Dr. Patterson has over three decades of experience creating, managing, and helping others develop high-performing schools in California and nationally.

Dr. Patterson currently serves as a founding member of the board of California Charter Authorizing Professionals (CCAP), a nonprofit dedicated to the improvement of charter school oversight. He served as the Director of CARSNet (Charter Authorizers Regional Support Network). CARSNet was a statewide federally funded program through the Alameda County Office of Education to improve the capacity of charter authorizing agencies and their staff to conduct rigorous application reviews and provide high-quality monitoring and oversight of charter schools. Previously Dr. Patterson served as the Director of the Charter Schools Office for the Alameda County Office of Education. Dr. Patterson has also served as Special Projects Director for Gateway Community Charters in Sacramento as well as the Superintendent for Athlos Academies, which operates innovative classroom-based schools in multiple states. He is the founder of the Rocklin Academy Family of Schools and is Executive Director Emeritus. Rocklin Academy schools include three high-performing Core Knowledge elementary charter schools and a college preparatory middle-high school. Before opening the Rocklin Academies, Dr. Patterson was the Director of Governmental Relations for the California Network of Educational Charters, the predecessor of the California Charter School Association, representing charter schools before the legislature, the State Board of Education, CDE, and the Governor’s Office. Before serving as Director of Governmental Affairs, Dr. Patterson served for ten years at the California Department of Education where he became the Department’s point person for charter schools.

Elected in 2012, Dr. Patterson is currently serving his second term on the Placer County Board of Education. He has also served many years as an elected school board member in Del Paso Heights and Rocklin. He is a recognized expert in charter school law, traditional and charter school policy, and school reform. He is also an adjunct professor at the Fortune School of Education.

Dr. Patterson earned a Doctorate in Education and Policy from USC, a Masters in Higher Education Administration from George Washington University, and a BA in Political Science from UCLA. His wife Kathleen is a retired Rocklin High School math teacher and their three adult sons are graduates of Rocklin Unified School District schools.