Education Policy Expert Williamson Evers Joins Independent Institute

OAKLAND—The Independent Institute has announced that education policy scholar Williamson M. Evers, Ph.D., has joined its staff as Director of Independent’s Center on Educational Excellence.

Dr. Evers joins the Independent Institute after over two decades as a Research Fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution. A nationally-respected specialist in curriculum and educational opportunity, he also conducts research on teaching, testing, accountability, and school finance. During his Hoover years, he authored and edited multiple books, held key federal advisory roles, and served on Hoover’s influential Koret Task Force on K-12 Education.

“The addition of Dr. Evers is a huge boost for our education policy work,” says Independent Institute President and Founder David Theroux. “His research on education is known for its real-world impact, and his leadership of our Center on Educational Excellence will amplify our efforts to bring sound policy ideas to elected officials and to a public that is clamoring for change.”

Hoover Institution Director Thomas Gilligan adds, “Please join me in congratulating Bill Evers as he departs Hoover to lead education-policy work at the Independent Institute in Oakland, California, where he will serve as a Senior Fellow and Director of the Institute’s Center on Educational Excellence.”

Dr. Evers triggered a recent firestorm of concern about California’s proposed “ethnic studies” curriculum with his Wall Street Journal article of July 29, 2019, entitled “California Wants to Teach Your Kids That Capitalism Is Racist.” He demonstrated that the new model curriculum, drawn up by California’s Department of Education, was a handbook for classroom propagandizing. Dr. Evers’ article helped rally parents, teachers and others to protest, causing state bureaucrats to withdraw the proposal for at least a year’s worth of consultation and revisions.

Dr. Evers has a career-long track record of policy impact. He headed the “Agency Action Team” for the U.S. Department of Education in the Trump-Pence transition leading up to January 2017. From 2007 to 2009, he served as U.S. Assistant Secretary of Education for Planning, Evaluation, and Policy Development. He also served as Senior Adviser to U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings in 2007. From July to December 2003, he served in Iraq as Senior Adviser for Education to Administrator L. Paul Bremer of the Coalition Provisional Authority.

Dr. Evers has authored, edited, and contributed chapters to, numerous books and monographs, including (among others) No Exit, No Voice: The Design of the Common Core, Federal Overreach and the Common Core, School Reform: The Critical Issues, and What’s Gone Wrong in America’s Classrooms. His articles have appeared in Education Week, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, and Christian Science Monitor, and he is a past member of the editorial board of Education Next.

Dr. Evers received his B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. degrees in political science from Stanford University.

At the Independent Institute, he is Senior Fellow and Director of the Center on Educational Excellence, heading a team of affiliated scholars who examine the educational crisis facing Americans, and charting a course for the achievement of educational excellence for all.

The Independent Institute is a non-profit, research, and educational organization that promotes the power of independent thinking to boldly advance peaceful, prosperous, and free societies grounded in a commitment to human worth and dignity. For more information, visit Independent.org. For media inquiries, contact Communications Manager Rob Ade: [email protected]; (510) 632-1366, ext. 114.

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