Excellence in Education. Rooted in Wheatland.

Lance Christensen and his wife, Kelsey, are raising five children—seventh-generation Californians—and have a daughter-in-law who is married to their oldest son, both of whom are in college. All of the Christensen children are products of California public schools, with the three youngest at Wheatland Union High School and Bear River School, where Kelsey teaches 4th grade. Lance knows firsthand the challenges parents face in trying to secure the best education for their children.

For over 22 years, Lance has been deeply involved in nearly every corner of California's education system.

After graduating from Brigham Young University with a degree in English, Lance taught 4th grade as an educational assistant in Aurora Public Schools, just outside Denver, Colorado. He carried that classroom experience into graduate school at Pepperdine University's School of Public Policy, where he studied education theory that would shape his 17 years as a legislative consultant in the State Senate. 

As a budget analyst for the Department of Finance, Lance oversaw the budget for the newly formed Department of Juvenile Justice and helped develop Proposition 98 education funding for schools inside juvenile correctional facilities, work aimed at keeping kids in the classroom and out of the criminal justice system for good.

Lance currently serves as Vice President of Education Policy and Governmental Affairs at the California Policy Center, where he fights to expand educational freedom, protect parental rights, and build the policy infrastructure that has the potential to make California schools the best in the nation. He also sits on the board of School Boards for Academic Excellence, a national nonprofit. 

Locally, Lance has served as the appointed assistant chair of the San Juan Unified School District's finance committee and as vice president of a high school booster club during his family's years in Sacramento, before their move to Wheatland. 

He has also been a lay church leader, coach for all his children in Little League, soccer and basketball and is a mentor to young public policy professionals throughout the state. He is a regular speaker on college campuses and has contributed to or been featured in media outlets throughout California.

In 2022, Lance ran for California State Superintendent of Public Instruction, earning 3.2 million votes on a platform centered on empowering parents in their children's education and restoring local control over academic decisions. 

Now he hopes to bring that same expertise to the Wheatland School Board, protecting the community he and his family have come to love.

You can contact Lance at wheatlandlance@gmail.com.