California Patriot Profile: Lance Izumi, An Education Evangelist
For decades, Izumi has been one of the most influential voices challenging California’s education establishment and advancing parental choice, academic accountability, and taxpayer transparency.
⏱️ 6-Minute Read
Every week we highlight a different California Patriot — someone who has stood tall for the ideas of liberty and freedom in a state where the governing class is filled with left-wing ideologues that embrace both collectivism and authoritarianism. Today we profile someone who knows more about education policy, with an emphasis on right here in California, than anyone else out there…
The Intellectual Engine Behind Education Reform
Lance Izumi may not be a name on the tongue of most Californians, but in education policy circles, he carries real weight. As Senior Director of the Center for Education at the Pacific Research Institute, he has shaped debates around school choice, parental rights, and whether California’s education system should be accountable to families and taxpayers. When people ask how California pours billions into education and still gets lousy results, Izumi’s research is where they’re often pointed.
For decades, Democrats have controlled education policy in Sacramento. And no organization has more influence in that space than the California Teachers Association. The CTA is one of the largest political spenders in the state and consistently backs Democratic governors, legislators, and school board members. And in return, those lawmakers defend the current setup—union rules, top-down control, and a constant fight against school choice or accountability. Izumi’s work doesn’t get much attention from those in power, not because it lacks merit, but because it challenges a system the CTA funds and Democratic lawmakers protect.
On a personal note, I’ve known Lance since the late 1980s. For more than three decades, I’ve seen the same person privately that the public sees—steady, humble, and relentless about putting students first.
Izumi is the author or co-author of numerous books — his most recent is The Great Classroom Collapse: Teachers, Students and Parents Expsose The Collapse Of Learning In America’s Schools. His films and research projects have reached national audiences and helped define the parental rights movement in education.
Calling Out a Broken System
Izumi has spent his career pointing out a contradiction most officials avoid: California spends well over $80 billion annually on K–12 education under Proposition 98, yet student achievement remains below national averages in reading and math. Test scores stagnate, costs rise, bureaucracy expands, and families are told to wait.
His point is simple: money isn’t the issue—accountability is. In almost any other part of American life, repeated failure leads to reform or replacement. But in California’s public education system, failure leads to bigger budgets, more regulations, and no consequences for those in charge.
A Voice for Parents and Students, Not Bureaucracies
Izumi isn’t just a critic. He backs charter schools, homeschooling, and education savings accounts—letting the money follow the student instead of the bureaucracy. His core belief is that parents, not Sacramento, should make decisions about where and how their children are educated.
He’s warned that efforts to limit charter schools or reduce parental oversight aren’t about helping students—they’re about protecting systems that don’t want competition. Public schools, he says, should exist to serve families, not to preserve institutions.
Izumi served from 2004 to 2015 on the California Community Colleges Board of Governors, including two terms as its president from 2008 to 2009. In that role, he focused on workforce preparation, student success, and accountability in how taxpayer dollars are spent.
The Making of a Reform Advocate
Izumi earned his Bachelor’s degree in Economics and History from UCLA, his Master’s in Political Science from UC Davis, and his Juris Doctor from USC’s Gould School of Law.
He began his public service career writing speeches for California Governor George Deukmejian, and later served for U.S. Attorney General Edwin Meese III during the Reagan Administration. That work shaped his view that public institutions must serve taxpayers—not special interests—and that results matter more than rhetoric.
So, Does It Matter?
The development and promotion of sound education policy matters because California now spends well over $80 billion every year on public schools and still fails to teach millions of students basic reading, writing, and math. If a private organization performed this poorly, it would be forced to change or go out of business. In public education, it is rewarded.
I say this not just as someone who watches public policy, but as someone who has been proud to call Lance a friend for more than three decades. His work matters because it offers a different future—one that puts students before systems, parents before unions, and outcomes before politics.
One Great Video
Here’s a great interview with Lance - if you want to get a sense of this patriot and his intellectual firepower. Watch it for a few minute to get a taste, or the whole hour to get … an education!
The Great Classroom Collapse: An In-Depth Discussion w/ Dr. Lance Izumi
Check Out Our Library of 21 Other California Patriot Profiles!
Each week, we profile an exemplary California conservative. Previous profiles have been of the late Andrew Breitbart, Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, Political Law Attorney Chuck Bell, Congressman Kevin Kiley, talk radio hosts Dennis Prager and John Kobylt, HJTA President Jon Coupal, actors James Woods, Kelsey Grammer, Adam Carolla and Gary Sinise, Thomas Sowell, Pro-Liberty Attorney Julie Hamill, Dr. Charles Kesler, Former CAGOP Chairman Ron Nehring, Federal Judge Roger Benitez, San Luis Obispo County District Attorney Dan Dow, Victor Davis Hanson, Orange County Sheriff Don Barnes the late Second Amendment champion Sam Paredes, and Pastor Rob McCoy of Turning Point Faith. You can go here to see them all! If you have an idea for a patriot to profile, let me know!
Lance combines a polite demeanor and tons of knowledge.