William G. Tierney in EdSource: Perspectives on Gov. Brown’s contributions to education

Pullias co-director William G. Tierney was one of the 10 education leaders asked by EdSource to comment on “what they think Gov. Jerry Brown’s most important contributions to education reforms in California have been, what major education issues remain unaddressed and what they are hoping for from incoming Gov. Gavin Newsom.” Here are Tierney’s perspectives:

Gov. Jerry Brown’s most important contribution to education reform in California:

The governor used his bully pulpit to hector about higher ed reform rather than lobby the legislature for additional monies to alleviate higher education’s chronic problems. And yet, given the array of problems the state faced, and Brown’s fiscal discipline, the systems are better off today than they were eight years ago. His constant drumbeat to exert fiscal administrative prudence, to increase productivity and to hold down costs to students was a message that sunk in and modestly created better systems.

The major unfinished or unaddressed education issue in California: 

We have three systems that are free to go their own way without coordination; the result is structural inefficiencies. Transfer rates remain abysmal; transfer should be smooth and robust rather than fraught and sporadic. Time to degree is still atrocious; students take too long to finish or never finish, when on-time completion should be the norm. Systemic relationships with high schools is non-existent; transition to college should be seamless; instead too many students are unprepared.

What Gavin Newsom’s top education priority should be: 

The governor has neither the will nor the resources to cover all the costs of college. He can hold real costs steady, which will be a significant savings for students. What he should not do is penalize the systems by not letting them charge tuition that enables them to capture available monies such as Pell grants. What he must do is ensure that students are not paying more tuition out of their pocket.

Read the full article at EdSource. Tierney is an expert on higher education policy analysis, governance, and administration; his research interests pertain to faculty productivity, decision making, organizational re-engineering, and issues of equity.