Education: Brown v. the Schools

Ever since he took office last January, Edmund G. ("Jerry") Brown has shocked California's education establishment by posing irreverent and hostile—but basic—questions. "Why is it better to have a smaller number of students in each class?" he demanded of the University of California regents. He frequently asks: "Why are administrators paid more than teachers if the business of schools is teaching?"

This attitude does not endear him to administrators of California's schools or colleges. Indeed, a few are wondering if Brown, who they thought was a liberal Democrat, is more anti-education than was his conservative Republican predecessor, Ronald Reagan.

Before his election, Brown...