Steven Greenhut on California's Expensive Fight Against Education Rights
One of the few hotly contested California races from November was for the little-known position of superintendent of public instruction, the state's highest elected education official. Charter-schools executive Marshall Tuck said a win by union-allied Tom Torlakson would have ill consequences—namely, the state would continue to challenge a lawsuit brought by low-income students who say they are deprived of their right to a quality education. Torlakson won a surprisingly strong victory, writes Steven Greenhut, and the Department of Education now is doing exactly what Tuck said it would do: continue to fight—rather than resolve—the case.