UC Law School Needs to Privatize, Dean Says

Christopher Edley Jr.'s "single most important observation" in his first year as dean of UC Berkeley's Boalt Hall School of Law is this: "People in California are slightly crazy."

Edley isn't talking about the colorful characters on and around the Berkeley campus. What is crazy, he says, is the way California has scaled back spending on education.

From "leading the nation and the world with a model of a world-class education for everyone," the former Harvard law professor said, the state has settled for "something like 'better than Mississippi.' "

What concerns him most immediately is the condition of his law school, one of the brightest jewels in the UC crown, which is now facing serious problems.

Edley's plan to maintain Boalt Hall's status as one of the nation's top law schools is bold. It is also unusual for a liberal law professor who served in the Carter and Clinton administrations: He wants to privatize it.

Details here from Peter Y. Hong of the Los Angeles Times.