Much of the discussion about how to improve education has been reduced in recent years by a venomous national debate over whether teachers should be judged by the standardized test scores of their students.

With our August cover story, “Closing Remarks,” Comstock’s celebrated Brice Harris’ announced retirement as chancellor of the Los Rios Community College District and his 21-year career in that discipline.

Apparently, retirement didn’t take.

As a CPA and certified financial planner, Daniel Ross makes a living helping clients plan for life’s milestones. But this fall, he and his wife, Anne, sent their daughter off to college with a surprise they never expected.

The California Teachers Association has long been one of the state’s most powerful political players. This year, the organization has thrown its weight behind Gov. Jerry Brown’s proposal to raise the state sales tax, in part to fund education. We sat down recently with CTA President Dean Vogel to discuss that support and other critical issues surrounding California schools.

On a sweltering day in mid-June, more than 100 newly minted teachers assembled for graduation at The Robert and Margrit Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts.

Alexander Gonzalez, 66, stands in front of the climbing wall at The WELL gym at Sacramento State. Gonzalez has served as campus president since 2003 and has no plans to retire. 

Nathan Johnston has contemplated his own death several times over.

For more than 40 years, Brice Harris has sat front row in the nation’s community college system. First as a part-time faculty member at a small campus in Kansas City, later as president of Fresno City College and since 1996 as chancellor of Los Rios Community College District. He has spent his career working within multi-college systems. This month, he retires.

When Laurie Grimsman graduated in June from the Graduate School of Management at UC Davis, she was 51 and a self-proclaimed “age outlier.”

Gov. Jerry Brown’s tax measure would raise sales taxes by one-quarter of a percent for four years and increase taxes on incomes of $250,000 or higher by 1 to 3 percentage points for seven years.