In this special episode of WonkyFolk, Andy Rotherham and Jed Wallace sit down with education policy legend Dr. Mike Kirst—a man whose career spans six decades of shaping education in California and beyond.

From working in the Office of Management and Budget under the Great Society programs to chairing the California State Board of Education under two governors, Kirst shares an insider’s view of how education policy gets made—and remade. He walks us through his incredible journey from Harvard to Washington to Stanford, including his role in designing Title I, navigating political upheaval, and helping reinvent California’s education finance system.

You’ll hear:

• How Mike stumbled into K–12 education policymaking—and never left
• Behind-the-scenes stories from the federal and state levels
• Reflections on the evolution of school finance reform
• Thoughts on what California’s education system got right—and still needs to fix

This is a masterclass in education policy, history, and political resilience from someone who’s truly seen it all.

Show Notes:

• Andy on the ESA division question: https://eduwonk.substack.com/p/will-the-trump-administration-go
• Overview of California's "Local Control Funding Formula" (LCFF) enacted in 2013-14: https://www.cde.ca.gov/fg/aa/lc/lcffoverview.asp
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