David L. Kirp is a Professor of the Graduate School and Emeritus Professor of Public Policy at the University of California at Berkeley. He has written more than a dozen books—including Disrupting Disruption: The Steady Work of Transforming Schools, The College Dropout Scandal, and Improbable Scholars: The Rebirth of a Great American School System and a Strategy for American Education, the last of which was named outstanding book of 2013 by the American Educational Research Association. He drafted a policy framework for early education as a member of President Obama’s transition team and was also a member of President Biden's transition team for early education. Kirp was the founding director of the Harvard Center for Law and Education. He is a frequent contributor to the New York Times and Los Angeles Times. He has served as a member of the boards of Friends of the Children and the Frameworks Institute, and is a member of the international advisory committee of Escuela Nueva, a Colombia-based nonprofit that in the past quarter-century has educated millions of children in the developing world.

LPI Senior Fellows are invited based on their demonstrated expertise in the field and engagement with LPI’s mission to advance equitable, high-quality education through nonpartisan, evidence-based research. Beyond their collaborative efforts with LPI, the views and opinions expressed by LPI Senior Fellows are their own and do not reflect those of the institute.