Lance T. Izumi is Senior Director of Pacific ResearchInstitute’s Center for Education, and Koret Senior Fellow in Education Studies.He is the author of the highly acclaimed 2012 book Obama’s Education Takeover(Broadside, Encounter Books), which details the centralization of educationpolicymaking in Washington under President Obama. Mr. Izumi is also the principal author of the groundbreakingseries of books Not as Good as You Think: The Myth of the Middle Class School.In each volume, he examines the underperformance of middle-class students inCalifornia, Texas, Colorado, Illinois, Michigan, and New Jersey. His filmcredits include: co-executive producer of the award-winning PRS-broadcastdocumentary of the same name. And he appears in Academy Award-winning directorDavis Guggenheim’s acclaimed film documentary Waiting for Superman. Mr. Izumi served as chief speechwriter and director ofwriting and research for California Governor George Deukmejian. He also servedin the administration of President Ronald Reagan as speechwriter to UnitedStates Attorney General Edwin Meese III. He served five years as a commissioned officer (captain,Public Affairs Office) in the California State Military Reserve. Among hisdecorations, he received the commendation medal and the achievement ribbon. Mr.Izumi received his J.D. from the University of Southern California School ofLaw. He received his master of arts in political science from the University ofCalifornia at Davis and his bachelor of arts in economics and history from theUniversity of California at Los Angeles.