Mark Baldassare State Quotations

The March primary was an experiment that didn't work. Nationally, it didn't really put California in the driver's seat for the presidential election and at the state level, campaigns didn't really have time to get off the ground.

The public's frustration with the state of education is palpable. They see lots of rhetoric but little progress.

Clearly the governor got the message of the special election. The question is whether the words translate into action in Sacramento and move the state in the direction the governor says he would like to go and the public says they would like to go.

Clearly, without having a policy in place on where we're going, the public itself seems to be going toward mailing in the ballot. No matter what direction is coming out of the state capital, that's the direction that the public is going in.

It's an unfortunate irony that state leaders were unable to reconcile their differences, while voters - who are often deeply split along partisan lines - were very much in agreement. This was an opportunity to give the public something it collectively wanted.

I think I'm most surprised at the degree to which people are pessimistic about education and the extent to which they lack confidence and trust in state government in general. This is one of the reasons -- at the state level at least -- that people are reluctant to raise their own taxes.