The state of public education is never far from my mind.

Like most of you, I have been dismayed by our state’s declining support for public education. As support has waned, so has California’s educational ranking: We are now near the bottom on measures such as student/teacher ratios and per-pupil spending.

It’s lunchtime at Fred T. Korematsu Elementary in Davis. A cafeteria monitor stands over the first, second and third graders, but she is only a scarecrow.

For the first time in at least a decade, we have good news regarding California’s colleges and universities.

Change doesn’t come easily to any organization. Those of us who manage companies know that all too well. Hardest of all is change forced from the outside.

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.