From Class Action to Class Instruction: Teacher Kevin James

When Kevin James was a deputy attorney general for the state of California, he earned a six-figure salary and knew several state legislators. James is now a social science teacher at . Despite a plunge in pay and power, James said he has finally found his calling.

“He’s definitely one of the most passionate teachers I ever had,” said Corwin Shiu, an Albany High senior bound for Cal Tech. “He is one of the rare teachers who runs out of time lecturing in class just because he loves teaching so much.”

I sat down recently with James at  to discuss his career change from a high-powered attorney to a public school teacher. When we met, James had the look of a liberal arts college professor. A tan sweater covered his blue Oxford shirt, and a fuzzy beard offset the absence of hair on his head. His voice is friendly and articulate, like a middle-aged Dumbledore.

ROOTS OF INSTRUCTION

James, who is now 52, started teaching as a high school senior in 1974, when his speech and debate instructor allowed him to run a speech class for younger students. At UC Santa Cruz, James was a teaching assistant for an economics course. Later, as a graduate student at Yale, James taught philosophy to undergrads.

James said he enjoyed teaching, but hesitated to take it up as a career because of concerns about low salary and the lack of social prestige.

He considered becoming a college professor in political science, and studied two years at Yale. In the end, he said the intense workload changed his feelings about the career.

"I probably read 150-200 books about political science and God knows how many journal articles," he said. "And at the end of it, I really had lost all the enthusiasm I had for government and political science.”

A NEW PATH

After quitting grad school, James said he was looking for a way to do more than study government policies. He enrolled at UC Berkeley’s Boalt Hall School of Law in 1983 with a focus on labor law. Like many law students who initially hoped to pursue public interest law, James ended up working for a big San Francisco business law firm to pay off school debt.

He made a high salary in private practice—he once collected $1 million in attorney fees in the 1980s in a class action lawsuit—but James said he had other goals.

“It takes three to four years to really get a sense that you actually know how to run a case," he said. "But after that, you really want to run your own cases and you don’t want to be carrying someone else’s bag for the next 10 years.”

This perspective led James to the state attorney general’s office, where he worked as a deputy attorney general in the environmental enforcement department for 16 years. His job was to prosecute companies for environmental violations such as pollution.

PROS AND CONS

James said he enjoyed his first few years in the office. When he'd been a lowly associate in private practice, he said, the opposing counsel would never return his calls. As a deputy attorney general, he always heard back immediately.

James also played a role in the state's environmental policies.

"I could propose cases to the attorney general and say, ‘We should sue this company for what they are doing or we should write an amicus curiae brief about this case for the Supreme Court,’” he said.

James and other attorneys in the office were responsible for sticking a warning label about lead paint onto every paint can sold in American.

But after 10 years as deputy attorney general, the excitement started to fade. Even though he seemed able to predict the settlement outcome, James still had to endure the lengthy process of exchanging thousands of documents, writing mountains of memos and going through dozens of depositions for each case.

"I was doing the same case, but against different people, over and over again," he said.

He also started to question the effectiveness of his work.

“Most businesses regard things like fines for environmental violations as just a cost of doing business,” James said. “They don’t say, ’Oh my God! We are going have to pay half a million dollars in fines to the state of California for doing something bad.’”

COMING BACK TO TEACHING

James’ first step toward his job at Albany High came when he hired UC Berkeley undergrads as legal assistants. He said he found them interesting, caring and funny.

“I don’t care what anybody says about the younger generation," he said. "They are every bit as smart, as hard-working, as interested in fixing what is wrong with the world as any other generation.”

His faith in the younger generation led James to apply, in 2003, for a social science teaching position at Albany High. The day after his interview, James received an 8 a.m. call from Ron Rosenbaum, then Albany High's principal, with a job offer. James accepted.

James’ salary dropped by more than 50 percent when he became a high school teacher, but he said he felt more satisfied with his life. The drastic salary cut didn’t severely alter his lifestyle. James had already paid off his mortgage, and had kept his needs simple. He still drives the same Toyota Camry as he did 15 years ago.

SEEING BOTH SIDES IS KEY

James teaches classes in AP comparative government, U.S. history, economics and U.S. government at Albany High. In all of them, he said, he encourages students to think critically.

“Whenever we do research projects, he constantly reminds us to be skeptical of the information we’re getting and to understand where the news reporter is coming from and why he or she will have such a bias," said senior Corwin Shiu,

James also encourages students to discuss politics and international affairs. Enkhee Tuvshindtogs, a former student of James' now studying chemistry a UC Davis, said her family doesn’t spend a lot of time talking about politics, but James showed her that political discussion “wasn’t just something that lawyers did or politicians did."

Given Albany's tendency toward liberal beliefs, James said, he makes sure alternative, often conservative, views are represented in class. He said he tried to ensure that students with those views feel comfortable expressing them, which leads to a richer discussion.

Many students say it's what James does after class that makes the biggest difference.

“I learned more about life from him because he would take the time to sit down and talk outside the classroom,” said Mohammad Amir-Afghee, a former student of James who is an entomology graduate student at UC Davis.

Rebecca Molinari, a former Albany High discus thrower, said James encouraged her to pursue her interest in the 2005 Measure A parcel tax. (Measure A ultimately increased school funding by raising property taxes). With James’ support, Molinari interviewed the school district superintendent, questioned supporters and detractors of the tax, and set up a public debate between teachers and public officials.

“He saw this was something I was interested in and he gave me a little push and that really helped me," Molinari said of James.

IN THE CLASSROOM

Teaching provides a welcome challenge for James because he keeps his classes current with news from the rapidly changing world of politics and economics. When the financial crisis hit in 2007, James incorporated mortgage-backed securities, asset bubbles and stock valuation into his economic lectures because some of his students wondered why their parents’ 401(k) accounts were suddenly wiped out.

Figuring out what motivates different students can also be demanding, he said. Some need only a friendly nod of encouragement, while others require James to use skills he learned in the courtroom: feigning moral outrage, pretending a second rate offer is the best deal possible and threatening someone without appearing as a bully.

“Sometimes you just have to say, ‘Darn it, what you are doing is not OK,’ said James. “Even if you are really more amused by their behavior than upset by it, you have to be convincingly upset so they get the message.”

Even with more time off than most jobs, teaching can be a year-long effort. Helping students, grading papers and planning lectures take up most of James’ time during the school year. During the summer break, James works on designing and improving his lesson plans for the next school year.

“You’re always thinking about, ‘Gee, I’m teaching the same thing to the next class, how am I going to change this problem that popped up in the last class?" he said. "Or, the next class is a totally different group of kids and I have to present it differently, how am I going to do that?’”

Even though teaching is his calling, James said he does sometimes miss being on the inside loop of Californian politics. During a dinner party earlier this year with former coworkers, James listened enviously to current litigation strategies and new environmental policies.

But his nostalgia was followed by another thought.

“Too many hours spent sitting in an office just writing or reading thousands of documents," he said. "Too many days where your only interaction with people is yelling at them on the phone. And I just thought, ‘Eh, I won’t do that again.’”

Everybody makes mistakes ... ! If there's something in this article you think should be corrected, or if something else is amiss, call editor Emilie Raguso at 510-459-8325 or email her at emilier@patch.com.