The California Education Code contains more than 6,000 pages, chockablock with state efforts to micro-manage neighborhood schools.

Not long ago, for example, the state Legislature approved a provision that requires proof that schools maintain an adequate supply of toilet paper in restrooms. Lawmakers apparently believed local schools might forget without legislative intervention.

For years, local educators have complained that the fiats and the red tape dictated from Sacramento made it impossible to do what’s best for hometown kids.

Which brings us to this past week when the smartest people in education – at Stanford and elsewhere – were asked to tell the governor and the state Legislature what’s wrong with public education. And guess what? The report focuses on the obstacles created by top-down management from Sacramento.

My Sunday column focuses on findings that may be shocking to Capitol insiders but tell a familiar story to people actually involved in the business of education.

-Pete Golis.