Lance T. Izumi, J.D. is Koret Senior Fellow and Senior Director of Education Studies at the Pacific Research Institute for Public Policy (PRI),California’s premier free-market public-policy think tank based in San Franciscoand Sacramento. He is the co-author of the groundbreaking book Not as Good as You Think: Why the Middle Class Needs School Choice (San Francisco,CA: Pacific Research Institute, 2007), which has been praised by publications such as The Wall Street Journal and Education Week.
He is co-executive producer of the award-winning 2009 PRI full-length film documentary Not as Good As You Think: The Myth of the Middle Class School, which is based on his 2007 book. The film has been broadcast multiple times on PBS. He also appears in Academy Award-winning director Davis Guggenheim’s major 2010 education film documentary Waiting for Superman, which was voted best U.S. documentary at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival.
Prior to going into the think-tank world, Lance Izumi served as chief speechwriter and director of writing and research for California Governor George Deukmejian. He also served in the administration of President Ronald Reagan as speechwriter to United States Attorney General Edwin Meese III.
Lance Izumi received his juris doctorate from the University of Southern California School of Law and his master of arts in political science from the University of California at Davis. He received his bachelor of arts in economics and history from the University of California at Los Angeles.
