Travis Allen

Bottom line: “We need to test students when they get into school and then test them to get out. No longer should anyone expect a participation trophy.”

K-12: Testing is the way to see if schools and teachers are doing an effective job educating students, Allen says. Results are the only thing that matters.

“What says, if you have a for-profit charter school that has great results, they can’t be in existence right alongside a not-for-profit charter school or a public school?” Allen asked at a debate before the California School Boards Association in December.

Local school districts also should have control over their curriculum, he said, arguing that those districts “have a right to decide what’s best for their students.”

Higher ed: People running the state’s colleges and universities have failed to be accountable for the problems with the system, Allen says.

“On Day One of my administration, (University of California President) Janet Napolitano would find herself out of a job,” said Allen — who could cast a vote to fire her as a member of UC’s Board of Regents, but couldn’t actually dismiss her by himself. “Excess and waste has proliferated” while Napolitano has been in charge of UC, Allen says.

He also called for a freeze in public college and university tuition, “so students can afford to go to college in our state.”