Peter Birdsall

Peter Birdsall
Peter Birdsall
CEO and Legislative Advocate,
Education Advocates

Peter Birdsall is CEO and legislative advocate at Education Advocates. Birdsall was formerly executive director of the California County Superintendents Educational Services Association, which consists of all the county superintendents in the state. Birdsall has over 40 years of experience in state level education policy issues. Among other roles, he served as lead consultant to the Education Coalition. He also represented various county offices of education, school districts, and professional organizations. Birdsall’s experience also includes service as chief of the California Department of Education’s Legislative Office, chief of staff of the department’s education program branch, and K–12 education budget analyst with the California Department of Finance. He received his MA in public policy from the University of California, Berkeley.

updated 1985

Contributing topics
Access, quality & alignment in early childhood education
Education finance
Educational governance & policy
Understanding, measuring & improving student outcomes
Peter Birdsall in the Media
: Education Conference Highlights Need for Funding, Better Data
: Can 600-Plus California Districts Narrow the Achievement Gap?
: Report Questions Impact of Brown’s Finance Formula on Career Tech
Publications by Peter Birdsall
Seeking Flexibility in School Management
Seeking Flexibility in School Management
Waivers and School-Based Program Coordination Under AB 777
Enacted in 1981 as part of AB 777, the waiver authority provides school districts relief from the prescriptive nature of California's voluminous Education Code. If a particular law or regulation conflicts with a local situation, school districts may…