Michael W. Kirst

Michael Kirst
Michael W. Kirst
Former President of the California Board of Education and Professor Emeritus of Education and Business Administration,
Stanford University

Michael W. Kirst is professor emeritus of education and business administration at Stanford University and a co-founder of PACE. He is a longtime education advisor to former California Governor Jerry Brown, who four times appointed Kirst president of state board. In this position, Kirst was instrumental in reshaping education policy and finance in California, overseeing the new academic standards and assessments in math and English language arts, the new science standards, and the Local Control Funding Formula. Before joining the Stanford University faculty, Kirst held several positions with the federal government. He has written or edited more than a dozen books, including Political Dynamics of American Education, and, with Andrea Venezia, From High School to College. Kirst received his PhD in political economy and government from Harvard University.

updated 2013

Contributing topics
Access, quality & alignment in early childhood education
College access & postsecondary success
Continuous school improvement & support
Education finance
Educational governance & policy
Educator workforce & effectiveness
Supporting students’ social-emotional, mental & physical health
Understanding, measuring & improving student outcomes
Contributing initiatives
CORE-PACE Research Partnership
COVID-19 Recovery
Getting Down To Facts II
LCFF Research Collaborative
PACE/USC Rossier Voter Poll
Policy Research Panels
Commentary by Michael W. Kirst
: California’s Dashboard Data Will Guide Improvement
: Michael Kirst on New Federal and State Policies
Michael W. Kirst in the Media
: Public School Choice Exists in California, but Few Districts Offer It
: California Spends More on Schools With the Neediest Kids. Here’s How It’s Succeeded, and Failed.
: Inside California’s Education System: A Conversation with PACE Cofounder Dr. Michael W. Kirst
: A Refresher Guide to the California School Dashboard
: California’s Achievement Gap Defies Extra Billions in School Spending
Publications by Michael W. Kirst
Conditions of Education in California, 1990
Conditions of Education in California, 1990
Many of the major problems faced by California's education system originate outside the schoolhouse walls. Public schools are pinned inside an iron triangle of shifting demographics, declining economics, and intensifying poli­tics. The historic…
Improving Children's Services: Overcoming Barriers, Creating New Opportunities
Improving Children's Services
Overcoming Barriers, Creating New Opportunities
Childhood is changing. More chil­dren are unhealthy—physically and mentally. More children suffer from substance abuse and child abuse, from inadequate child care, and from family disorganization. More and more students from single­ parent families…
cover
Public Sector Choice in California
A PACE Working Paper
The issue of choice in education has been prevalent for many years, but recently has become a topic of renewed interest in California. Eleven choice bills, which would allow parents to select, under varying guidelines, their children's schools, were…
Conditions of Education in California, 1989
Conditions of Education in California, 1989
This is the fifth edition of Conditions of Education in California. Over time, the content and format have changed in keeping with suggestions made by readers. This publication is based upon compilations and syntheses of information collected by…