Rafferty's first job, during
World War II, was as a classroom teacher in the
Trona Unified School District in the
Mojave Desert portion of
San Bernardino County, California. In his newspaper columns, Rafferty often remarked with nostalgia how his first teaching jobs in California had been the most satisfying ones of his career. After World War II, Rafferty became vice-principal, principal, and school superintendent in various California school districts, including Big Bear High School in
Big Bear Lake from 1948–51. He was the superintendent at
Saticoy (1951–55),
Needles (1955–61), and
La Cañada, a prosperous northeast Los Angeles suburb (1961–62). In 1962, he was elected to the nonpartisan office of California education superintendent, defeating Los Angeles school board president Ralph Richardson. He held the office for two terms, from 1963–71. In 1968, Rafferty challenged and defeated incumbent
Republican Senator Thomas H. Kuchel in the Republican primary election in what has been described as "one of the biggest primary upsets in Senate history." Rafferty ran as a
conservative while Kuchel was a moderate. A series of newspaper articles by
David Shaw reported that Rafferty had been less than eager to serve his country during World War II after being classified 1A: fit for military service. Rafferty, Shaw reported, twice appealed the classification and was reclassified 4F—physically, mentally or morally unfit for service—because of what Rafferty said was a case of "flat feet". "The standing joke in the town", Shaw wrote, referring to the Mojave Desert community of Trona where Rafferty spent much of the war years as a teacher, "is still 'Max Rafferty celebrated V-J Day by throwing his cane away'." The stories damaged Rafferty and he lost the
Senate election to Cranston, the former state controller. Two years later, in 1970, Rafferty failed in his bid for a third term as Superintendent of Public Instruction, losing to
Wilson Riles, the first
African-American to be elected to statewide office in California and a Democrat in the nonpartisan race. He then moved to
Alabama to serve on the faculty at
Troy University in
Troy, serving as Dean of Education from 1971–81, and as Sorrell Chairman of Education from 1981 until his death in 1982. Shortly before his death, he was appointed by President
Ronald Reagan to a national advisory board on the financing of elementary and secondary education. Rafferty was the author of several books on educational philosophy, including
Practice and Trends in School Administration (1961),
Suffer, Little Children (1962),
What They Are Doing to Your Children (1964), and
Max Rafferty on Education (1968). His newspaper column, "Dr. Max Rafferty", was syndicated nationally. He also received the
George Washington Honor Medal from the
Freedoms Foundation. ==Views==