner

CTK
Charles Taylor Kerchner
Professor Emeritus and Senior Research Fellow,
Claremont Graduate University

Charles Taylor Kerchner is professor emeritus in the School of Educational Studies at Claremont Graduate University and a senior research fellow. His work focuses on institutional change in public education, including teacher unions, education reform, and unconventional learning environments. He has studied large-scale system transformations, including an analysis of education reform in the Los Angeles Unified School District and other major city school systems. Kerchner has examined the implications of teacher unionization, co-authoring United Mind Workers: Unions and Teaching in the Knowledge Society and advocating for new approaches to labor negotiations in education. His work has appeared in the American Journal of Education, The Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy, and Education Week, where he wrote the On California column. Before joining Claremont, he was a faculty member at Northwestern University and a staff member at the Illinois Board of Higher Education. He was formerly a journalist for the St. Petersburg Times. Kerchner earned his MBA and BS from the University of Illinois, Urbana, and his PhD from Northwestern University.

updated 2025

Publications by Charles Taylor Kerchner
Internet technology can transform the education system in three ways: individualizing learning, making it smart with adaptive software, and creating an open network for learning production. California can lead the way by adopting policies to…
From Governance to Capacity Building
Education reform efforts in Los Angeles and the US have failed due to the focus on governance and rules. The solution is to invest in capacity building, creating incentives and agency for students and teachers, easing adoption through regulatory…
Policy Levers for Institutional Change
The Los Angeles Unified School District has undergone decades of reform, resulting in an unstable atmosphere rather than institutional stability. A recent book, "Learning from L.A.: Institutional Change in Public Education," identifies five policy…
Collective Bargaining and Student Achievement
This article discusses the evolution of union-management discussions in education over the past two decades, and the emergence of professional unionism. However, in recent years, professional unionism has declined due to management's reluctance to…